PRESS RELEASE:
I Am the Night
by Wizard Death
Tracklist:
1.I Am the Night 03:18
2.Under the Southern Cross
3.Slay the Serpent
Heavy Metal is a family. For Wizard Death, that’s literal. Formed in 2023 as a father/son duo, Wizard Death is a celebration of epic riffs, dark fantasy fiction, and strong family bonds. Guitarist Tim Kenefic has shredded in Assimilator, Throne, and several other heavy Indiana bands. Only this time, his collaborator is his young son, Alex.
“I was dropping my kids off at school, listening to 3 Inches of Blood,” Tim recalls. “Alex said we should write songs like that. I was all about it, so started writing music with him that night. He was reading a ton of Harry Potter and Goosebumps books at the time, so we started writing lyrics about that stuff.”
The father/son duo demoed three tracks of spellcasting heavy metal with Alex on vocals. Proud of the tracks, Tim shared them with his vocal coach, Kayla Dixon of Witch Mountain. “I Am the Night” features Dixon’s searing vocal performance atop the songs co-composed by the Kenefic tandem. Founding Witch Mountain guitarist Rob Wrong also helped bring the project to life, mixing the songs and adding his own doomy expertise to the guitars on “Slay the Serpent.”
“It was a great pleasure to mix something that takes me back to my own roots of hearing power metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest on the radio for the first time, when the hard rock radio stations were fun and full of good nature,” Wrong comments. “Having Alex painting visions of Masters of the Universe cartoon battle axes and the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the top of Tim's precise rhythmic riffs and lead mastery, and then fronted by one of the most powerful women in metal that I am quite familiar with. I can only hope to be a part of whatever Wizard Death has in store for us humans in the future.”
“[Alex] is the gatekeeper of cool,” Tim says of his son. “He sings and hums ideas to me and I play them on guitar. If he likes it we record it, if he doesn't we do another idea. I have a few riffs I write but he has to think they are cool or they don't make the cut. Lyrically, he and I talk through the ideas and I function as the thesaurus, but he has final say.”
Wizard Death also plans to play live shows when school schedules permit. That includes handing out foam weapons for battle. “No mosh pits, only melees,” as Tim says.
I Am the Night will cast its spell on January 26th, 2024 on 12” Vinyl and CD from Wise Blood Records. The original demo tracks featuring Alex on vocals will be on both formats. The CD will also have an exclusive interlude from cult synth composer Mortlach.
releases January 26, 2024
Wizard Death is:
Alexander Kenefic - Composer and Lyricist, Vocals on 2023 Demos
Tim Kenefic - Composer, Guitars, Bass
Kyle Smith - Drums
Kayla Dixon - Vocals on “I Am the Night”
Rob Wrong - Lead Guitar on “Slay The Serpents”
"Wizard Death" interlude by Mortlach
Recorded at TKS Studios
Mixed by Rob Wrong at Wrong Way Recordings
Cover Art By David Paul Seymour
Layout By David Jaggar
https://wizarddeath333.bandcamp.com/
