Hazemaze premiere the first single »In The Night Of The Light For The Dark« taken from their upcoming album »Blinded By The Wicked«

Swedish doom riffers Hazemaze premiere the first single and opening track »In The Night Of The Light For The Dark« taken from their upcoming album, »Blinded By The Wicked«, which will be released on January 28th, 2022 via Heavy Psych Sounds.

Hazemaze will also reissue their first two full-length releases, »Hazemaze« (2018) and »Hymns Of The Damned« (2019).

Says the band: “»In The Night Of The Light For The Dark« tells the grim and sinister acts of Marcus Wesson where his family paid the ultimate price for his God complexitality. It was the first song that we wrote together, right after our last show with The Gates Of Slumber, which was also our last show before the pandemic turned the world upside down. We wanted to capture that early 80s Trouble and Saint Vitus but with a touch of modernity. The result became a sabbathian hymn that will take you on a morbius and riff-worshipping trip like no other song that we have ever written.”

The artwork is created by no other than the eminent Pol over at Branca Studio.

Pre-order your copy of »Blinded By The Wicked« as well as their previous records over at Heavy Psych Sounds:
heavypsychsounds.com (EU)
heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm (US)

From Heavy Psych Sounds:

*** Hazemaze – »Blinded By The Wicked« ***

Released in:
• 15 Ultra Ltd Test Press Vinyl
• 150 Ultra Ltd 3 Colored Stripped Pink-Yellow-Blue Vinyl
• 450 Ltd Violet Vinyl
• Black Vinyl
• Digipak
• Digital

Tracklist:
01. In The Night Of The Light, For The Dark
02. Devil’s Spawn
03. Ethereal Disillusion
04. Sectatores Et Principes
05. Ceremonial Aspersion
06. Divine Harlotry
07. Luciferian Rite
08. Malevolent Inveigler

In the year of the pandemic, we decided to finally put our efforts towards writing a new record. As the year progressed and the world got darker, so did our songwriting. For this record, we wanted to continue to follow the same dark thematic approach as our previous release, but even more sinister and complex. »Blinded By The Wicked« explores cults and their leaders’ malevolent intentions that corrupted the weak minded.

For this record, we worked together with our longtime friend Timmy Ternestål at Studio Ingenstans in our hometown of Strängnäs. We had the good fortune to develop a more mature sound, and explore new elements. The record was later mastered at Studio Humbucker by the eminent Robert Pehrsson (Death Breath, Dead Lord, Imperial State Electric).

We believe that we have created something mature, diverse and sabbathic and this record is showcasing it. A mixture between traditional doom metal and heavy rock; Rock’n’Doom to be precise!

Photo by Magnus Nicander

*** Hazemaze – »Hymns Of The Damned« ***

Released in:
• 15 Ultra Ltd Test Press Vinyl
• 150 Ultra Ltd Transparent Back. Splatter in Red-Green-Black Vinyl
• 400 Ltd Green Neon Vinyl
• Black Vinyl
• Digipak

Tracklist:
01. Shadow In The Night
02. Morbid Lust
03. Thrill Seeker
04. Lobotomy
05. Solicitor Of Evil
06. Green River
07. Reverend Death
08. Forever Trapped In Hell

»Hymns Of The Damned« is the follow-up to the band’s acclaimed self-titled debut.

Opens with »Shadow In The Night« with its steady kick drum intro that recalls Black Sabbath’s »Iron Man«. The next track Morbid Lust comes and goes, its’ loud, it rocks but you’d struggle to remember it as it does sound, for the most part, rather interchangeable with other stoner/doom bands currently doing the rounds. »Thrill Seeker« is better, with a sound that would suggest that Hazemaze have been listening to The Cramps, what with the swampy dark sound it conjures. For me, any band that takes its cues from the psychobilly legends suggests they have an excellent taste in music if nothing else.

The albums longest track is »Solicitor Of Evil«, (kind of ironic when you think about it, to any Americans reading this, solicitor means lawyer in the UK) and chugs along at nearly 7 interminable minutes. The track Green River« has some nice Nebula influences and helps pique my interest momentarily.

A major criticism of the stoner rock genre/sound has been its over infatuation with 70’s retro hard rock, Sabbath, Bang, Pentagram, Dust, Deep Purple, you know the names.

So, cutting to the chase, the album is well-played, produced, with fabulous new cover art colors.

*** Hazemaze – »Hazemaze« ***

Released in:
• 15 Ultra Ltd Test Press Vinyl
• 150 Ultra Ltd Side A/Side B White-Red-Purple Vinyl
• 400 Ltd Bloody Red Vinyl
• Black Vinyl
• Digipak

Tracklist:
01. Wall Of Confusion
02. Lord Cubensis
03. Black Mamba Pt.1
04. Black Mamba Pt.2
05. Minds Abyss
06. Lies
07. Beast And Prey
08. Searching

The Stockholm trio’s eponymous full-length is just about as good as it gets for all the groove it’s giving. As the record spins, its hypnotic gaze takes us back through the maze of time, surrounding us in the electrically charged haze of the feel good era. It sounds for all the world like this could be a contemporary of Ozzy and the boys, though it never condescends to full-on Sabbath worship.

No, Hazemaze has found their own way, niching somewhere between the early styles of doom that manifested on both sides of the Atlantic, though I hasten to add “slow, blues-infused hard rock” might be a better descriptor than straight-up “heavy metal.” That is, unless this exciting release had come out in the seventies. Back then, it would have been considered the epitome of heavy metal, just as Zeppelin and Priest were in teenage years. Capturing this authentic a sound and making it so alive, so vibrant, so now…well, that is no small feat.

Truly, a standout album, especially if you’re as diehard a fan of old school doom as I am. Fresh artistry is fully on display all over Hazemaze give any one of these tracks a spin and you’ll see, though you should be warned (in the words of »Black Mamba II«): “One bite and then you are gone.”
Hazemaze self-titled debut album was recorded in the winter of 2017 in Falun and was engineered by Timmy Ternestål. It was later released in early 2018, and we are excited to finally release a brand pressing with a new and reimagined artwork, and for the first time ever on CD format.

Hazemaze is:
Estefan Carrillo – Bass
Nils Einéus – Guitar and Vocals
Ludvig Andersson – Drums

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well