White Wizzard High Speed GTO
by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer
Sinfully infectious, catchy as hell, vigorous and ripe with a sound that is all 1980s; L.A.’s White Wizzard’s High Speed GTO shows us that guitar rock is not at all dead. Not by a long shot. From the guitar heavy tracks “High Speed GTO,” “Octane Gypsy,” and “Red Desert Skies,” to the Iron Maiden-esque “Into the Night,” and the thumping bass guitar intro of “March of the Skeletons” the boys of White Wizzard, from the opening seconds of the first track, lay out their sound almost immediately, with a plan to stick it into your brain where it remains for days. Really never letting the listener catch their breath, or seemingly not wanting to let go of the listener’s attention, White Wizzard have cultivated their heavy guitar sound with little worry for anything else.
The songwriting is simple, and the lyrics are uncomplicated, but a deep listen shows an unassuming nucleus to their style of songwriting and musicianship. The melodies come naturally, the band members seemingly loosing themselves in their desire to bring to life “good-time” metal. The overall sound is crisp, the mixing well done, and the CD plays out naturally. A louder “punch” to the power chords, bass and drums, would have given this release a punch-to-the-gut hard rock vibe, but even so, what is heard, works.
Guitarist Erik Kluiber’s brilliant work also can be heard as the original axeman for the amazing (but sadly now defunct) band, Overloaded. One needs to hear his work on Overloaded’s sensational Regeneration release. Kluiber was a natural selection to fill the guitar slot as his style comes across as riveting and fast.
True, there is little elaborate about the music heard here. But, at times, too much detail without paying attention to the job at hand in making “righteous” rock can, indeed, lead to a CD’s overall downfall. When trying to put into words how to best describe this band, a read of the band’s MySpace page really says it best, “….The goal was simple – to bring the songwriting, melody and good times back into metal and rock…” And in that respect the band has done them proud.
A comparison can be made to Saxon, Krokus with the heavy melodic vocals of High ‘n’ Dry-era Def Leppard. And, to a relatively unknown band, this is a high compliment. Blatant in their nod to a time long ago, and sadly with time passing too quickly even longer ago, White Wizzard have paved a way for themselves to be placed in a category where air guitar heroes can once again conjure up the desire to loosen their hair, crank up the stereo and let the fingers fly.
White Wizzard’s High Speed GTO – give this one a listen, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Label: Earache Records
Musicians:
Wyatt Anderson – vocals
Erik Kluiber – guitars
Jesse Applehans – drums
Chad Yasuhara – guitars
Jon Leon – bass
Track Listing:
High Speed GTO
Celestina
Into the Night
March of the Skeletons
Megalodon
Octane Gypsy
Red Desert Skies
HRH Rating: 7.8/10