Celestial Wizard‘s 2022 piece, Winds of the Cosmos, never quite convinced us. The RMR crew let ‘er roar out of our mighty music machine. But nada, nothing would stick, or at least not enough to unstick it from the sump of the review pipe.
But here, the band is back with Regenesis, their newest concoction. And already the pulp fiction style, kinda oldish album cover got the better of us. Who can resist some sort of Western-style Grim Reaper on a pale horse in a saguaro-infested1 fantastical Arizona desert setting? Well, yours truly couldn’t. Go find a cactus and face the beatz!
In truth, the RMR crew expected some sort of Power Metal fireworks. But not much of that is on the band’s menu this time. In fact, only remnants remain, such as some speed excesses and a number of leads and solos. And those leftovers have been pushed into the desert dust by a thunderous metal assault. So, Regenesis adorned itself with some Heavy and Power Metal vibes, blended with a powerful new brand of Melodic Death Metal and some Thrash. And it’s louder than the warts on the devil’s ass once those decide to blow up. To make everything whole, an omnipotent yet strange Black Metal rasp adds heaviness to counter all those Modern Metal clears that appear in abundance.
You’ll get your fill of meaty, burly riffs, powerful solos and leads, and all sorts of excursions into various other areas. Such as Fangbearer suddenly venturing into tech death. Or take Into the Abyss that suddenly breaks into some pseudo Brutal Death Metal of sorts. This one’s – by the way – also the track with that stellar bridge gone solo toward the end.
Those genres usually won’t work too well together, but Celestial Wizard here just hit the right balance between all of them. And it is a strange blend that might not satisfy the metallic tastebuds of many a metal adept. In other words, the acolytes of the Metal o’ The Light might find this ‘Power Metal’ fare somewhat coarse. Whereas the roughened crowd may well lament the lack of knuckle-breaking raw brutality.
And that may be one of the main negatives. In a way, Regenesis tries too hard to be something for everyone. And in metal, that is never a great thing. And then they have that weird brick wall problem where everything is sent to the front at the same time. So, here’s a situation where every element here pretty much competes against each other. On top of that, the guitars sit slightly in front of the vocals. And that is never a good thing, either.
Ultimately, though, Regenesis hits hard and fast, and the positives by far outpace the negatives. Admittedly, the RMR crew had to jump through a bunch of hoops to call this thing Death Metal anything. But the total result is compelling and convinced us in the end. The record throws a ton of nicely paced metal at the audience. A piece of alloy that doesn’t only convey a sense of power but also strings you along with subtle melodics that act as the proverbial glue. Need proof? The stellar Wicked Master will be right there for you. Add to that the Western-based acoustic interludes and the stellar Western-style intro, and you get yourself a powerful package. One that’s as varied as it is compelling.
Said differently, Winds of Cosmos left us scratching our mutual heads in dismay. Regenesis, in contrast, roars forth like a well-seasoned cast of one of them dusty Western movies with an iron-clad cast and a story to tell. Powerful, varied, entertaining, and best consumed in one sitting. Just turn down the volume a bit once you start on the piece. They’re trying to win the good ol’ loudness war all over again.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Scarlet Records | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 11 July 2025
- Don’t know what a saguaro is? | Go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro.-↩