| |
The Axeman Cometh
$17.99 CD
 Psychotic Overkill
$17.99 CD
$35.99 LP
|
|
WICKED LADY
The Axeman Cometh
(Guerssen)
 "Run the Night"
"Wicked Lady"
WICKED LADY
Psychotic Overkill
(Guerssen)
Before joining the Dark, whose Round the Edges LP (SIS Records, '72) has made hard rock and prog collectors sweat bullets for years, guitarist Martin Weaver fronted this hairy UK power-trio. Record hounds have occasionally dubbed Wicked Lady the progenitors of "doom," and to a point, that may be accurate, since these lads never quite hit upon the speed and dexterity of a group like Sir Lord Baltimore. They issued, instead, a mid-tempo pall of stun-fuzz guitar and loping rhythms, achieving an arresting, loose-knit psychedelia through plodding repetition and deceptively basic instrumental workouts that they'd slather in delay and wah, topping the din with dazed, morose vox. Guerssen's reissues of their entire oeuvre -- The Axman Cometh (recorded '68-'72) and Psychotic Overkill ('72) -- show that the band really does live up to their reputation in collector circles.
The Axman Cometh seems particularly simplistic, and it is; but after repeated listens, it yields deeper pockets, wider valleys and headier dynamics. Even in the album's eponymous instrumental workout, one senses several hypnotic layers rising through the red-level static. The closer, "Living on the Edge," is an ace extended grind, and its patient chug is as catchy as it is menacing. Psychotic Overkill opens with one of the group's fastest and most aggressive moments, "I'm a Freak," and the deluge is damned near anthemic -- every bit Pink Fairies and Motorhead, though Wicked Lady's characteristic hopelessness supplants the teen bravado and biker skull-bash of the aforementioned groups. By contrast, the last tune on the album, "Ship of Ghosts" -- a haunting 22-minute workout -- may be their moodiest and most complex number. Indeed, Psychotic Overkill seems heavier, darker and wilder than its predecessor, and it speaks of a band who had, by '72, developed so much inward momentum that inertia would inevitably get the best of 'em, and they collapsed shortly thereafter. Guerssen's usual lavish packaging is intact here, including an extensive account of the band's history by Mr. Weaver himself. Fans of proto-punk, proto-metal and hard rock: Take note. [EC]
|
|
