#CelestialWizard 🇺🇸 Winds of the Cosmos

Band: Celestial Wizard
Title: Winds of the Cosmos
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: 20 January 2023
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

I have to start this review with a little story…

I was looking for a promo to listen to and write about, but I wanted to hear something outside my comfort zone. I was in the mood to listen to some good Heavy Doom Metal. The one, the old school. Honestly, I’m not a big fan, but I do listen from time to time, and the chance to discover another band is always good.

So my search started and I looked at the name of the band Celestial Wizard… Hmmmm… I thought and questioned my neurons… “From the name, it sounds like a Heavy Doom band, despite Celestial as the first name”.

I didn’t even go to the promotional email to confirm and decided to do it only after a first listen… Convinced that I had found a Heavy Doom Metal band, I pressed the “play” button… The album starts with an intro, the same intro that made me linger a little in doubt if I had really got the band’s musical style right and I started asking myself… “Please, no Power Metal, please not”… But when the guitars and drums started…

Yes, I immediately wanted to press the stop button. “No Power Metal”. However… My curiosity and need to listen to something different was greater and having to admit that the musicians within Power Metal are technically very good, I let the music continue…

Yeah… The second song starts… “Damn, it’s really Power Metal”. You really can’t understand my aversion to Power Metal, I’m talking about the musical style, not the people or the bands. Musical tastes… Continuing… The second song… It starts with a powerful riff, the rhythmic section is very strong and cohesive, it stays in the ear, and the voice fortunately is not typically Power Metal, positive… The music is flowing, I hear a voice a little hoarse sounding a bit like the typical voice of the melodic Death Metal musical style. “Interesting” I thought, and curiosity began to awaken even more about what I would listen to throughout this album.

There is a mix of voice tones in the music, well done, well achieved, and well-chosen according to the riff, apart from where the music is. I was curious, I admit.

“Ice realm” is the third song… Bummmm… WTF? Power Metal mixed with melodic Death Metal? “Am I listening well? Am I still listening to the same band?” I thought. Yes, it was, (I confirmed) it was the same band. Very good choirs in the chorus, which could be used in a Thrash Metal band, some passages from riff to riff, a very good guitar solo, and the keys that appear to give a touch of refinement to the music. I admit I was more and more surprised when listening to this promo…

“Powerthrone” is the fourth song on this album, it starts in a very calm way, with simple keyboards, the rest of the instruments enter in a very simple way, flowing in a very natural way. Until the voice comes in… Hmmm… My idea/question came back… Power Metal with Melodic Death Metal? The music naturally continues to run its course and choruses here and there, a few louder growls here and there, lots of melody throughout the song, and… My opinion of the band and their music was getting higher and higher…

“Eternal Scourge” the fifth song on the album, which appeared to be the famous Power Metal ballad, due to its beginning, very quickly gave me two slaps in the face and showed that there was nothing of a Power Metal ballad. Thankfully, thank you Celestial Wizard.

“I have to go read the promo I got in my email”. “I have to read it, I want to know more about this band and the band’s lyrical content”. I couldn’t resist what I had set myself right at the beginning and off I went… Yes, curiosity is screwed sometimes. Hahahahah

After reading it and listening to the rest of the album, I started my research about the band, I discovered that the album had been released in digital format in June 2022, it was now the band’s second album, the lyrical content was about Dungeons & Dragons action to zombie apocalypses and the perils of outer space. Not bad.

The album contains four more songs, making a total of nine EXCELLENT songs. This is a high-quality album, with a musical quality that I haven’t heard outside of my favorite tastes/styles for some time. I strongly advise listening to the album to all of you.

Regarding the musical style, congratulations to the band, cause they manage to create an excellent album, in my opinion, it is a rhythmic section within Power Metal, with a mixture of In Flames (era Colony or Clayman), with a voice that goes to Power Metal (without the falsettos), mixing a Melodic Death Metal and sometimes a more serious and deeper or hoarse voice.

For me, without a doubt… 9.5/10 The Key Keeper 666

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