Oooh I had not heard of Castle Rat before. But they’re on a mission to expand and defend the realm, so that’s good to support. They’re fantasy doom metal coming straight out of Brooklyn, and this new song Wizard is pretty killer if you’re into those kind of vibes. Definitely feels like something D&D nerds would listen to in 1978. They’re also playing the Clock-Out Lounge in Seattle on September 16th, in case you want to get your doom fix live.

If you’re into doom or sludgy metal, this song is going to kick you right in the solar plexus. There’s a couple shifts within the song, makes it feel like three different movements within 5 minutes, which is kind of fun. Personally, I can dig on slower melodical doomy stuff, but it can get stale for me after a bit, so the shifts are welcome. The vocals are awesome, very haunting and fit into the vibe well. Definitely sounds like she could lead a seance or a cult. In the second shift is when things pick up and we get a really noodly solo, with up close zooms on the fingers and sweeps pickings! Can’t go wrong with that.

The video’s got total 1978 Canon Film vibes to it. Like it could be scenes that were cut from Conan the Destroyer, or one of those Italian Hercules movies starring like Lou Ferrigno or something. It bounces between the band playing and a wizard who looks like the blond dude from Die Hard. He gets in a fight with a bald wizard and things get pretty magical. I don’t want to get into more than that, gotta watch the video to figure out what happens! Very great look with the trippy quasi-green screen stuff going on.