The bond between father and son is one that often lays the foundation on who or what kind of man that one can become or that once changes to. There are times when a father fails and then there are times when a father succeeds.
Guitarist Tim Kenefic is doing parenting right and solidifying the father and son bond with his son Alexander “Alex” Kenefic, proving heavy metal is for family. Formed in 2023, Wizard Death is Tim and his son Alex creating mighty riffs, fantasy fiction, and core memories.
On working with his son, Tim said,
“I was dropping my kids off at school, listening to 3 Inches of Blood. Alex said we should write songs like that. I was all about it, so started writing music with him that night. He was reading a ton of Harry Potter and Goosebumps books at the time, so we started writing lyrics about that stuff.”
The family demoed tracks and Kayla Dixon of Witch Mountain stepped up to the plate and provided her vocal powers for their debut EP, I Am the Night.
Not wanting to be left out of the project, Witch Mountain guitarist Rob Wrong plays guitars on “Slay Serpents” and mixed the EP.
Rob said this about the EP
“It was a great pleasure to mix something that takes me back to my own roots of hearing power metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest on the radio for the first time, when the hard rock radio stations were fun and full of good nature. Having Alex painting visions of Masters of the Universe cartoon battle axes and the Lord of the Rings trilogy over the top of Tim’s precise rhythmic riffs and lead mastery, and then fronted by one of the most powerful women in metal that I am quite familiar with. I can only hope to be a part of whatever Wizard Death has in store for us humans in the future.”
Tim says this of the creative process between him and Alex,
“Alex is the gatekeeper of cool. He sings and hums ideas to me and I play them on guitar. If he likes it we record it, if he doesn’t we do another idea. I have a few riffs I write but he has to think they are cool or they don’t make the cut. Lyrically, he and I talk through the ideas and I function as the thesaurus, but he has final say.”
Kayla’s vocals and screams are reminiscent of Rob Halford, with guitars that scream, bass that rumbles, and drums that thunder. GIven his innate talent, Alex’s lyrics are imaginative and creative. He has a wonderful sense for storytelling and I know it will continue to grow as he does.
Proving that the family that rocks together, stays together. Wizard Death and their debut EP, I Am the Night, is fun, fast, and classic metal at its finest.
I Am the Night will cast its spell on January 26th, 2024 on 12” Vinyl and CD from Wise Blood Records. The original demo tracks featuring Alex on vocals will be on both formats. The CD will also have an exclusive interlude from cult synth composer Mortlach.
