Album Review: Wizard Tattoo – Living Just For Knife Fighting (Garage Fire Recordings)

Wizard Tattoo, the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Bram the Bard, will release the full-length album ‘Living Just for Knife Fighting’ on December 6th, 2024. This album combines the two EPs released this year, ‘One of These Knives’ (released November 1st, 2024) and ‘Living Just for Dying’ (released July 2024) into one cohesive and powerful listening experience. In addition, the album comes with three exclusive cover tracks.

The three cover tracks aren’t the only reason for returning listeners to check out this album. Even though it combines two previously released EPs, Wizard Tattoo meticulously planned this so that the full album would be even more immersive. While both EPs were easy to sink into, being four tracks long each, meant it wasn’t long before the bottom was reached. Now, we have eleven tracks overall, and new depths to sink to.

Across the album an array of sounds can be heard and enjoyed; progressive, melodic, doom, psychedelic, and even groove in places, the eight main tracks delight in different ways. We’ve already reviewed both EPs but in the context of the full album, the contrast in styles and sounds is even more fascinating.

The four tracks of Living Just for Dying are more melodic (aside from the striking heaviness of Tomorrow Dies), and it’s four of Wizard Tattoo’s most creative pieces. Especially as now the progressive evolution of Sanity’s Eclipse feels less like a tease (it made the imagination run wild as an ending to the original EP), and flows wonderfully into Varsak of Man, a track with much more intensity and with intruding touches of psychedelia. Which, in turn, leads nicely into the atmospheric A Wizard’s Blade. The clean singing on this track is particularly great.

You’d think the split between EPs would be obvious, but it’s not, and that’s coming from someone who gave both plentiful listens and wrote reviews for them. If you’re coming in fresh to this album, you won’t even notice it’s two EPs put together, unless told.

How about the covers though! Three more tracks that aren’t quite bonus tracks because Wizard Tattoo has worked to include them in the flow and vibe of the record and utilise them to bridge between Bram the Bard’s original music and his influences. Helmet’s In the Meantime, Dnazig’s Dirty Black Summer, and Motörhead’s Orgasmatron. Three familiar tracks that have had their fair share of covers, yet Wizard Tattoo does find new ways to make them interesting. Specifically, by reshaping the song to the Wizard Tattoo sound rather than the other way around. You’ll recognise each, of course, but you’ll also hear plenty of Wizard Tattoo in there too, after all, Bram the Bard is a very distinct artist.

Wizard Tattoo – Living Just for Knife Fighting Track Listing:

1. Living Just for Dying
2. The Wizard Who Loved Me
3. Tomorrow Dies
4. Sanity’s Eclipse
5. Varsak of Man
6. A Wizard’s Blade
7. My Second Knife Fight
8. Edge of Reprisal
9. In the Meantime (Helmet Cover)
10. Dirty Black Summer (Danzig Cover)
11. Orgasmatron (Motörhead Cover)

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