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Electric Wizard, a heavy-metal band formed in Britain by singer and
guitarist Justin Oborn (ex-Eternal) in 1993, quickly established itself as one
of the most versatile and eclectic stoner acts of the decade.
Electric Wizard (Rise Above, 1995) was a revelation: super-heavy
nightmares such as Stone Magnet and Mourning Prayer (a bit too derivative of Black Sabbath),
instrumental acid-rock jams such as Mountains Of Mars,
stoner versions of melodic Cream-ian jams such as Devil's Bride and the eight-minute Black Butterfly.
lengthy monoliths of depressed brooding like the ten-minute Electric Wizards and the slow-grinding nine-minute Behemoth,
The holy triad of stoner-rock (Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer and Hawkwind)
was bent to blaspheme cerimonies of utter nihilism.
The result sounded closer to early Swans than
to heavy-metal.
Come My Fanatics (Rise Above, january 1997), containing six lengthy pieces, was even more powerful (even heavier, duller, darker and more sluggish), a tidal wave of gloomy sounds.
Whereas the songs of the first album contented themselves with mimicking the
classics, Return Trip (10:03) managed to build an apocalyptic atmosphere
out of sheer repetition with increasingly claustrophobic variations, as if
heavy metal had wed Steve Reich's minimalism.
An elegant balance of droning and riffing (and chanting) is achieved in Doom-Mantia (8:49). The band's sound spills over into electronic and abstract
territory in two pieces.
Ivixor B/Phase Inducer (8:48) borrows an idea from the
Sisters Of Mercy and delves into a
gothic-psychedelic atmosphere of sparse noises.
The instrumental Solarian 13 (8:00) sounds like a loop of
intricate guitar patterns over a steady beat that is visited by
intergalactic spaceships.
The single
Chrono-Naut (Man's Ruin, 1997) is a lengthy suite that rehashes all
possible stereotypes of space-rock, stoner-rock and doom-metal; and
Supercoven/ Burnout (Bad Acid, 1998) offers another half an hour of
psychedelic doom-metal (this time a truly original work of art).
Without the slightest concession to the mainstream, Electric Wizard returned
with an even heavier and spacier album,
Dopethrone (MUsic Cartel, 2000 - Rise Above, 2005),
a sheer overload of bad vibrations
the erupts evil nebulae of incandescent magma.
The eight-minute Funeralopolis is basically a blues in the vein of Led Zeppelin's first album, a lot more dynamic than their previous work.
The eleven-minute I The Witchfinder is even more funereal, a protracted
ritual of self-flagellation.
The eleven-minute Dopethrone erets the most intimidating wall of riffs,
but is also the most predictable.
The sixteen-minute Weird Tales consistes of six minutes of insistent riffing followed by ten minutes of spaced-out drones.
The stylistic spectrum is broader than usual, ranging from the "lively"
Vinum Sabbathi (a miniscule track by their standards, at just three minutes),
to Barbarian, an agonizing, moribund chant over massive, dense sludge.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Claudio VEspignani)
Electric Wizard e' un complesso heavy metal formato in Inghilterra dal cantante/chitarrista Justin Oborn nel
1993. Electric Wizard (Rise Above 1995) fu una rivelazione: incubi pesantissimi come Stoner magnet e
Behemoth, cavalcate space-rock come Mountains of Mars, monoliti lunghissimi di meditazione
depressiva come Electric Wizard e Wooden pipe. La sacra triade dello stoner-rock (Black Sabbath, Blue
Cheer e Hawkwind) viene messa al servizio di queste blasfeme cerimonie di solenne nichilismo. Il
risultato finale suona pi— vicino ai primi Swans che all'heavy metal.
Il singolo Chrono-naut (Man's Ruin 1997) e' una lunga suite che rimaneggia tutti i possibili stereotipi
dello space-rock, dello stoner-rock e del doom-metal. Supercoven/Burnout (Bad Acid 1998) offre un'altra
mezz'ora di doom-metal psichedelico (questa volta un lavoro davvero originale).
Come my fanatics (Rise Above 1999) contiene sei lunghi pezzi. Dopo aver ascoltato Return trip,
Solarian 13 e soprattutto Ivixor B, ci si sente come esser stati all'inferno.
Senza la minima concessione commerciale, gli Electric Wizard sono ritornati immediatamente e con un
disco ancor piu' pesante e spaziale. Dopethrone (Music Cartel 2000) e' un puro sovraccarico di cattive
vibrazioni che erutta nebulose maligne di magma a lenta combustione come Vinum Sabbathi,
Funeralopolis e Dopethrone.
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