https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Red Wizard Premiere Videos for “Ogami” and “Crossroad to Hell”

RED WIZARD

San Diego heavy rockers Red Wizard went relatively quiet after aligning with Ripple Music and STB Records for the bicoastal CD and LP release of their debut album, Cosmosis (review here), and the cause was a cancer scare in the band — which I mention because “fuck cancer” is a slogan to live by — but they announce a return to activity (and, more crucially, health) with the two-songer single Ogami / Crossroad to Hell. Both tracks work around the story of the samurai film series Lone Wolf and Cub, which starred Tomisaburô Wakayama as Ogami Itto as a ronin roaming around with a kid in tow across six movies from 1972-1974. Two years. Six movies. They apparently just banged them out.

Fair enough. Red Wizard — the five-piece of gruff vocalist Travis Baucum, guitarists Miles Von Ricketson (also vocals and uke) andred wizard ogami Casey Lamontagne, bassist David Wilburn and drummer Shane Kepler — bask in the tale of the stalwart warrior throughout “Ogami” and “Crossroad to Hell,” both of which top five minutes and take in the early ’70s B-movie-guitar-soundtrack vibe, though neither cut is devoid of a hook. “Ogami” is in the right position as a leadoff, and its break in the second half leading into the closing instrumental section is striking, but fluidly managed all the same, while “Crossroad to Hell” has a more swaggering vibe in its chorus and seems to take cues from classic metal and heavy rock in construction and descriptive lyrical balladry as well as the dual-guitar work. “Crossroad to Hell” is the more straightforward of the two, but it serves as a reminder of the variety Red Wizard bring to their craft while remaining consistent in theme and overarching tonal burl.

They say they’ve got songs in the can, and after basically a year away between 2017 and 2018, that’s easy enough to believe. A new full-length to follow-up Cosmosis would certainly be welcome, and if Ogami / Crossroad to Hell is at all indicative of their sonic intent going forward, there’s groove to come. Right on.

Both videos, as one might imagine, make use of film footage, and you can see them below, followed by a few words from the band announcing their arrival.

Dig:

Red Wizard, “Ogami” official video premiere

Red Wizard, “Crossroad to Hell” official video premiere

Greetings and Happy New Year from Red Wizard! Start your new year off right with some new Red Wizard tracks!

As many of you know, we were sidelined by health issues and family tragedy throughout 2017 and 2018. Our willpower and endurance was tested beyond any of our expectations and our future was changed and challenged as a band and as men.

We are proud to tell you all that we are still here and Red Wizard will never die.

It’s going to be a very busy year for us. We plan to release an EP as well as full length album this year. We’ve been sitting on a ton of great material.

But until then, please enjoy this new single and B-side based on our favorite samurai series.

Cheers!

Red Wizard is;
Travis Baucum – Vocals/Percussion
Miles Von Ricketson – Guitars/Ukulele/Vocals
Casey Lamontagne – Guitars
David Wilburn – Bass
Shane Kepler – Drums

Red Wizard on Bandcamp

Red Wizard on Thee Facebooks

Red Wizard on Instagram

Tags: , , , ,

Leave a Reply