Our hermanos SAVAGE WIZDOM from Mexico are releasing their 3rd album independently called Who’s Laughing Now that sounds like they have something to prove to somebody. Let’s see if they are able to achieve this. The album has a nice cover and starts with some eerie mood on “The End Of The Road” that sounds more like the beginning of Detroit Rock City from KISS. Suddenly, it is gone. No music. I really do not understand bands that add these fillers that sometimes make no sense to me. We finally get some music with “Life On The Run” and now we are in familiar territory.

A good Heavy Metal right in your face that will give you vibes of JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN and other classic bands of this pure genre. The production is a little “garage” , but this does not take away the quality of the compositions. A lot of different moods and interesting guitar arrangements as you can also hear on “The Need To Soar”. This one is a little faster and has some touches of Power Metal and a good vocal performance by Steve Montoya. We follow with a good guitar riff in “Ruins Of Tongura” that according to my research, may be taken from an old Conan The Barbarian comic. A little weaker and uninspired track compared with the others despite the nice bass sound from bass player Faron Valencia with total Steve Harris vibes. Another great bass sound starts “Blayden's Conquest” and this is another highlight of the album.

The band has a competent guitar duo in Pablo Roybal and Steve Montoya that play each other well including in the double guitar riffs and sometimes doubke guitar  solos like you can hear on this track. We fall into a more somber mood with “Dark Horizon” that suddenly turns into a good Power Metal tune bringing vibes of ANGRA. The track also shows the good drumming of Chris Salazar, that has all the chops required including the hallucinated double bass drum as it is a characteristic of this kind of Metal output. The songs are well arranged and with some intricate musical parts, however, the album may sound uneven with some tracks that are more simple and commercial sounding tham=n the others as you can hear on “Dances”. This one is another weaker one that sounds more like California Hairy Metal. We go back to a more serious metal on ‘Who’s Laughing Now” that took the title of the best album so far (and also the title of the album). Good heavy guitars chugging and a nice singing melody.

There is also a great instrumental middle section that shows the band has good compositions and knows how to structure a song with multiple arrangements and different moods. We get close to the end with “Revenge For A King” and it seems that the band embraced the speedier tracks in the end of the album.This  is another one that reminds you of the good Power Metal bands of the genre. Great guitar solos on this one. The album ends with “The Wreck of the Titan” that takes you to a completely different vibe. Acoustic guitar arrangements with a dancing bass around it and a whimsical medieval felling. This will not take too long, and like an IRON MAIDEN song, turns into a good Metal tune after the melodic introduction. Like in the Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner. Good work, but it always can be improved on the compositions and on the production side. Songs may need a little work on the vocal melodies to make them more memorable. I look forward to what the hermanos can bring in the future as well as live shows.