Hazemaze Blinded by the Wicked

Hazemaze Pierce The "Ethereal Disillusion" (Video Premiere)


I always appreciate aptly-titled bands, and Hazemaze are top-tier purveyors of some of the trippiest, foggiest psychedelic doom out there. Furthermore, their upcoming album Blinded by the Wicked focuses on subject material perfectly suited for their hypnotic, intoxicating grooves: cults and their manipulative, sometimes demented leaders. Truthfully, there’s probably more cults today than there’ve ever been, thanks to the internet’s amazing ability to propagate delusions, but at least personally it’s the wild, almost sci-fi cult aesthetics of the 1970s that stoke my imagination. To match sight to sound, the band’s newest music video for their track “Ethereal Disillusion” mashes up footage of cults with a host of other bizarre, unsettling visuals that feel a little like the band’s self-created indoctrination video. Well, hey, there’s far worse cults to join—sign up below.

Each riff in “Ethereal Disillusion” seems carefully chosen to induce uncontrollable head-nodding, and though the band obviously favors quality over quantity in their selection, they mutate and modulate their approach to stave off predictability. Though druggy and hallucinatory, “Ethereal Disillusion” has a darker side, reflected in both sound and subject matter. The gnarly bass tone seems aligned to the uncomfortable footage on screen, and though the riffs are righteous, there’s unquestionable malice in how the drums grimly match them.

Guitarist/vocalist Ludvig Andersson comments:

“Ethereal Disillusion” is without doubt one of the heavier tracks on the album. Stefan was listening to Cathedral religiously for a period of time, and he came one day to rehearsal with the opening riff that influenced the tone of the song. The spacious and evil nature of the song inspired me to write about the cult Heaven’s Gate. Timmy (Studio Ingenstans) then took the lyrics and music even further out into the void with long and modulated delays.

Blinded by the Wicked releases January 28th via Heavy Psych Sounds (USA presale here).