The Black Wizards, the Porto-based trio of Joana Brito (guitar/vocals), José Gomes (bass/vocals) and Helena Peixoto (drums), are set to release their fourth album, Force Majeure & The Acts of God, on September 4th via Hassle Records. Notably, this latest album, which takes its tongue-in-cheek title from bureaucratic disaster terminology, is their first album since 2019’s Reflections. This gap has seen a distinct evolution in their sound. A shift from stoner-rock to a wider sonic palette, from proto-punk to a more shadowy, muscular swagger, as heard on their final pre-release single, Beat, the only song on the album to be built drum beat-first.
The red background visualiser for the single features artwork by Braulio Amado and animation by João Parra. A dancing line figure is in the centre contrasts with the hand roulette taking place in the corner: “Hide yourself in a corner/Pray they won’t notice you there/Freak”.
Reading through the press for this album, I was struck by their open honesty. It’s not often that you hear a band describe the making of their own album as an exercise in chaos management. The album was engineered and mixed by Cooper Crain of CAVE and Bitchin’ Bajas. Circumstances dictated a change in recording venue, requiring Crain to fly from Chicago to Porto (Portugal), where, over five intense days, they recorded the album at Arda Recorders. There was also, despite Crain flying over with reel-to-reel machines, a forced last-minute decision to record digitally rather than to analogue tape. They didn’t need to reveal any of this detail, but this chaos led to them gain something that they arguably wouldn’t of otherwise acheived – the rough edges remain intact. As frontwoman Brito says:
“It’s kinda nice to see imperfections these days when everything evolves into AI-based”.
The album is described as funny, sharp, politically charged and constantly pushing forward – music built on connection rather than nihilism. Reflecting on the current political disarray across the globe, José says, “The world is going the way that if you finish writing a song about something that deeply touches you, by the next day there is new shit happening”.
Force Majeure & The Acts of God (September 4th, 2026) Hassle Records
The Black Wizards live dates:
30 July – Guimarães, PT – L’Agosto Festival
7 August – Madrid, ES – Wurlitzer Ballroom
8 August – Benalua, ES – BenaRock Festival
2 October – Karlsruhe, DE – PsyKA Festival
3 October – Pratteln, CH – Up in Smoke Festival
3 February – Porto, PT – Mouco *
4 February – Lisbon, PT – República da Música *
5 February – Madrid, ES – Copernico *
6 February – Barcelona, ES – Wolf *
* w/SLIFT