LP Review 'Ecate' by Ufomammut

The Italian trio are back with their seventh studio album ‘Ecate’ which takes its name from the Greek Goddess associated with all things darkness – nice. As expected among the noise saturation and dissonant crushing doom, Uffomammut throw out some rib-cage rattling riffs and the occasional dissonant hateful gem ‘Plouton’.

The band have nailed their space-doom formula by now, but refreshingly after the lighter 2012’s ‘Oro: Opus Primum’ which treaded a more prog rock terrain and was heavily laden with distorted chants, ‘Ecate’ is a heavier beast altogether. Expectant wails and feedback are accompanied by Swans-esque bass lines and slow builds giving the album an unsettling tone. ‘Chaosecret’ in particularly sounds like it was dreamed up by Michael Gira ‘Filth’ era. ‘Ecate’ however utilise the heaviness with refrained precision, the album segues effortlessly between the heaviest of doom similar to Neurosis and lighter sequences – which are terrifying in an altogether different way.

This time the band have held back on the space rock special effects opting for a more straight up less flashy album. Brittle and circular Uffomammut are self-descriptive. Seven albums in and the band are nothing if not authentic. The album showcases influences from as far afield as Pink Floyd and Hawkwind on the classic spectrum to more obvious counterparts like Electric Wizard and Om the next.

At this stage it is expected that the band deliver – and once again they have done just that – a crushing masterstroke.

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Demo Review - "D​.​F​.​F​.​L" by Alucarda

Alucarda is the name of a Mexican horror movie released in 1978. It had more blood, loud screaming and nudity than any other horror film made at the time of its release, and for some years after that. It is one of my all time favorite cult horror movies that not very many people have heard of and is up there with other mostly unknown gems of 70's horror like Tombs of the Blind Dead for example. I learned about these movies from reading Electric Wizard's front man Jus Oborn talk about his influences and as any true fan would do, I went about devouring as many obscure and low budget foreign language horror movies as I could. No doubt I wasn't the only one.

Now there is Alucarda the band from Copenhagen who have released a demo featuring 4 slabs of dirty grimy doom punk that is heavy on the Electric Wizard style riffs and lyrics and seething with raw as fuck and angry punk. They sound like a gang of insane and murderously be-demoned bikers with mohawks and beards charging about on deafening hell machines and sparing no lives as they go about their wanton destruction and it sounds fucking awesome!!

Their demo opens with "Electric Tower" from big black feedback and into even bigger growling doom riffs slathered with essence of Electric Wizard until the track takes off into savage and violent doom punk that is in the same camp as the likes of Satan's Satyrs. The song tares along swinging its fists about and smashing everything in its way until it drops down into harsh and crushing doom half way only to get back up and continue its angry punk smash down until the very end when there seems to be nothing left to smash.

"Nosteratu's Doom" carries things on with face melting doom punk that is loud and obnoxious and not the kind of music your gran would appreciate being subjected to for more than a few seconds before fouling herself. Further on the song slows into very sleazy wha'd riffs tuned very low and is as soul crushingly heavy and hypnotic as any Electric Wizard track you've heard.

"Wicked Sabbath" begins with stoned and lazy Sleep meanderings until an evil laugh mocks you just before a drop into monolithic Sabbathian riffs of concentrated doom. The track is an instrumental but features voice samples from horror movies here and there but for the most part the track towers above with massive EW style riffs and hooks that capture you in brain melting doom shivers until the evil cackling laugh returns to see the track out.

The final and demo title track that is "D.F.F.L" begins with a long sample from a movie that I don't know yet and a hippy giving grief to a cop because of the grief the cop gives to the likes of him with his long hair and pot smoking and gazing at the stars and writing poetry in the sand. Then the track kicks you in your face with blazing and rolling heavy punk rock full of dirt and spite and angry energy. The riffs come large and fast with tumbling chaotic drums and freaked out guitar and Wha lickery Electric Wizard style. The track tares along like a heavily damaged juggernaut trailing flames and thick plumes of black smoke until it is slowed temporarily by a huge wall of doom before the blazing heavy punk returns for a final tare up until the end.

I am an immediate fan of this band, not just because of their name or because they have very successfully bound together some truly doom inspired riffs right out of EW's book with violently roughshod and teeth grittingly dirty punk rock but because of that. Yes, it is because of that. They play as if they are Electric Wizard playing punk rock which works very well and although they don't seem to have a Facebook and only a Bandcamp page where you can listen to their demo but not buy and download it, I really hope to see a release of this demo very soon.

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New Band To Burn One To: VOODOO MULE

HEAVY PLANET PRESENTS...

BAND BIO:

A hybrid with an error, a not so clever idea gone worse, a menace that bucks you off with a hint of voodoo from under a top hat black….with a hint of sugar, spice and everything nice, that is how this sonic behemoth came about.

The idea behind Voodoo Mule was a simple one, no indie, just loud and filthy. These are the secret ingredients that bond together an ensemble of three with Fabo (ex-Eliminator) on drums, Matej (ex-Hare Krišna Hippie Groovies) on bass, and Jernej (ex-a couple of something that came out to be nothings) on guitar and vocals.

This is the form in which we`ve been working since March 2010 and performing since February 2011. We made our first recordings in February 2011 when we immortalized our first three songs that formed our first officially unofficial demo that bloggers labeled it to be stoner rock. Since then we have covered our homeland Slovenia throughout and our hometown Ljubljana several times as well, with disturbingly loud riff driven rock shows. Just  a couple of highlighted shows were at Mladinin over at Festival lent, Paranid Open Air and an opening slot for the legends of doom metal Count Raven in the opening days of Ortofest in Ljubljana and many many many more.

By the end of the summer of 2011 we set out to rehearse new material and make another officially unofficially demo which was released in the spring of 2012 to support upcoming shows and a Euro tour. The demand for voodoo vibes seems to be high as we`ve booked just shy of ten shows in the first two months of the mule being revived for public.

Our plans for the future are as simple as the basic idea that holds us together, play loud, play out, stay filthy and respect your roots.

THOUGHTS:

"Thick, heavy and filthy are three words I would use to describe the Voodoo Mule. This three-piece Slovenian band has just released their latest full-length album "Voodoo Zoo" to the starving masses. For this album, the guys set out to make an album that is simple, heavy as fuck and loud as hell and I would have to say that all three have been masterfully achieved. Each song flows into each other effortlessly as the songs transition into form.  A heavy fuzzy solo greets you immediately on opening track "Honeyland" and promptly sets the pace for which you are about to receive from these almighty doomsters. 

The music continues with evil-riffing, bewitching guitar soloing and a supernatural disturbance. The vocals on this release are purposely buried in the mix and gives the album a darker and more foreboding feel similar to that of the Electric Wizard. 

The highmark on this album is the 18-minute plus track "Church Snake". You are kindly greeted by a wall of feedback until the song hits you in the face with a heavy force of doom. Around the 6:20 mark a single note beckons until silence subsides. Around the 9:00 mark you are greeted by an unworldly presence sounding as if the band is being suffocated by the heaviness of Beelzebub's foot. Actually this is an early demo that the band recorded and used a pocket recorder and a little studio magic to give it that inauspicious sound.

Take the Voodoo Mule for a ride today. It will be slow, heavy and deeply satisfying.

  

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New Band To Burn One To: Cromlech

HEAVY PLANET PRESENTS...CROMLECH

BAND BIO:

Slow, loud music from Middlesbrough UK. For fans of large structures.

Members:

James Morrison - Bass/Vocals
Ben Goodwill - Guitar
Gordon Archer - Drums

THOUGHTS:

Cromlech, from the UK, come with a 2 track demo of stripped down and low down doom metal. Like a massive be-denimed and leathered sloth, dragging it's knuckles and swollen belly and shaking the ground as it hulks onward, the 2 tracks on here lurch with huge gritty riffs, devastating drum avalanches and Jus Oborn style guitar + wha freakouts. There is an effective melancholy edge to their sound which reminds me of "We Live" era Electric Wizard but Cromlech manage to forge their very own heavy homunculus which keeps their take on Doom Metal monolithic, saturnine and bewitching all at once.

Their demo EP was released as a free download at their bandcamp earlier this month so head over there and pick up some satisfyingly heavy Doom Metal for free. I'll be keeping an eye on Cromlech for future releases as I'm sure they have plenty more riffs to unleash upon the world of doom.

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LP Review- The Sacred Above, The Sacred Below By Beast in the Field

     I was born a Hoosier but expect to die a Michigander. And I'm plenty happy in my new home, in a state whose musical pedigree includes rawkhounds like Grand Funk Railroad, The Stooges, and the MC5. And you can throw the Motor City Mad Man in there too, and Motown and John Lee Hooker moved up here as well, so...

     "But what about....?"

      I'm sure you're saying this to yourself right now, and I know I've left some out, but this just goes to prove my point. Great bands are born in the third coast, and you can add Beast in the Field to that illustrious list. Headquartered in Midland, Beast in the Field are Michigan's most amazing active rock and roll duo. Duo. Guitar and drums. That's it. There isn't even room for vocals in the wall of doom produced by Beast in the Field. They sounds like spawn of Karma to Burn and Electric Wizard turned up to eleven and played through an Iron Age amplifier. They'd be bigger if they weren't banned from many of the clubs they play after their shows draw noise complaints for miles.

     Their new album, The Sacred Above, The Sacred Below, comes out this March on Saw Her Ghost Records, and it is another stoner/doom classic. The album starts out with Great Watcher in the Sky a short guitar piece the style of which pops up throughout the album like a graveyard ghost. After this short intro, the fun starts, with Hollow Horn, a track that gorges your eardrums in the most pleasant way possible for seven plus minutes. Next up is Altar of Red Earth, which begins with Native American style percussion before the riff climbs through the percussive haze and stomps around your cranium for another seven plus. Wakan Tanka comes next, offering another heavy as Earth riff fest that clocks in just under five and a half, the shortest of the songs but very rewarding. After that is the "single", There Once Were Mountains of Ice, which you can taste for yourself by using the link at the bottom of this page. After this cut comes The Great Spirit of Light, a short light piece that sets up the Oncoming Avalanche, a twenty-two minute plus cornucopia of riffs and drums. Then you get the title track, a cut that boasts one of the most memorable riffs on the album and backed by the brilliant Native drumming that pops up throughout the album. And is that a solo in there? Interesting. The album ends with its most ambitious track, Covered by Clouds, Eaten By Snakes, where the ghostly guitar sound of the short interludes steps out of the darkness and dances to the greatest use of sleigh bells I've heard in a rock and roll song. This is their Amazing Grace. The song might stand out on the album, and those who have yet to be baptized by Beast in the Field's mighty riff, might be thrown by the "lightness of the track" but Beast have always used light to their advantage, and you gotta remember that one cannot live on heavy alone.

    The video is a track pulled from a previous album, Goat Isle Senace, but the uninitiated will understand from this track what the mighty Beast is all about. Pre-order the album now from Saw Her Ghost.

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New Band To Burn One To: THE WELL

HEAVY PLANET presents... THE WELL!

BAND BIO:

The Well are a power trio that have been exploring the darker side of the music spectrum through doom-laden sonic landscapes and haunting lyrics for the past two years. On the tail end of a former project guitarist Ian Graham turned to his past for inspiration, embracing his childhood passion for all things metal, all things dark. He was transported back by nostalgia to a time where his school desks were covered in pentagrams, his teachers glanced askance at his decision to read Aleister Crowley while his peers were force fed state-mandated curriculum designed to shape them into “functioning members of society”. Remembering the consistency, adventures spent laying in his bedroom, staring at a star-covered ceiling, with Black Sabbath blaring into his headphones, Ian began writing music even his angst ridden 10 year old self would approve of. Big riffs, walls of sound, slow, relentless, heavy. Teaming up with bassist Lisa Alley and drummer Jason Sullivan, the three spent months schlepping equipment to and from a local practice rental space, dialing in their sound. Their debut show came on July 4th, 2011, playing a metal-laden fest headed by Austin’s Stoner Metal mainstay, The Sword, and they haven’t stopped working since.

Their sound has been compared to everything from Electric Wizard, Wicked Lady, Sleep, Green and Wood, Saint Vitus, and of course, Black Sabbath, while managing to remain something entirely its own. One glaring innovation shines through in The Well’s vocal stylings, Ian and Lisa deliver their transcendent tales in unison so in sync that it is said to be difficult to tell whether there’s a single entity, or an entire chorus reciting each song. Supported by lyrical depth made capable from a lifetime of drawing poetic influence from the likes of Joyce, Pound, Yeats and Baudelaire, the vocals dance amongst the driving bass, war-mongering drums, and floating, merciless guitars, weaving a scene both desolate and hopeful, crushing and inspiring, unforgiving and consoling.

Based in Austin, TX, the band has worked with individuals at the top of the music industry. In the spring of 2012, they recorded their debut 7” at The Barbeque Shack with Tia Carerra’s Jason Morales. Following this self-released demo, The Well came back to the studio this fall, this time recording their first full-length LP. Produced by Mark Deutrom of the Melvins, Sunn O))), etc. and engineered at Ohm Recording Facility by Chico Jones.

THOUGHTS:

"As I started to listen to the big meaty riffs and cool retro fuzzy feel of Austin-based band The Well, one thing that stood out was the unique vocal layering of male/female vocals. The two sing in unison in a rather slow and lethargic fashion amongst wah-wah doom riffs and a slow steady tempo. With all of the key ingredients and industry luminaries in place, The Well are primed to make their upcoming debut one to watch out for in the year 2013. Great stuff!"

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Black Shape of Nexus - Negative Black

I ask any supposed doom fans, have you ever shared a bed with a Woolly Mammoth. If the answer is yes, you might be able to fathom the type of love-making that went on and was recorded to create this record.

Black Shape of the Nexus' Negative Black. It's a behemoth of ferocious magnitude and an ancient sound. The tambre evokes Dopethrone-Era Electric Wizard.

1."Illinois"- The opener is the traditional astral drone. Irksome atmospheric guitar blisters and howls. This tune is long, sonically over-powering and nasty. A mood-setter.

2."400h"- A ferocious and pummeling gallop dominates here. Squelched delayed vocals permeate the background. The tune builds into trippy dissonace before burning into a demonic key shift.

3.60 WV- Another sludge debaser, this one punches at an slow grind and trembles others. It delivers Om-like mischief with slow consistent repeated passages of the bVII to the I . 

4."10000 uF"- A 20 minute long dirging trip of chaotic doomness. Punchy gallops herald the intro, which whirls into another droning tapestry of slow nasty ideas. It eventually crashes into a swirling shrieking noise experiment.  

5."14d" - Continues with the thematic passages of droning soundscapes previously explored, sort of has a bell curve of potency and slowed down catastrophe before slowing down into the depths once more.

6."RMS"- A trippy guitar laden voyage of whispers and echoes. A mellow noise track to whisk in more time before the menacing finish to the record.

7. "Neg.Black"- Has some of the the longest overdriven sustains anywhere. Ever. This one bleakly roars until a tribal series of movements around 15 minutes. There is some interesting sound experimentation, feedback melting and large drum room sounds give a lo-fi vibe.

A decent record from an artist gaining some degree of klout in the doom realm. Grab this one by the tusks!

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New Band To Burn One To: VERDUN

Heavy Planet presents...VERDUN!

Today's "New Band To Burn One To" hails from Montpellier, France.

Band Bio:

VERDUN was born in 2010 by the communion of five musicians with substantial backgrounds (some members appear in Fleshdoll (Pervade Prod.), Grandizer (Basement Apes), Raspoutine etc.) who have in common the passion for heavy and hypnotic musics. Their master ? Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Pagan Altar or Saint Vitus. After spending months in a cave of Montpellier (FRANCE) torturing their instruments in a wet cave, they decide to leave the darkness and carry the psychedelic flame that burns inside themselves. They hit the stage with Electric Wizard, Kylesa, Red Fang or with famous french bands like As We Draw, Quartier Rouge or Pord. VERDUN plays an anxious and oppressing Doom Metal whith heavy riffs, tortured melodies embbeded in fogs of delay, some spectral voices and atmospheres that introduce the end of the world. In the beginning of 2011, VERDUN makes an endorsement deal with Mazzette which provides their new prototypes of stompboxes in order to shape a very personnal sound to the band. Now, the five doomsters have just finished the recording of their debut EP "The Cosmic Escape of Admiral Masuka". The CD version is available now through Head Records (Pneu, Ofo Am, Goodbye Diana...) and in Tape on Throatruiner Records (Birds in Row, Comity, Plebian Grandstand, As we Draw...).



Thoughts:

"Slow and repetitive doom grooves infest your brain as the distant and tortured vocal yammer tears at your soul. This is a brilliant concoction of what happens when you bring together the somberness of doom and the aggressiveness of hardcore. Let Verdun punish your eardrums today with their twisted take on doom."

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New Band To Burn One To: SALLY

Heavy Planet presents...SALLY!

Today's "New Band To Burn One To" comes to you from Birmingham, UK.

Band Bio:

Birmingham based SALLY, came together in 1996 as a trio, Andrew Parker(guitar), Peter Brown(bass), Darren Donovan(drums,vocals) taking their name from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ heroin ‘Sally Hardesty’, their music was heavily influenced by bands such as MUDHONEY, FU MANCHU and SONIC YOUTH. Guitarist Nigel Baker augmented the line-up in 1997. They recorded two demo tapes with this line-up. After witnessing a live performance supporting ORANGE GOBLIN in their hometown of Birmingham, LEE DORRIAN of RISE ABOVE RECORDS/CATHEDRAL offered the young trio a deal. Shortly before recording, SALLY inducted LEE SMITH( formerly of ETERNAL/ELECTRIC WIZARD, MOURN and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania doom legends PENANCE) on vocals. The s/t album was recorded in 1998. Baker would leave the band in 1999, not being happy with their ‘heavier’ direction. They continued as a quartet.

A BILLY ANDERSON produced sophomore album(C-EARTH) was released during 2004. The band would break up shortly after that.

SALLY have supported ORANGE GOBLIN, ELECTRIC WIZARD, GOATSNAKE, MARK D(melvins), SPIRIT CARAVAN, BEAVER, NEBULA, KARMA TO BURN, and more recently after a re-union in 2010 : SOILENT GREEN, BLOOD CEREMONY, SIGIRYIA, SLAB DRAGGER.



Thoughts:

"Many of you may be familiar with Sally as they are not exactly a "new" band. In 2010 the band got a new lease on life with constant touring and is now planning on releasing some new material. This is our way of re-introducing you to the band if you will. Sally's meandering tempos and hypnotic grime are sure to please the ears of any fan dedicated to all things Doom. Their music leads the listener along a gilded path of equally dark and psychedelic worlds which feature noisy guitars, fierce vocals and acrid heaviness. Take a listen to the band simply known as Sally and hear for yourself."

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Album Review - Electric Wizard: Black Masses

Grab the Ouija board and gather round my friends, because Great Britain’s favorite occult worshipping sons (and daughter), collectively known as Electric Wizard, are back with Black Masses, an album chock full of distortion laced, drug induced doom. The band has dealt with yet another change-up to their rhythm section since we last saw them, a trend that started way back in 2003 when original bassist Tim Bagshaw and drummer Mark Greening both split to form Ramesses. This time its Bagshaw’s replacement Rob Al-Issa who’s called it quits and Tas Danazoglou has stepped in to take his place. The rest of Electric Wizard’s lineup remains unchanged from the 2007 version that recorded Witchcult Today with Liz Buckingham on guitar, Shaun Rutter behind the drums and of course the ever present bandleader, and only original member, Jus Oborn on vocals and guitar.

The album opens with “Black Mass” followed by “Venus in Furs”, making for one of the best one-two punches to open a doom album since Black Sabbath followed up “War Pigs” with the title track on their Paranoid album. And what an apropos comparison to make, seeing as Electric Wizard are perfectly content to wear their Sabbath influences directly on their sleeve. I mean at times Oborn’s vocals are a dead ringer for a young Ozzy and the intentional underproduction of the album gives it a noticeably campy feel, making it seem as though you’ve stumbled upon some long lost recording from 1970 rather than something made in 2010. “Black Mass” is a noisy, rumbling, juggernaut of a song that features buzz-saw guitars, a crushing breakdown and one hell of a chorus (literally) that sees Oborn wailing “Hear me Lucifer”. And “Venus in Furs” keeps that momentum alive with its down tuned and downright evil sounding riff, amazing soloing throughout the song and unbelievably catchy chorus.

It’s track three, “Night Child” where the problem with Black Masses starts to rear its ugly head. The song itself isn’t altogether bad…in fact it starts off as another heavy, sludgy slice of lumbering doom-rock goodness for about four minutes, at which point it should probably come to an end. But that isn’t what happens, instead Electric Wizard continue to bludgeon the listener with the same monotonous riff over and over and over while repeating the same monotonous chorus over and over and over. It’s as if Jus and company seemed to lose their focus after that amazing start to the album, and instead of stopping at the song’s logical conclusion, they decided to drag it kicking and screaming into eight minute territory just for the sake of making another long song, not because they really had anything new to add to it, musically or lyrically.

But the band recovers with “Patterns of Evil” which sees them diving back into the rollicking, lo-fi darkness of the first two tracks. The song just oozes vintage metal with its slightly echoed vocals buried in the mix, its muffled drums, and tinny cymbals and absolutely crushing, fuzzed out guitar tones. I’m telling you, this shit sounds RETRO and it is bad fucking ass. “Satyr IX” is a ten minute dirge that slows things waaaay back down. The song is a complete sludge-fest that lulls you with the same trudging riff for a good five minutes before it finally shifts gears, albeit briefly, just in time for Jus to chant “rise…rise…legions of hatred” before it devolves into four minutes of droning chaos and noise that is the musical equivalent of throwing your eardrums into a blender. This song is an exercise in listener patience for those who aren’t stoned, but if you survive, you’ll be rewarded with the psych-core freak-out that is “Turn off Your Mind”, Electric Wizard’s apparent ode to acid and the album’s highlight in my opinion as it kind of reminds me of Blind era CoC.

“Scorpio Curse” serves as our final taste of the true Electric Wizard sound and it is a seven and a half minute textbook lesson in hallucinogenic doom, featuring another thunderous riff, depressing, apocalyptic lyrics (”this world is dead”) and ending with pure aural bedlam. It is not however, the last song on the album. Black Masses concludes with an instrumental of sorts called “Crypt of Drugula”, a track awash with guitars, lightning crashes and other effects that make it sound more like the soundtrack to a B rate horror movie than an actual song. It would be an interesting album closer if it didn’t carry on for far too long, repeating the same monotonous sound effects for nearly nine minutes.

So with Black Masses, Electric Wizard has given us a bit of a mixed bag. Where the album succeeds, it is truly some of the darkest, heaviest and downright evil doom rock you are liable to find anywhere. And the production on this thing makes you feel like you’re listening to it on an old record player in your parent’s basement…which just adds to the album’s aura, mystique and overall effect. Sadly that effect is broken during the instances where the band wrestles with how or more precisely, when to bring their songs to their logical conclusion. At those times, this album can try even the most seasoned listener’s patience. If you’re an Electric Wizard fan, then it doesn’t matter anyway, because you diehards have already bought the deluxe boxed LP complete with glossy “Crypt of Drugula” comic book. For everyone else, give this a listen and hear for yourself.

Track Listing:

01: Black Mass
02: Venus in Furs
03: Night Child
04: Patterns of Evil
05: Satyr IX
06: Turn off your Mind
07: Scorpio Curse
08: Crypt of Drugula

Band Members:

Jus Oborn - Vocals/Guitar
Liz Buckingham - Guitar
Tas Danazoglou - Bass
Shaun Rutter - Drums

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Mini-Review: Electric Wizard - Black Masses

As seen on The Klepto's Guide:

Down and dirty stoner/doom metal, the way it should be. Now I've never been a huge Electric Wizard fan, the couple of albums I have heard haven't impressed me too much, but Black Masses is something different. The only other releases I have heard from the group are their self-titled debut, and their EP/single Chrono.naut, and while I found Electric Wizard (album) to be alright, I did not like Chrono.naut, and I guess I've never really gone back to give them another shot. I think now I may have to now. Anyway, Black Masses has made it on every person's (just about) Top of 2010 list, and although I don't see that being a case for me (who knows, I haven't finished the album completely yet), it mill definitely be an Honorable Mention of some kind. While the music is great - it is doom metal with constantly fuzz-driven guitars - the songs themselves tend to become  very difficult to distinguish one from the other. The first four songs of the album all sound pretty damn similar, and if there wasn't a slight quiet bit between the songs I would have no clue where one begins and another ends. The fifth track "Satyr IX" was the first songs to mix it up; so sound like something different, which then when it returned to the previous style song, "Turn Off Your Mind," it sounded a bit more fresh. This is a minor gripe, as all of the songs do make me want to crawl into a whole and die (as any good doom metal should), I just like some variety, which is why songs like "Satyr IX" will stand out in my memory. Again a great album, nearly every song on it is something I could rock out to repeatedly. I would just like a little more variance (even a little change is doom is noticeable) in the song styles. Once the new year starts I'll have some free time to go back and listen to all of the great acts I have missed, Electric Wizard will be one of them.

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NACHTMYSTIUM, CATHEDRAL, ELECTRIC WIZARD Confirmed For GUNFEST IN OSLO

NACHTMYSTIUM, CATHEDRAL and ELECTRIC WIZARD are among the confirmed bands for the Gunfest In Oslo festival, set to take place November 27-29, 2008 in Oslo, Norway.

The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

NACHTMYSTIUM
CATHEDRAL
ELECTRIC WIZARD
GRAND MAGUS
MUSTASCH
SEPPO GOES TO HOLOCAUST
WITCHCRAFT
GRAVEYARD
LONELY CAMEL
ANSUR
ÅRABROT
HAUST
GRIFTEGÅRD
SANCTUARY IN BLASPHEMY
TOMBSTONES
SIMMS-WATTS
HARPOONA
RWAKE
THE LAMP OF THOTH

More information will be made available soon.

Album Of The Day-Electric Wizard-"Let Us Prey" (2002, Re-Issue 2008)

The Album Of The Day is the newly re-issued "Let Us Prey" by Electric Wizard.



Review:

A band whose creative process has often been as lethargic as their drawn-out doom dirges, Electric Wizard surprised many fans when they announced the imminent release of their fourth album, Let Us Prey a mere year and a half after 2000s monolithic Dopethrone — itself preceded by nearly four years of silence. Probably for this very reason, Let Us Prey weighs in at a comparatively trim 45 minutes or so and makes for a significantly easier meal to digest than its epic predecessor; but it also falls short of Dopethrone in delivering what many consider to be the final word in doom metal. In fact, it appears that, having stuffed those four years of frustration into Dopethrone's perfectly colossal mass, the world's most doleful trio used Let Us Prey to take a concerted step back from the edge, and allow themselves the privilege to explore a few new directions. A good case in point, first track "A Chosen Few" immediately finds them scaling back their extreme volume and feedback in order to make room for added guitar textures; and second offering "We, the Undead" sees them stepping on the gas and embarking upon a manic thrash-out the likes of which they've rarely attempted (topped by ultra-distorted screaming from singer Jus Osborn). Both are also uncharacteristically short and to the point, but the two-part instrumental "Master of Alchemy: I. House of Whipchord/II. The Black Drug" is more familiar. At nearly ten minutes, it resurrects the vintage, head nodding Wizard of old, and may just qualify as the greatest incidental horror movie soundtrack ever committed to tape. Sadly, its also the album's last unquestionable winner, as subsequent stoner epics "The Outsider" and "Priestess of Mars," while still offering plenty of doom for your buck, start to sound somewhat automatic and recycled. Also, separating the two is an eyebrow-raising anomaly called "Night of the Shape" consisting of piano and saxophone mood music (shock!) splayed out over a nearly electronic drumbeat. Ultimately, Let Us Prey's riskier experiments and occasional inconsistencies, however small, are bound to disappoint Electric Wizard fanatics accustomed to magnum opus after magnum opus; but the fact of the matter is that it still leaves most competitors coughing in the band's pot smoke. (Ed Rivadavia, AMG)

Track Listing:

01. ... U Chosen Few
02. We, The Undead
03. Master of Alchemy: House of Whipcord/The Blact Drug
04. Outsider
05. Night of the Shape
06. Priestess of Mars
07. Mother of Serpents [Bonus Track]

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Classic Stoner Rock Album Of The Week-"Dopethrone" By Electric Wizard

I'm gonna start every week off on the right foot by posting a classic Stoner Rock CD every Sabbath. The first album I have selected to cloud your minds with is "Dopethrone" by British Stoner Rock Gods Electric Wizard. Nothing personifies doom, gloom, darkness and worship of weed more than this remarkable aural work of art. Just the album cover alone suggests what is waiting inside. Electric Wizard are possibly the heaviest band in the universe. Take heed and kneel before the Dopethrone.

Track listing:

1. "Vinum Sabbathi" – 3:06
2. "Funeralopolis" – 8:43
3. "Weird Tales" – 15:04
I. "Electric Frost"
II. "Golgotha"
III. "Altar of Melektaus"
4. "Barbarian" – 6:29
5. "I, The Witchfinder" – 11:04
6. "The Hills Have Eyes" – 0:46
7. "We Hate You" – 5:08
8. "Dopethrone" – 20:48 (10:35 on versions featuring the song "Mind Transferral")
9. "Mind Transferral" – 14:54 (re-release only)

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ELECTRIC WIZARD Pulls Out Of Holland's ROADBURN Festival

British doom veterans ELECTRIC WIZARD have been forced to cancel their previously announced appearance at the Roadburn festival — which will take place April 17-20 at 013 in Tilburg, the Netherlands — due to a "family" matter. They have since been replaced by WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, who will perform a one-off show at Roadburn 2008.

Commented ELECTRIC WIZARD's Justin Oborn: "We regret to announce that ELECTRIC WIZARD will not be able to perform at Roadburn festival this year. Unfortunately due to an unforeseen and unavoidable situation, of a personal nature — which we had no idea would arise when we agreed to play last August — it has now become impossible for us to be at Roadburn. This cancellation is not something that we want to do and we wish to apologise to all our fans and all at Roadburn, especially Walter, and we hope that this awesome festival will be the huge success it deserves to be. We will be rescheduling our performance for September 12th, 2008 again at the 013 venue."

ELECTRIC WIZARD's sixth full-length studio album, "Witchcult Today", was released in November via Rise Above Records. Recorded and produced by Liam Watson (WHITE STRIPES, DATSUNS) at London's legendary Toerag studios, initial CD copies came in foil gatefold LP replica, with a double vinyl version foil sleeve also available.