ALBUM REVIEW: Lizzard Wizzard - "Total War Power Bastard"

By: Ben Fitts

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/01/2017

Label: Independent

This album is defined by tones as sweet as a glass of warm tar, sparse arrangements, sluggish tempos and venomous attitude. To listen to “Total War Power Bastard” is to get lost in a haze of looping riffs, humming amplifiers, grimy guitar fuzz and putrid vocals.

“Total War Power Bastard” DD track listing:

1.THREAT LEVEL DEMON (05:04)
2.DADFATHER (07:02)
3.NERD SMASHER (03:34)
4.SHITHEAD NIHILISM (08:41)
5.PIZZA (06:25)
6.SNAKE ARROW (07:01)
7.MEDUSA BUT SHE GETS YOU STONED

NSTEAD OF TURNING YOU TO STONE INSTEAD

OF SNAKES SHE HAS VAPORIZERS ON HIS HEAD...DRUGS (04:49)
8.CRYSTAL BALLS (05:58)
9.MEGAFLORA (08:26)

The Review:

“Total War Power Bastard”, the second LP from the Australian quartet Lizzard Wizzard, clocks in at just under an hour of filthy, fuzz drenched, stoner-sludge bliss. This album is defined by tones as sweet as a glass of warm tar, sparse arrangements, sluggish tempos and venomous attitude. To listen to “Total War Power Bastard” is to get lost in a haze of looping riffs, humming amplifiers, grimy guitar fuzz and putrid vocals.

Seldomly concerning themselves with things like harmony, nimble fretwork or crafting hooks, Lizzard Wizzard focus on what clearly matters to them: delivering menacing, megalithic riffs that are filtered through mountains of vile fuzz and set to creeping, lackadaisical grooves. However, they do change it up sometimes, as demonstrated by the ringing whitewash of feedback and echoes of the album’s two middle tracks, “Pizza” and “Snake Arrow”. And, speaking of “Pizza”, Lizzard Wizzard also divert from the typical lyrical subject matter of many of their doomy brethren, as song titles such as “Nerd Smasher” and, of course, “Pizza”, can attest to.

The strongest bid for standout track is made by the album’s second number, “Dad Father”. Built around the strongest riff to be found on “Total War Power Bastard”, “Dad Father” is seven minutes of gut wrenching bass tones, hobbling rhythms, bluesy riffing and doom galore. Also, there is a moment where the vocalist screams the words “You’re wearing very short shorts”. However, the clear winner of best song title on “Total War Power Bastard” is the seventh track, “Medusa But She Gets You Stoned Instead Of Turning You To Stone Instead Of Snakes She Has Vaporizers On His Head...Drugs”. The song starts with Lizzard Wizzard’s typical fare of leisurely speeds and few notes, until building into the album’s most driving, urgent track.

There are some stylistic changes between “Total War Power Bastard” and Lizzard Wizzard’s self-titled debut album from 2013, their previous full-length. “Total War Power Bastard” is a much meaner album with a vicious disposition that was just not present in Lizzard Wizzard’s debut. Their debut was a warmer record, where the guitars sounded creamy instead of filthy. The riffs were all around bluesier, and the songs much more melodic. “Total War Power Bastard” dials up the harshness of that first record. It strips away many of its frills and adds aggression and all the nastiness one could ever desire, creating a much sludgier album than Lizzard Wizzard’s debut. It was a good, natural direction for the band. There is something special about an album that drips with acidic venom the way “Total War Power Bastard” does.

“Total War Power Bastard” is available here     

Band info: bandcamp || facebook