White Wizzard: Vocalist Joesph Michael Leaves Band During UK Tour / War of Words Follows (Earache Records)

Stories of lineup troubles within Los Angeles 'traditional metal' band White Wizzard have become legendary but the latest - the departure of newcomer vocalist Joseph Michael - really seems to be over the top.

The following tweets have been coming out over the last 24 hours from the band's official Twitter account (@whitewizzard):

10/5 @ 10:09AM: Good times coming in Cardiff Wales tonight at Bogiez rock club!!!!!(BrooklynRocks Note: Calm before the storm)

10/5 @ 4:02PM:  Hey all our singer is drunk in a pub somewhere in Wales when he is supposed to be on stage.....if you see him tell him to get to the venue Bogiez ASAP!! We may have to roll with Jon Leon and various fans on vox.....YIKES!!

10/5 @ 7:11PM: So fans of the Wizzard in London here is the deal. Joseph Michael fucked off our gig in Cardiff and left us... http://fb.me/20PLIZ5TC (BrooklynRocks Note: Facebook link is dead)

10/5 @ 9:34PM: Just FYI to all the fans, If Joseph Michael sends you an email stating anything at all negative or suspicious do... http://fb.me/2VLucrBF2 (BrooklynRocks Note: It is now getting pretty weird - again, Facebook link is dead)

10/5 @ 11:08PM: Just a last FYI on the erroneous and false things Joseph Michael has began to post about Jon Leon. They are fully... http://fb.me/1O2C6QRTm (BrooklynRocks Note: Wha?? - again, Facebook link is dead)

10/5 @ 11:16PM: We are very honored to announce that we have secured amazing singer Giles Lavery to do the rest of the tour. We will have more links and info for you all tomorrow. Amazing singer. Very humbled and excited to get out there and see where it can go. Cheers and thanks again to the Cardiff fans for your support on a difficult but amazing evening!!! (BrooklynRocks Note: I'm shocked/skeptical that any touring band can replace their lead singer in under a day but...this is probably who will be singing at the Webster Hall show.  Lavery sings (sang?) with Australian power-metal band Dragonsclaw)

10/6 @ 6:18PM: Okay WW fans. We want to report that Joseph Michael our now former singer, last week while in Brighton after our first show, stole a bag belonging to a very sweet girl named Charlotte Croucher. Her face book page can be found here please mail her https://facebook.com/charlotte.croucher.5?fref=ts.  Her bag contains a wallet, passports and other very important documents. After finally coming clean after we caught him with it, he stated that he would return it to her in London. After fucking off our show in Cardiff last night when he refused to give us the bag to return to this girl in London. She rode up all the way from Brighton to get her bag and sat outside our gig for hours(which he fucked off again) She is now very distraught and on the way back to Brighton with no bag. We feel horrible. Please pressure Joseph Michael to do the right thing and return the girls bag. We hope some face book pressure will get it done. Feel free to write her directly and question the validity of this and try and help her. Hopefully some public pressure will do the trick. Hopefully it also shows you all the character of the kind of person he is. Thanks all. (BrooklynRocks Note: Ok - This one is striking me as the most far fetched...the day after your singer leaves, you post that he stole a handbag. The handbag owner had posted to Facebook a week prior that the bag was probably in a band's (your?) merch. van. What happened over the course of the week? Royal Mail is no worse than USPS...if that wasn't a viable option, I'm sure the police would be a better option than 'face book pressure'.)

Joseph Michael's response:

Here is the real story on White Wizzard

Jon has been stealing money from us . From indie gogo fund and out on tour and i called him out on it.

He then fired me last night on the night off...

Then announced that i was refusing to sing... It's all lies...

I was fired and he couldnt find someone to sing so he begged me 5 minutes before they went on...

Jon Leon is a Con man and has not honored one word he has said since i have joined this band... After i sang on White Wizzard - Devil's Cut he threatened to forbid Earache Records from releasing it with my vocals if i didn't sign a new contract giving no rights and a far worse deal..After the work was done...

If it wasn't for Will Wallner and Jake Dreyer Standing up to this criminal he would have left myself and filmmaker Don Adams stranded in the middle of nowhere...

Jon Leon has paid for nothing on this trip and has acted a child the whole time. Please Do not Let him rip you off if you Purchased From Indie Go Go... Goodnight



Links:
White Wizzard

White Wizzard Play The Studio at Webster Hall on Nov. 9 / 'The Devils Cut' CD Review (Earache Records)

Los Angeles “traditional” heavy metal band White Wizzard is back in town on November 9th for a headlining show at The Studio at Webster Hall. White Wizzard is playing alongside local boys Metalfier (x-Disillusion) and tickets are $15.

White Wizzard has been a tough act to keep up with as the band has had substantial line-up shifts with each release, with only constant in the lineup being bassist Jon Leon. Earlier this summer, White Wizzard released its third full-length, The Devil’s Cut (Earache Records), and this release is the best thing the band has done since their self-titled debut EP.

Early on, White Wizzard got tagged with the genre label “new wave of traditional heavy metal” when this label first surfaced a few years ago in reference to bands who utilize dual lead guitars in a style similar to Iron Maiden and/or early Judas Priest. While one can hear a bit of Maiden influences on The Devil’s Cut, White Wizzard’s sound is more akin to Dio’s work with Rainbow and Black Sabbath crossed with hook-heavy, swaggering Sunset Strip c*ck rock. Complementing the music, new vocalist Joseph Michael can hit the high notes but, on most of the disc, he sings in a register closer to that of Dio or Ray Gillen (Black Sabbath/Badlands).

The disc starts with a two minute instrumental “Forging the Steel” which is powered by a galloping beat over which guitarists Jake Dreyer and Will Wallner play dark-tuned leads and this instrumental flows straight into the early Rainbow-ish “Strike the Iron”. While the disc starts with a guitar duel (which I’m sure drives a lot of the Priest/Maiden comparisons), the guitar leads throughout this disc are predominately “European metal” sounding so there really isn’t much of a comparison to any of the NWOBHM bands. Even the comparison of “Strike the Iron” to a Rainbow track only gets you part of the way. This song takes some unexpected twists and turns, including a brief interlude into Black Metal, which will keep the listener engaged and on their toes. With most of the songs on this disc clocking in over five minutes, White Wizzard has room to experiment and change styles both within and between songs.



“Kings of the Highway” and “Lightening in My Hands” are two of the songs on the disc that could easily become FM-radio staples. Both songs are melodic, hook-heavy arena rockers with killer alternating guitar leads and creative drumming that continually pushes these songs forward at a relentless pace. Never staying in one place for long, the 7+ minute track “Lightening in My Hands” starts slower paced and moody and sounds like an updated take on Dio-era Rainbow or Black Sabbath, even down to where the song picks up speed about the 5-minute mark. Picking the speed back up, this track is followed by the album’s title cut, “The Devil’s Cut”, which starts with a rumbling bass line from Jon Leon before kicking into the most aggressive song on the disc. “The Devil’s Cut” is the closest that White Wizzard comes to a thrash metal tune but the melodic chorus pulls this song back from going completely over the edge. The disc closes with the epic-length “The Sun Also Rises” which is a proggy/moody piece that is similar in spirit to “Lightening in My Hands”.



Links:
White Wizzard

White Wizzard Releases 'Over The Top' on March 9th / Show at Santos Party House on March 10th

Los Angeles traditional metal band White Wizzard are releasing their first full-length, Over the Top (Earache), on March 9th and are playing an early show at Santos Party House on March 10th.

The new disc was produced by Ralph Patlan (Megadeth, UFO, Michael Schenker) and Earache is taking pre-orders for limited edition colored vinyl and 2-CD versions of the disc. For anyone who wants an advance listen on how the new material sounds live, there are two White Wizzard videos from a recent performance at Reggie's in Chicago streaming on Chicago's UVTV site.

Here is an interview that I did with the band when they were in town last year for a show at Club Europa.



Links:
White Wizzard

White Wizzard: Video Interview & Live Footage, Club Europa 8-20-09 (Earache)

Los Angeles based NWOBHM/traditional metal band White Wizzard made their East Coast debut last month at the Brooklyn Thuder Fest at Club Europa. The band's debut EP "High Speed GTO" was released on Earache Records earlier this month and is getting excellent press. (Check out the coverage in the Village Voice)

I had the opportunity to catch up with the band before their set and I've included some footage from the band's live set after the interview.



White Wizzard recently posted on their MySpace page (link below) that they just finished recording their first full-length disc which is due out early next year.

Links:
White Wizzard