Wizards of Wiznan – No Light has No Shadow
Release Date: 29th September 2023
Label: Argonauta Records
Stream
Genre: Blackened Sludge, Doom, Stoner, Death Metal.
FFO: YOB, Neurosis, Down, Crowbar, Axioma.
Review By: Rick Farley
Formed in 2019, surrounded by the mountainous regions of Nendaz, Valais, Switzerland, Wizards of Wiznan emerged from Vegenand, a vanished locality that was decimated by the black plague. This blackened, sludge metal five piece consisting of Robin “Mollo” Délèze (bass/vocals), Ludovic “Moozoo” Bornet (drums), Adrian “Supersec” Bornet (lead guitar), Marc “Mårg” Bourban (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Kèvin “Sanche2” Sanchez (guitar/synths) started the slogging journey with the release of their stoner/doom metal EP Experimental Brew. Now a few years later and newly signed to Argonauta Records in late 2022, Wizards of Wiznan are unleashing their first full length album No Light has No Shadow which showcases the bands newer direction of thick walls of distortion, cavernous gutturals, and dark entrancing melodies all encased within the confines of black metal, sludge, and doom. A labyrinth of brutality, swampy swagger, softer atmosphere, and total darkness.
Seeds of Light kicks off the record with a mesmerizing clean guitar melody, tribalistic drums and overlapping synths. A real sense of building intensity lurks yet remains completely euphoric in its mind entrancing ambience. It sways back and forth, hinting at a thunderous climax. It delivers a vein bursting set of chunky riffs mimicking the main melody. Harsh screams are combined with deep gutturals, invoking a feeling of towering waves crashing down. The track breaks into a thick, swampy bassline a little after the four-minute mark, leading into a clever Wah pedal filled lead over the emerging chunky guitars. The tempo quickens ever so slightly, breaking up the monotony of the doomy monster stuck in the tar pit ambience of the track. Overbearing and angry, but trudging and paced in movement. After revisiting the cleans melodies once again, this immense track takes a turn for more black metal influenced territory with searing tremolo picked melodies and nasty, screeching vocals. Without a doubt, a highlight of highlights on this album that consists of only five songs, but clocks in at about a damn near perfect album length of thirty-eight minutes.
Each track lurches forward through a journey of varying emotions with conflicting atmospheres that end up working extremely well together. Each one centred on slow, gradual builds of energy, aggression, and brutality, enveloping the listener in contemplation. Mammoth doomy riffs, clean vocal melodies, soft piano passages, hellish screams and luscious Gothenburg influenced melodies all combine masterfully on Absolute Void, furthering this bands complete grasp on long-form epic song composition.
No Light has No Shadow goes from towering dirty grooves, to chugging sludginess and breathtaking ambience, all with dreary, bleak undertones. The powerful and hooky Feed the Fire easily recalls the groovy swampiness of Down and rhythmic battering of Crowbar, while mud filled black metal dictates the grisly ugliness of La Sorcière du Végenand. The shortest track on the album but also the most aggressive. The band members personal influences range from Alcest, OM, Children of Bodom, Dissection, and Russian Circles, so it should be no surprise that while maintaining a highly focused sound, Wizards of Wiznan are able to draw diverse elements from several genres, which easily stands them apart from the masses. In lesser hands, No Light has No Shadow could have been easily forgotten as a confused misstep in direction, but that is surely not the case here. If crushing walls of heaviness, atmospheric density and immersive darkness is your thing, there might not be a better release this year. 
(4.5 / 5)
