South Australian stoner-rock outfit Hazy J and the Wasted Daze have just dropped an absolute ripper of a double EP.
The release is split between two dynamic collections of songs—Gypsy Mountain and Silent Wizard—each with their own wildly gripping story to tell.
On their two new EPs—Gypsy Mountain and Silent Wizard—Hazy J and the Wasted Daze will take you on an extraordinary sonic journey.
Gypsy Mountain takes a softer, more psych/stoner-rock approach to Hazy J’s own precarious creative journey while laying out the gripping grunge opera which is masterfully projected across each release.
The opening track Road to Nowhere is the perfect intro to the mesmerizing and disorienting quest in which the rest of the EP undertakes. Layers of distant, echoey vocals foreshadow a sense of getting lost in a vast, barren wilderness, perhaps not unlike the isolation felt in the Adelaide Hills in which the two EPs were recorded.
Lady of the Lake gives the listener insight into the process of maturation undergone when emersed in the unknown, in this case, the imagined psychedelic landscape of the Gypsy Mountain itself which at times becomes scarily close to reality throughout Hazy J’s comprehensive layering of crunchy hard-rock textures.
The title track, Gypsy Mountain is the rising phoenix track of the first EP, shredding its way through your earphones with dense power-rock guitar riffs, which are paired perfectly with the glam-metal style singing of Hazy J.
Fountain of Tears brings the intensity back down a notch with its gentle, vocal and guitar styles before throwing you back in the deep end of the project’s other half – the second EP, Silent Wizard.
Hazy J describes Silent Wizard as the heavier, grunge-rock sound of the Wasted Daze collective, and indeed for fans of hard stoner rock, you’re in for a treat.
Even the EP’s acoustic opener delivers an edgy doom-metal essence thanks to Hazy J’s grippingly intense guitar compositions, written mostly across minor scales. It is at this point that, we know we’re in for some exciting peril and tracks such as Magic Eyes as well as Destruction deliver exactly that sensation through their hellish growls which penetrate to the bone with wickedly dark sonic forces.
Silent Wizard definitely reflects the strong 80s metal influences like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath which have remained ongoing inspirations to Hazy J’s writing process. The EP is also an honorable tribute to the extended narrative legacies written by the Gods of rock opera; Silent Wizard being the result of an ultimate collision between an all-powerful stoner-grunge wizard and the Devil himself.
Check out the 2 brand new EPs from Hazy J and the Wasted Daze below and don’t forget to get around their socials for more wicked hell-rock grittiness.
