After the towering success of 2007's "Witchcult Today," Electric Wizard's hotly-anticipated 2010 release "Black Masses" feels a little disappointing. It's not bad, and it's a lot better than most of the pseudometal that gets flogged to consumers these days, but it doesn't crush my psyche like "Witchcult" or their earlier classics. Let's examine it.
The first thing one notices upon spinning this record is that its overall feel doesn't have much to do with the sound that is generally associated with doom metal. Instead of monolithic, lumbering doom riffs, we get harsh shambling patterns that have much in common with sludge metal. Part of this comes from the tempos, which on average are a little faster than the usual dinosaur doom fare. The tones on this LP aren't immense or majestic, but instead rough, droney, and claustrophobic. Unlike their other releases, you pretty much have to listen to this disc at high speaker volumes, because only then will you hear the thundering fury of the sound. At office or crummy-headphone volume, it sounds pretty noisy and subdued. Also notable in the mix are a lot of spacey keyboard and guitar effects, which are present but not overbearing in their older records.
The other jarring thing about the sound is that singer Jus Oborn's vocals are mixed unusually loud in the mix and sheathed in a tinny David Bowie-style reverb effect. Oborn's not the virtuosic singer that, say, Pete Stahl is, and I think his voice sounds better when it's less prominent and treated as another instrument in the mix ("Dopethrone" is a great example of this approach). He seems to rely increasingly on a "sneering" vocal style that kind of takes away from whatever gravitas the songs have - the punningly-titled "Satyr IX" here is a case in point. I think he's going for an Ozzy feel here, but it doesn't quite work.
So what of the songs, you ask? The LP begins with the chugging sludge tune "Black Mass," which is a decent song that vaguely recalls "Dunwich" from the previous record, though it doesn't swing like that song. Oborn repeats the title often and sounds pretty excited about the fact that a black mass is happening. Next up is a cut called "Venus in Furs," which, to my immense disappointment, isn't a cover of the Velvet Underground song of the same name. I'm sure that my feelings about this track are colored by that disappointment, but I find the song to be mediocre at best. However, I'm quite sure that THE WIZARD were at least inspired by the Velvets song, because the overall sound of "Black Masses" with its noise and harsh drone is actually quite close to that of the Velvets' "White Light / White Heat."
These are followed by "The Nightchild," which sounds like a pretty good doomy tune but is dragged down a bit by whining vocals from Oborn, and "Patterns of Evil," which has one of the coolest titles ever but is completely forgettable. In all seriousness, I've listened to this tune three dozen times and it just doesn't stick with me. Then we get the aforementioned "Satyr IX," which again has good music but is hurt by trebly production.
Fortunately, the next track is "Turn Off Your Mind," another tune with a great title but one that actually delivers on all fronts. Great (bad) vibe, good riff, and listenable vocal execution. This is the catchiest song on the record by far, and furthermore, has a message that I can really get behind. An excellent dismissal of the world at large and an irresistable invitation to withdraw into the Void.
The following song "Scorpio Curse" is similarly well-done, with the dire atmosphere, brain-drilling guitars, and lyrical pessimism that we expect from THE WIZARD. "This world is dead," chants Oborn, and he's right, at least for the song's seven nihilistic minutes.
The LP closes with another worthless but innocuous ambient / instrumental piece, "Crypt of Drugula." I kind of wish Electric Wizard would stop using this classic Stooges trick to pad out their albums, but what indeed can one do?
I give THE WIZARD props for trying to shake things up with "Black Masses" instead of just churning out a followup record plump with enjoyable but generic doom metal, as they certainly could have. It seems, though, like more of their effort went into style innovations than songwriting. With only two killer tunes and a lot of missteps in production, "Black Masses" is only somewhat better than "We Live," falling far short of the cataclysmic brilliance of "Witchcult Today," "Come My Fanatics," or "Dopethrone." Even so, you should still buy it, to send the message that there's still a market for music that doen't suck, conform to trends, or appear in "Old Navy" commercials. (31,341)
In the world of doom metal, all knees bend to Black Sabbath. But the femurs tremble and the patellas shatter when the dread name of THE WIZARD is uttered. Electric Wizard.
The name of THE WIZARD strikes awe into the frail hearts ov every doom metaller on the globe. Why? Because THE WIZARD is responsible for the most soul-ravaging LP in doom history. "Dopethrone."
Released at the very height of $#!%-rock's reign, "Dopethrone" instantly obliterated warehouses full of "Creed" and "Staind" records and pinned back the ears of the metal demimonde. Perfect in conception, monumental in execution, and with a pencil drawing of Satan holding a bong on its cover, this LP changed everybody's idea of what exactly it meant to describe music as "heavy."
Beginning with a muted drum lick and foreboding, insistent bass line, the record wastes little time in maiming your psyche with the one-two evisceration of "Vinum Sabbathi / Funeralopolis." This dire diptych begins with the propulsive "Vinum," a song that turns a cliché note progression into a harrowing four minutes of headbanging pain. Then, a denouement comes in the form of a clean, loping bass lick overlaid by some quiet guitar filigree, which continues just long enough to lull you into complacency. Suddenly, an anguished scream cuts through the background and with a lacerating finality, immense mountains of molten-lead sound crash down and obliterate your heart with the desperately phlegmatic riffs of "Funeralopolis." By the time that pounding assault of nihilistic agony is over, you're left stunned and breathless.
There are plenty of great tracks after that initial salvo, but in reality, you're too beaten and psychologically altered to notice the particulars of them. One's about a witchfinder. One's about a barbarian. One's about a dopethrone and black amps tearing the sky. You get the idea.
The point is that this LP is a monolith of heavy atmosphere that you cannot prevent from altering your consciousness. It's like Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" in that and other respects (including the unbelievable opening song sequence that leaves you gasping), and is probably influenced by that landmark record. But "Dopethone" exceeds "Mezzanine" in a couple of ways. One is that there is no sliver of angelic light to give hope in the endless steppe of brutality that is "Dopethrone." The other is that Massive didn't have a devil with a bong on the cover of "Mezzanine."
There is consensus in the music community that "Dopethrone" wasn't written by Electric Wizard. Instead, Satan, feeling sorry for the three stoned kids stuck in a grimy basement in Dorset with little but a cheap guitar, crummy old amps, and a few bags of Doritos, composed and notated out the entire album, then personally appeared to them in the middle of a reefer session to hand over the black manuscript.
That's really the only reasonable explanation for the reality of "Dopethrone." There is no album more crushing, terrifying, wrenching, convincing. Many of THE WIZARD's other LPs are outstanding, especially the, uh, seminal "Come My Fanatics" from 1997 and the smug but wonderful "Witchcult Today" from 2007. But none of them can match teh flawless evil assault on your mind that is "Dopethrone."
The formula for this album, Sabbath riifs + dub feel + adolescent horror / drug / fantasy lyrics, sounds (at best) chuckleworthy on paper. But lay this platter down, drop the needle, and you will be harmed by the relentless gravity and violence that is embodied therein.
THE WIZARD produced a followup, "Let Us Prey," which was pretty good but nothing like the demonic wonder of its predecessor. The band probably knew this and broke up soon after. Which is too bad, because when they re-formed a bit later without Mark Greening on drums and Tim Bagshaw on bass, THE WIZARD turned into a precise, satisfying purveyor of doom music rather than a tectonic force from the nether regions. Greening's drumming, which has a backbeat feel reminiscent of '60s soul records, IS doom metal. And the PiL / dub / dancehall influences brought by Bagshaw lent the music an authoritative heft that hasn't yet been recaptured.
That said, "Witchcult Today" is tied with "Come My Fanatics" for their 2nd best overall, with horosho songwriting and a very good retro doom sound. The new lineup with 2nd guitarist Liz Buckingham sounds tight but not uptight on this disc, and they're dripping with bad vibes to harsh your mellow. It's got a grip of astounding cuts : the sinister title track, the surprising upbeat "Dunwich," the hilarious but cool "Satanic Rites of Drugula," and the Mel Brooks-conjuring stroke of genius "Torquemada '71." It's a must-acquire.
"Black Masses," from 2010, is much more in the deliberate '70s stoner-rock vein and doesn't really pack the visceral power of their earlier releases. Plus, Oborn's vocals, usually buried in the mix, are distractingly upfront. It works fine as ambient music, but make sure that your mind is already pummeled (or, as Oborn would say, "turn off your mind") before popping this one in.
Check this out : the original lineup of Electric Wizard playing "Supercoven" from the EP of the same name in 2002, for a miniscule audience. This is before they became lionized and a little complacent. Look at the intensity of the performance and how lead howler Jus Oborn utterly commits to laying a brutish trip on the witless witnesses. He visibly channels Kurt Cobain here, but it doesn't detract from the weight of this brilliant show.
What, you ask, is the most vital American doom metal band right now? There's only one right answer : Salome.
This chick-fronted trio from Virginia will throw you down the well of endless sorrow and invade your mind with nameless dread. All this with just drums, voice, and a hella-detuned guitar. You heard it here : Salome is the future of American doom. Get their new LP "Terminal" right a@#$%ing way.
Just watch this live clip of their tune "Master Failure" to witness the crushing in action:
Go see them now. This time next year, tickets will be $50 and you'll have to pay two times that to some pockmarked scalper because the venue sold out in two days while you were hemming and hawing trying to decide whether to give up Chee-Tos for a month in order to afford it.
UPDATE : MOST HEINOUS NEWS : The amazingly brilliant drummer of Salome, Aaron Deal, has just informed me that the band is on indefinite hiatus because singer Kat Katz quit the band. AUUUUUUGH
hopefully, they'll continue on with a new singer, but there are no plans to do so at this time.
Well, we've had some inquiries about the most righteous doom group Witchsorrow since posting the doom metal primer. For those too lazy and / or stoned to go to Youtube themselves, here's the lead "single" from the self-titled disc of dementia, "The Agony." If you don't think that this is some of the best leaden music of the year, you are a plone.
After the below video, be dead sure to go the the next link, where you can stream the entire new Krallice LP, "Diotima," for @#$%ing free. NYC ambient black metallers Krallice are the new cause celebre of the hipster fixed-gear cappuccino-metal set, but they're also one of the most creative bands in underground music. It's a must.
Click below to stream the new Krallice LP. From NPR. C'mon just take a sip of your fair-trade chai, don't let your greasy metal friends see what URL you're on, and click :
So last night, one of my chums wrote me an email asking what doom metal is and who are its most notable practitioners. That's like asking a NorCal hippie swine what reefers are and what are the best types. So, I thought I'd share the result with you Latewires. Also, c'mon and chime in if you've got some wizardy insight. Freshman remedial doom academy is in session!
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DOOM 093 - 3 credit hours
Doom metal is a genre defined by ponderously slow tempo, low despairing tones, and a dire atmosphere. In doom metal, virtuosity is of low importance compared to the ability to send chills into the listener. Black Sabbath are generally credited with founding the genre. The lyrics in doom metal (as you may have guessed) are usually cartoonish verse concerning the end of the world, the complete absence of hope, depression, profound abandonment, war, the occult, demonic topics, drug abuse (cannabis in particular), along with Dracula, goblins, witches, barbarians, and other filmic monsters.
The most significant practitioners of doom metal are :
1) Electric Wizard : paradoxically the most important and most cartoonish of the post-Sabbath doom bands. Their "Dopethrone" is flawless and the ultimate touchstone of modern doom metal.
3) St. Vitus : Genius, kickstarted the modern doom movement.
5) Sleep : The most prominent and wonderful figures in "stoner doom"
5) Goatsnake : Catchy popular doom
6) Trouble : Influential Christian doom from the '80s
7) Celtic Frost / Triptykon : Avant-garde bizarre doom metal
Candlemass : Unintentionally hilarious but undeniably accomplished epic opera doom
9) Corrupted and Boris : both great Japanese experimental doom bands
10) Sunn0))) and Earth : the endless drone doom, slow beyond belief
11) Cathedral and Pentagram : more classic early doom
Newer bands I like include the most excellent Witchsorrow, Acid Witch, and Salome. (24,357)
So this is what it's come to. We've spent all and now are compelled to face the true reality of the situation we've chiseled out for ourselves. All these years trying to get more, get more, and get more independent have really all been spent mortaring ourselves tightly inside the chamber of the Hate Goat.
The Hate Goat sows confusion and harvests the gutted husks of dreams from within the foul Abbatoir of Hope. He rejoices that we've invested so much of our blood and effort, only to finally join him in his vile abode.
YOU LIED TO ME YOU SAID YOU'D NEVER TURN FROM ME YOU LIED TO ME YOU LIED TO ME (45,308)
What a terrible and brutish era it is that we live in. With the last credible mote of hope having been shuffled off to the abattoir, all we can offer you is this fleeting reminder that not everything has always sucked :
In old Army parlance, a "forlorn hope" was a band of soldiers sent off on a mission that was deemed necessary but presumed suicidal. We're th' forlorn hope. We're being sent out into a burning hail of deathspittle in an attempt to wrench humanity's future from the weasel class. The kicker is, of course, that we know there is no future. The weasel class and we are going to shriek and wail together, in broken sorrowful awe of the horror we've hewn out for ourselves.
On th' positive side, th' new Massive Attack record is really excellent -- expect a review of that puppy tomorrow! (54,206)
There's a thundering hailstorm in Phoenix today, sending drops of frozen hate clattering across the skylight and beating the life out of weak trees. On the outskirts of my peripheral vision, I caught a glimpse of something white and jagged -- the future.
Life as a human right now is akin to having woken up inside the chute of a woodchipper. We may not even recall how we got inside the woodchipper in the first place. The one thing that is clear : the inevitability of the blades.
A feeling like saws chewing into my neck. The sounds of weeping just outside my door. And a cold light knife into my pupil reminds me : This is a world divorced from hope.
When facing a suffocated reality of nonexistent future, what do you do? Here are some options :
1) Lie down and wait quietly for the ice weasels to come. 2) Cry until you're too tired to cry any longer, then die. 3) Fight until death. 4) Put on heavy metal records and rock out for as long as possible.
Now, I don't know which of these sounds most attractive, or which you, the reader, may already be doing. I choose option #4. Here's why :
* Metal music is brain floss. * Metal music improves blood flow to the face. * Metal music is not a norm. * Metal music has no sympathy for your suffering. * Metal music remembers when you were only an animal. * Metal music hasn't heard about your regrets, but it can drench them in molten @#$%^& * Metal music will survive long after the Universe is toast. * Metal music recognizes your true form and can restore it if lost. * Metal music connects you with that aspect of youself that you forgot about. * Metal music is truth erupting from a sea of lies.
There's no future. But with metal music, the present can be made to rock. In these bleak and doomed days, everybody looks for help. Some go to shrinks, some watch TV, and some try in futility to numb the pain with drugs. Well, you all are welcome to your 'cheese' heroin, 'lean,' and amphetamines. I'm an Earache man myself. (52,945)
They say we're done for Because of what's coming on the wind They're handing out death for free To anyone who asks for it
They say that their way Is rational and best And that we'd better hurry And eagerly fall to rest
But no matter if they're right or wrong, That's a deal I won't accept
Maybe the Lord will save us But probably not There's too much poison in the air
But even a last moment in anguish Is a moment that belongs to me And I won't let them put me down
We may hear our children Cry out in pain Yours may be the last remaining Human name
But that doesn't mean That I'll let them take the reins I'll stay here and and present with you While we wait for the final rain
Even all these aching thoughts They're thoughts that belong to me And I won't let them put me down
We always, always, always fought And I'll fight to the end I won't surrender my last hours On the advice of these wretches
Even at the end of hope for this life I still hold on to hope for pride And I won't let them put me down
I'm not saying that I'm OK with this being the total end I was one of those who dreamed of art's survival long after the Sun's death Now there's slight time left, and you're my ultimate friend
But that's the way of things - There are stones you can't roll back An even now I feel that weight So heavy on my neck
I won't trade time for comfort I won't give up this last thing I'm keeping every feeling that's Been allotted to me
When I feel the terrible change, That sensation belongs to me And I won't let them put me down (61,806)
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Candlemass : Unintentionally hilarious but undeniably accomplished epic opera doom
