Electric Wizard - Black Masses

 


In the almighty Pantheon of Doom Metal, next to such immoveable pillars as Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus, there stands ELECTRIC WIZARD from Dorset, England.

Recognized as one of the greats of the genre, ELECTRIC WIZARD has a reputation to live up to. Recently, Jus Oborn and friends have returned with a killer new album titled Black Masses, further guaranteeing their tenure in the Pantheon. Black Masses, released in North America on January 18 via Rise Above Records, was produced by Grammy-winning engineer Liam Watson (THE WHITE STRIPES) in London’s Toe Rag Studios. Upon dropping the needle on this dangerous piece of wax, I expected quality production – something only found on newer releases from the band. Luckily, that’s precisely what I got - but I’m only “scratching the surface.”

At first listen, Black Masses serves as a good ELECTRIC WIZARD album, exhibiting an ever slumberous aura - something I have come to expect – along with all the Fuzzed-out, Blues-infused riffing I could ask for. Yet, after my third or fourth listen, it became clear that what makes Black Masses awesome is that the album neither solely relies on the titanic, weighty riffs of Dopethrone, nor the psychedelic atmosphere of Come My Fanatics. Rather, it kicks-off with a straight-forward, up-tempo title track and maintains a driving vibe for the first half of the record. The tracks on side-A follow a more accessible format as each includes a verse, chorus and solos. It picks up right where Witchcult Today left off, continuing to showcase a more consistently ordered, 70s sound. Jus Oborn really sings his ass off on this one, hitting higher pitches with a hint of vibrato in his voice. A couple of my favorite moments from side A are the guitar solo in ‘Night Child,’ and the aptly-titled song, ‘Turn Off Your Mind.’ Then, things change.

As I start to feel contented with the predictability of the first side of this already loud LP, the B sides are slower and HEAVIER. When ‘Satyr IX’ starts playing, plumes of volcanic ash might as well have come pouring from my speakers – it’s SO heavy! ‘Satyr IX’ displays ELECTRIC WIZARD in its true form, alluding back to some of the band’s earlier, more experimental stuff. The album closes with a 10 minute study on Drone* titled ‘Crypt of Drugula,’ a soggy and murky dwelling that some of us might have cerebrally visited once or twice.


“This ritual incantation of heavy metal sorcery will break down your psyche as wave upon crushing wave of lead weight acid-laced Doom leaves you numb and broken before our unholy altar," boasted bandleader Oborn. "Violent, bleak and ritualistic, we bow to the black altar of the RIFF. We do not rock, we kill!”


ELECTRIC WIZARD must have been feeling a little ambitious upon entering the studio to record Black Masses, as the more conventional arrangements and well-formed techniques proved to create a more accessible, yet ever enjoyable album. It’s obvious that ELECTRIC WIZARD can do anything it sets out to do – and do it well.

*a popular evolution of Doom Metal which aims to focus on, through tonal manipulation, the mechanical timbre of the instruments and amps used. Discernible melodies are sparse in Drone, hence the name, so an entire piece of music could rest on the tonic, thus allowing various competing frequencies to feedback off of each other.

-- Bones

Crumbling Ghost - S/T

The British do seem to have a reputation for eccentricity, or maybe that should be eclecticism and now we have a band worthy of the reputation…Crumbling Ghost. Hoist up your britches and prepare to dance round their blackened maypole of doom!!!

Claiming influence as much from Martin Carthy and Pentangle as from Sleep and Electric Wizard it would be all too easy to read this and dismiss them as a folk tinged doom outfit. Nothing could be further from the truth as Crumbling Ghosts music also owes as much to old school prog rock, indie shoegaze and lush post rock as it does to fiddles and riffs!!! This London based 4 piece have created an album that is rich in dynamics and innovation and may stand as one of the best of the year.

Opening track “The Collector” manages to blend supersized guitar riffs with jaunty Tull flavoured electric folk, flip flopping between the two seamlessly but is probably the track that maintains the band’s heavier side consistently throughout. It is on the next track, an arrangement by the band of “Omie Wise” that the band don their Arran sweaters and stick their fingers in their ears to get their folk on. Building from it’s understated opening that could have come straight from some early Fairport Convention albums, the track gradually grows as layers of instrumentation find their way into the mix…guitars pile on guitars and riffs pile on riff yet the folk core of the song remains intact through to the conclusion.

“Aggro Pronto” is the first of many instrumentals on the album and once again allows the band to release their inner Tull, pairing it with a progressive post rock vibe that wouldn’t be out of place among some of Pelican’s less heavy moments. Spacey and airy it may not be as immediately captivating as the previous two tracks but it does display that there is so much more to the Ghost’s bow than big riffs and a couple of Bert Jansch albums. Another instrumental, “The Stumbling Host”, kicks off in very similar style with a light and melodic guitar figure before things take a much darker hue when the distortion kicks in and the tempo drops. Expansive yet dense it is possible to see some of the band’s professed love of The Melvins shining through here as they explore some oppressive yet melodic grind before throwing in some psychedelic Sleep-esque stoner rocking goodness for good measure. The instrumental format does give the band full reign to display their undeniable musical ability at this point.

“Daytrip to Bungay” sees the band donning their doublets and hose and indulging in some whimsical psychedelic medieval folk…like wondering acid fried troubadours stumbling upon Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest hideout with a bag of weed and some sort of primeval electric generator. I have no idea where Bungay is but sounds like a fun place!!! The next track, “Blasted Heath” begins in familiar territory as those cheeky guitars pull another twinkling folk riff out of their bag of ferrets. However, just as you may feel inclined to dance a merry jig, Crumbling Ghost pull the rug from under you and bastardise the melody over a mammoth doom riff, perhaps displaying their self confessed Electric Wizard side. It never reaches the monumental depths of despair as the Wizard but it is a rare moment of darkness in an album so far given over to putting smiles on the faces. Fear not though as the band soon find their stash and kick things up a gear in a spaced out, Hawkwind sized rush to the finish. What this track does display is Crumbling Ghost’s ability to transition seamlessly between styles without ever coming across as forced or contrived.

After so many instrumental tracks it is nice to hear a human voice once more on “Nobody Here”. Compared to the previous tracks this is a much more understated affair that largely eschews the folk influence in favour of downbeat, mournful balladry. Although a nice change of pace and mood on the album it is, for me, one of the weaker moments amongst a stellar set of tunes. “Sheriff’s Ride” goes some way to redress the balance, a brief medieval jig that evokes the images of Maypole dances, buxom serving wenches with trays of mead and ale and pinched buttocks a plenty!!!

Next up is a reworking of “Martin Carthy’s “Man of Burnham Town”, which in itself is built on an earlier traditional folk outing. Omitting the original’s dodgy tales of wife beating the lyrics have been reworked to preserve the innocent and in their place Crumbling Ghost have thrown in their amps and overdrive pedals as the song builds in layers from typical folk to a psyched out, riffed up climax. So it falls to the 10 minute plus epic “Battle of Barnet” to round off an album of diversity and invention by throwing a little of everything into the pot…folky airs give way to mighty riffs which it turn give way to mellow jazz and back again to monolithic doom and beyond without ever losing focus or sounding contrived.

And then the dust settles and it’s all over. Over the space of 50 minutes Crumbling Ghost have taken you from spring meadows alive with dancing fairies to the darkest Orc dungeons. They have quenched your thirst with flagons of ale and blown your mind with the finest hallucinogenics available to man then flayed the skin from your backs with a cat o’ nine tails. This is as rich an album as has been heard in the last forty years from a UK band, a quirky and quixotic ride through a broad and varied musical past. It would appear that prog is alive and well and doesn’t have to involve a million time changes and a thousand notes per second, it can beat with an emotional heart and throw melody in the path of musical wankery to trip it up. By rights this should be a big seller, and that my friends, is entirely down to you…I trust you will all do the right thing?


--Ollie

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Electric Wizard – Black Masses

There are many (too many, in fact) doom metal bands out there but I will always make time for Electric Wizard. Black Masses is the Dorset, England band’s 7th album and is pretty much business as usual but there are a few different audio elements to keep things from getting too redundant. The Black Sabbath/Pentagram foundation remains as well as NWOBHM creeps like Venom and Witchfinder General but there’s a stronger psychedelic feel than on some of their previous records. It also sounds a bit like the influence of fuzz-guitar maestro Davie Allan is in the mix, too. Not surprising since Electric Wizard love all the violent 60’s biker movies that Allan did music for just as much as the horror/cult films they sometimes sample.

The twin axe attack of singer Justin Oborn and wife Elizabeth Buckingham is very thick, fuzzed out and layered with trippy effects. Justin’s vocals pop in and out of the mix to bleat his bleak views and call upon Satan to help him navigate this wicked world. Shaun Rutter’s drums plod and thud accordingly in a most Master Of Reality way and blend well with new “necrobassist” Tas Danazoglou. It’s worth noting that Tas has some really intimidating facial tattoos.

For a band so heavy and negative, the songs are surprisingly catchy. “Black Mass” will have everyone yelling “hear me Lucifer” loud and strong at the live show. “Venus In Furs” is not a cover of the Velvet Underground classic (although I’d like to hear them tackle it) but does share the S&M subject matter. Clocking in at 8 minutes, my favorite song might be “The Nightchild” just because of the strong Witchfinder General feel.

The entire album is solid and flows together really well. The tempos are never too fast, and they really excel at the real snail crawlers like “Satyr IX.” There’s even an instrumental dirge called “Crypt Of Drugula” with some very cool atmospherics that’s cooler than anything Eno’s ever done. This is a great one to play late at night in a car full of people you don’t know very well. They’d really freak! Unless they’re already freaks, then they’d love it.

-- Woody

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