Electric Wizard – Wizard Bloody Wizard

Electric Wizard – Wizard Bloody Wizard

Spinefarm Records – 2017

Doooooom

Rated: ?????

Earlier this year, At The Drive-In released an album after a 17-year break between recording. I liked it a lot but reading some of the comments about “in•ter a•li•a”, you would think that ATDI had committed genocide and pissed on the remains. Arguably their break through record, “Relationship Of Command” was lauded as a post-punk masterpiece – rightly or wrongly, and created a fanatical and rabid fanbase to whom “ROC” was the best album ever made. I base any review on how it compares to Black Flags “My War”. It was not as good but still a great listen. Because I am so fucking old, I am not going to have any albums coming along that will change my life anymore … kinda sad, but true. I have had my mind blown by hearing The Stooges, Pistols, Clash, Motorhead, AC/DC, Killing Joke etc. But for a lot of younger people, maybe “ROC” was their first defining album they had experienced and anything less than that will never meet their expectations. And so, to Electric Wizard (about time I hear you mutter). “Dopethrone” was a huge milestone for people and became THE album that defined a movement. Did it change my life? No – it was not as good as “My War” … But it did open up a world of heaviness that I had somehow missed out on until then. And that may be the problem for EW. Always being judged on an album way back in their past. Never living up to expectations. Wanting to grow as a band and not just record “Dopethrone” over and over again. “Wizard Bloody Wizard” is a riff heavy beast with fuzzed solos, proto-metal blues and tighter song structures. I like it. It also has a similar feel and sound to many other albums out at the moment. Albums that have clearly used EW as a template. Bands that have plundered the EW ethos and made their own sound. Leaving any new offering by EW not as “special” as “Dopethrone”. I cannot score this out of five because my critical opinion may differ widely from anyone else depending on how much earlier EW stuff has “changed” your life. This time dear readers, you and only you will have to be the judge and jury. May the Dark Lord guide you wisely!

(Written by Tony Maim)

Homepage

Facebook