UMUR
"Glacial Gods" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Wisconsin based stonner/doom metal act Twin Wizard. The album was independently released in March 2020. Twin Wizard was formed in 2020 when drummer Anthony Dreyer gave up his fight to the name of his former band Telekinetic Yeti. Dreyer was fired from Telekinetic Yeti in 2019, but refused to stop using the name and for about a year two versions of the band existed. Dreyer actually went into the recording sessions for "Glacial Gods" with the intent to release the album under the Telekinetic Yeti, but apparently he changed his mind during the sessions, and opted to form Twin Wizard.
Like Dreyer´s former act Twin Wizard is a duo project featuring Dreyer on drums and Brad Van on lead vocals and guitars, and like the case is with Telekinetic Yeti´s debut album "Abominable" from 2017, there is no bass on "Glacial Gods". Instead Van uses a downtuned 7-string guitar to create the heavy bottom stoner doom metal riffs. So same drummer, new lead vocalist/guitarist (and still no bass).
"Glacial Gods" is an album loaded with brick heavy groove laden guitar riffs (70s Black Sabbath did not live in vain) and energetic and quite adventurous drumming (Dreyer is an absolute beast on the drums). Van is a great vocalist with a raw voice and a commanding delivery. Sometimes I´m reminded of Jared Warren (Big Business, Melvins), and that is a huge praise comming from me. So the musicianship is definitely one of the great assets of "Glacial Gods".
Another great asset is the songwriting which is strong throughout and also the album flow which works really well. The heavy riffs and beats are structured but still in a loose and organic fashion which suits this type of material well. The band also succeed in incorporating more atmospheric/psychadelic parts, which are great for the variation of the album. As the whole thing is packed in a powerful, detailed, and well sounding production job, "Glacial Gods" ends up being not only an entertaining listen, but a high quality stoner/doom metal album too. So upon conclusion Dreyer´s departure from Telekinetic Yeti, may not have been such a bad thing, as "Glacial Gods" to my ears is an upgrade from "Abominable" (2017) (which is a great album in its own right). A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.