Black Magic (Norway) may have already split up but this release takes in all their material recorded to date including their second demo ‘Reap of Evil’. Whilst live I wasn’t actually impressed at the Live Evil festival a couple of years back, in the studio Black Magic really do deliver, especially their most recently recorded material which makes up the first five tracks of this release.
The latter material is more in tune with a Mercyful Fate stylistic approach, very Scandinavian 80’s metal filled with darkness and plenty of real metal riffs and arrangements, but with more realistic vocals in a lower register. ‘Thunder’ however begins with a drum and bass line that is very similar to Maiden’s ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’, have a listen, see what you think, this was certainly my way of thinking when I first spun this one. Although when the tempo increases, they have their own mark of the beast and you get why they have a black thrash label perfectly. Speaking of Maiden, there are plenty of early Maiden-isms in Black Magic’s evil arsenal, not just limited to the latter part of ‘Thunder’. They slip off the guitar and blow out your speakers; this is rather a redeeming feature of the release. The arrangements simply work, although you may find comparison every now and again to previously recorded artist’s tunes, but you do get plentiful and enjoyable listening experience from Black Magic, which far outweighs the live performance and earlier memories of this band I touched upon at the top of this review. ‘Rite of the Wizard’ may lean marginally towards Oz, Tyrant (US) or Heavy Load when slower, but once the main tempo kicks in; you mix the genres again into a rougher and certainly dirtier sensibility.
All in all, I really like this; it’s a very comfortable old metal experience if that is the best description. There are elements I suppose of black thrash, especially their demo material, but certainly the newer stuff commands a heavy NWOBHM and Scandinavian pre-84 stance. This is a certain purchase and it is a real shame this band have disbanded by all accounts, but what they leave behind here, as crazy as it sounds with their debut full length release, is a collection of material that sounds timeless in the current underground scene. This is a worthy accompaniment to your daily metal fix.
(8.5/10 Paul Maddison)
Leave a Reply