Photo by David Jaggar
Indiana trad metal outfit Wizard Death may have one of the more unique origin stories in the metal realm. They are a father son duo of guitarist Tim Kenefic (who shreds in Assimilator and Throne) and his young son, Alex. Alex provides the fantasy-inspired lyrics and song concepts and dad brings them to life with an arsenal of meaty riffs. For their debut EP, I Am the Night, the pair were aided by a couple of Witch Mountain members: vocalist Kayla Dixon belts out Alex’s lyrics and guitarist Rob Wrong mixed the three songs and added some guitars on the doomy closer, “Slay the Serpent.”
The blistering three-tracker is set for release on 12” vinyl, CD and digitally via Wise Blood Records on January 26. The original demo tracks featuring young Alex on vocals will be on both formats. The CD will also have an exclusive interlude from cult synth composer Mortlach. You can place your preorder here.
Additionally, Wizard Death will make their live debut on March 1 at Black Circle in Indianapolis, w/Throne of Iron, Cursed Blade, and Ice Howl.
This is what Tim Kenefic had to say about the closing track on the new EP:
“‘Slay the Serpent’ was the last song we wrote. It has a very Black Sabbathy vibe to it, and has a fun feel compared to the rest of the EP. This song is about the Chamber of Secrets [Harry Potter] book. Alex was watching the movie and had just finished the book so we wrote a song about it. I told him it was a super metal sounding idea and he agreed so we let it rip. I had Rob Wrong record a lead for us since it needed something extra. He nailed it. This is also my favorite song because Alex is featured on the intro.”
