Old Man Wizard Announce Final Album Kill Your Servants Quietly
With the record on for the first time as I write this, I’m kind of doing the stages of grief with Old Man Wizard‘s Kill Your Servants Quietly. Nah, it won’t really be their last album. Well fuck that. Maybe just one more after this. It’s a bummer they’re done. And maybe they really are.
Set to release Nov. 5, Kill Your Servants Quietly follows 2018’s Blame it All on Sorcery (discussed here) and 2013’s Unfavorable (review here) and will indeed reportedly be the final long-player from the San Diego progressive rock trio. And yeah, Francis Roberts has plenty of other stuff going, between King Gorm and making synth soundtracks to videogames both real and imagined, but to find Old Man Wizard still pushing their sound forward in the disco-rocking “Today” after the acoustic-led “Your Life,” lush melody pervading all the while to tie it together just emphasizes how individual what they did was and, at least until November, is. Back to being bummed I go.
You’ll note the artwork here in conversation with Unfavorable. Valin Mattheis also did the second record, though it was in a different style.
Album info came down the PR wire:
Old Man Wizard – Kill Your Servants Quietly – Nov. 5, 2021
Kill Your Servants Quietly is the third and final studio album from Progressive Heavy Rock outfit Old Man Wizard. It follows the release of two full-length LPs: Unfavorable (2013) and Blame It All On Sorcery (2018).
Guitarist/Vocalist Francis Roberts writes:
“This is my favorite album I’ve ever made. I love the songs I wrote for it, I loved working on it, and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with everyone. The plan was to record it in a very old school way: guitar/bass/drums live in the same room together with only eight inputs for the band, edited and mixed down to backing tracks, and adding vocals and other stuff as overlays. We got through the live recording part with eight of the songs just before the pandemic hit, so we had to track vocals, overlays, and two of the songs (“Live Forever” and “Your Life”) remotely. All three of us have decent home recording abilities, so I think it turned out sounding really cool. I hope you love it as much as I loved making it.”
Kill Your Servants Quietly escorts you on a fantasy-fuelled journey with a mixture of high-energy tracks and emotional performances. The theatrical thunder and soaring melodies of “I Prayed” opens the album with dramatic effect. The overdriven guitar of the title track provides a heavy grounding to the soaring vocals and harmonies. With lyrics balancing on the line between fantasy and reality, the narrative explores dark ideas whilst aptly suiting the musical arrangement.
From the eerily dark instrumentation and lyrics of “God Is Your Friend” to the serene “Your Life” and dynamic “Live Forever”, Kill Your Servants Quietly is an excellently crafted album. Old Man Wizard have cultivated a distinctive sound that delivers epic drama and delight with every track.
Album Credits:
Music and Lyrics by Francis Roberts
Produced by Francis Roberts
Artwork by Valin Mattheis
Additional vocals by Mark Calabio, Drew Peters, Reece Miller
Voiceover by Bill Roper
Tracklisting:
01 I Prayed
02 Kill Your Servants
03 God Is Your Friend
04 I Wanna Know
05 Your Life
06 Today
07 Soldier’s Winter
08 Parasite
09 Falling Star
10 Live Forever
Old Man Wizard is:
Francis Roberts – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Synth, Samplers
Andre Beller – Background Vocals, Bass Guitar, Violin
Kris Calabio – Background Vocals, Drums, Percussion
https://oldmanwizard.com/
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