{"id":100884,"date":"2023-06-14T00:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T23:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=100884"},"modified":"2023-07-12T14:08:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T13:08:33","slug":"ep-review-massasauga-the-only-good-wizard-is-a-dead-wizard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-massasauga-the-only-good-wizard-is-a-dead-wizard\/","title":{"rendered":"MASSASAUGA – The Only Good Wizard Is A Dead Wizard EP (2023) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MASSASAUGA
The Only Good Wizard Is A Dead Wizard EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2023)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s good to see Coventry, England-based Massasauga back with another bewitching rumble. I really enjoyed their last EP \u2013 Exorcisms And Psychic Visions<\/em><\/a> (2022) \u2013 and this new outing is another step in the right direction with its lighter shades of doom and almost nonchalant trudges led by equally languid vocals. Nothing Massasauga does feels forced as this time the band leads us through several brooding tales inspired by witch trials.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to pigeonhole this release as \u201cdoom metal\u201d as Massasauga have so much more, for instance the title track has somewhat of a Goth \/ new wave vibe, more so in the vocals, but it\u2019s catchy, dark and quintessentially British in its rainy trundle. Meanwhile, \u2018Dungeon Crawler\u2019 (featuring guest vocals from Ambrius frontman Sam Shiers) is the band at its edgiest; the driving black rhythms and aggressive vocals give the track a raw, galloping stride mixed with a gritty early 80s New Wave Of British Heavy Metal feel.<\/p>\n

The fact that so many ingredients spring to mind showcases the variety on offer. Just listen to the fluid yet sun baked coolness of \u2018Don\u2019t Be Scared Of The Dark\u2019 as a fine example of how the band oozes seamlessly between styles while maintaining a dark edge.<\/p>\n

Every time I hear a new release from this band I imagine them touring with fellow countrymen Possessor, both of whom have successfully tapped into the joys of creating occult-driven horror rock. These are great rockin\u2019 tunes for ghouls and phantom horses.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MASSASAUGAThe Only Good Wizard Is A Dead Wizard EP Self-released (2023)Rating: 8\/10 It\u2019s good to see Coventry, England-based Massasauga back with another bewitching rumble. I really enjoyed their last EP \u2013 Exorcisms And Psychic Visions (2022) \u2013 and this new outing is another step in the right direction with its lighter shades of doom and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4822],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-massasauga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100884"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100887,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100884\/revisions\/100887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}