Their Dice Go To 20 & Amps To 11: D&D-Inspired Rock Album Out In Early 2014

By Jesse Greener

Wearily, you think back on your expedition from adolescence. You left with a small band of companions in search of epic adventures and righteous tunes. But, one after the other, members of your party were charmed by false promises of prosperity and now pray with the masses at the altars of security and mediocrity. Alone, you fought on, but in time fatigue and despair overtook you. To your horror, the moment you laid down your axe you too were quickly surrounded by fools, thieves—and worse—their popular music.

Weary traveler, your suffering has been noted; your prayers have been heard. A rain of fire is coming to the system that entrapped you. And it comes in the form of a Wizard using his Stone Axe to summon a new ’70s rock compilation: Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles.

This new compilation, to be released in March 2014, is brought to you by Numero Group, an archival record label that goes to great lengths to unearth long-forgotten or under appreciated music, film, and photography for a second airing. Warfaring Strangers is their latest genre-defining compilation of “wizard rock.” The album will feature 16 bands from the ’70s with names like Stone Axe, Medusa, and Wizard. But the awesomeness doesn’t stop there. The music will be presented with authentic, amateur Dungeons & Dragons inspired artwork released on vinyl and CD, with rich embellishments.

In advance of this epic endeavor, two songs have been released: “Sorcerer” by Junction and “Warlord” by Wrath. Both are well-produced recordings with an authentic ’70s sound.

“Sorcerer” is classically classic rock a la Hendrix, featuring a mix of cool straight-ahead riffs, catchy choruses and selective use of tasteful delay on the vocals. Three swords and one dagger out of 5.

Wrath’s “Warlord” is faster, featuring an enjoyably active drummer who is only undermined by the flat drum sound, which plagued many ’70s-era recordings. This is made up for by the experimental vocals, with a hint of anti-war morality. Four swords and one healing potion out of 5.