Customer Reviews

Witchcult Today

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The superb English doomsters Electric Wizard are back with another monstrous slab of slow, brain bludgeoning riffs and grooves, fuzzed to the extreme and laced in sumptuous psychedelic overtones. Essentially, doom metal doesn't get any better than Electric Wizard. Past releases such as "Come My Fanatics" and their generally regarded peak, "Dopethrone" slay the rest of the doom/stoner metal field. While recent albums such as "Let Us Prey" and "We Live" are outstanding works when compared to the hundreds of lacking bands in the genre, the new line-up (new from "We Live") needed something to surge them back to old form. "Witchcult Today" does exactly that.

There is not a second wasted on "Witchcult Today". Like "Dopethrone" and "Come My Fanatics" I can just spin the album without ever wanting to skip. The one-two punch of the title track and "Dunwich" is blistering, with the title track flowing through various powerful grooves, riffs and an infectious chorus. "Dunwich" picks up the pace a little, again blasting through superb riffs and another excellent vocal melody in the chorus. Thankfully the band decided to keep this relatively up-tempo song at a reasonable pace, something disregarded in the last two albums with two overly fast tracks that just sounded messy and out of place. Slow brooding doom is what the band does best, and it doesn't get much better than "The Chosen Few". The songs menaces its way classic EW riffs and culminates with a haunting vocal harmony laced with one of the album's most infectious riffs. "Torquemada 71" reminds me of "We Hate You" from "Dopethrone" thanks to its simplicity and resulting accessibility. My favourite riff on the album and an equally compelling chorus hook makes this song the album's would-be lead single...would-be, if there was a popular chart for doom and stoner metal that is. After the atmospheric and often psychedelic flow of "Black Magic Rituals" the album closes with the excellent "Saturnine", which thunders through a catchy main hook and ends with an all-out jam full of fuzzy soloing, trancelike sounds and atmospherics and of course a driving groove to earth it all.

This is exactly the album I wanted Electric Wizard to make. Gone are the questionable experiments, replaced by unapologetic, classic EW. Fans of the band's old material should absolutely love this release. The doom masters are back!

very psychedelic, very 70s, very Sabbath, very Argento, very Vince Price, Electric Wizard is not only a Metal band, they are an artform a captivating trip thru darkness, full of british pride, the unique stoner rock charm they play is fascinating, you get immerse in a dark cloud into obscurity, density have been lost a little but this have been changed for a more 70s rock vibe, more in the mood of a Sabbath era "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" but slower and darker much more. Miss Buckingham provides too a great second guitar it was a good idea her addition.

Get this great album you will be plenty pleased

HM

if you can count old Vincent Price movies as a musical influence, you will LOVE Electric Wizard! In my cobweb-covered, black candle burning opinion, "Witchcult Today" is one of the best releases of 2007. Doom on!

More of a vintage feel than any of their previous albums.
They strike the chord from the git-go, and they just keep it up.
Lyrics like, "Legalize drugs, and murder."
This album might be a more-rounded album than even Dopethrone. Yeah, I said it! Buy Dopethrone first, though.

Electric Wizard having started in 1993 succeeded thoroughly in the Doom Metal genre with past albums (like Dopethrone), and with roughly six albums under their belt they are still holding up! Combining elements closely associated with Black Sabbath, stoner music and dare i say sludge,hails them a notch above.

The lyrics and subject matter are something you should come to expect with the group. Witches, common horror plots, cultish voodoo ritualistic 'stuff', are kinda their supremacy. The songs aren't too varied but hold up well. Strong bassy, heavy as metal of its kind should be. The songs are obviously on the longer end of the scale, but hold nicely.

Overall the album is a strong recommendation to a growing metalheads colletion, but bewarned new comers to the Doom Metal genre... Doom metal in no way is as 'hardcore' as people associate its name with. Doom metal is dubbed heavy though, which in return is often confused for being 'hard' (think Death Metal/Black Metal?). Thus confusion I hope I resolved.

After the relative disappointment of 'We Live', the Wizard are well and truly back with easily their best album since 'Dopethrone'. It has taken an age, but is well worth the wait. Anyone with even the remotest interest in doom metal needs to hear this album. Now.

There is an old rule...actually, it is more like a law, that under no circumstance should persons, neither patrons nor artisans, of the doom metal lineage be allowed to have fun. Doom is to be sorrowful, affiliated with the bleak side of life, and dreadfully, dreadfully serious. That is why I started to worry myself when I began associating myself with that Electric Wizard crowd. Not only did these boys and girl want me to get high with them off of a reefer, but then they wanted me to sing along to their music too...we were having a lot of doom-related fun; it makes me sick. And that wretched album "Witchcult Today" seems to be where they hang out.

Electric Wizard have for over a decade now straddled the fence between oppressive doom metal and groove-laden stoner rock. The overall density and pace (slow and slower) has kept them more firmly rooted in the doom camp, but on "Witchcult Today" they have perfected the art of making evil riffs that one can strut to.

I can think of very few albums that are both extremely heavy and extremely catchy. One that stand outs in my mind is "Welcome to Sky Valley" by Kyuss...other than that I really have to dig deep in the catalog of my mind to find something comparable to "Witchcult Today". But would I say that these albums sound anything alike? Not at all. "Witchcult Today" finds Electric Wizard making songs that are awfully heavy and terribly catchy. The riffs find a sonic groove and then go into repeat, causing an uncontrollable bobbing motion of the listener's head. Over this Jus Osborne sings some damn memorable tunes. No matter which way you look at it, "Witchcult Today" is a winner. The cool riffs never let up and the song itself never gets boring.

The tracks here that really stand out are "Dunwich" and "Torquemada 71". As evil as "Dunwich" is, I still find myself humming it under my breath at random times throughout the day, as though it were that annoying Natasha Bettingfield song I can't seem to get away from. The opener and title track is a fantastic introduction to the cult, as it entrances you in a psycheDoomic haze of crushing distortion and out-of-body feedback. Following the doomedelic feast of noise and evil that is "Black Magic Rituals & Perversions" the album ends with the inexorably moving "Saturnine". "Saturnine" consists of one of the heaviest, grooviest, and catchiest riffs to emerge since the dawn of history. The sublime essence of these riffs is indeed the link between civilized and primordial man.

One could say that "Witchcult Today" is the official first release of the "new" Electric Wizard. Now a stable quartet, complete with second guitar duty handled by the lovely Liz Buckingham, The Wiz look to forge a path that brings organic heavy music to the masses. With enough focus, I believe that this line-up could possibly pull off a Top 40 single and still retain a loyal fanbase of metalheads. In the interim between "Dopethrone" and this album, Electric Wizard played around alot with their abilities. With "Witchcult Today" they nailed it down perfectly. A classic rock album for the modern era.

If I could give a sixth star for awesome album art, I would.

i LOVE the wizard, they are truly extraordinary and back in full force with WITCHCULT TODAY -- i swear there is nothing like lighting up and zoning out to this unbelievable music

One of the few bands that do this type of music the right way. I love the sense of humor in the lyrics. The one about Count Drugula is awesome. Too many of these bands take themselves WAAAY too seriously and forget the rock n roll elements to Sabbath.

Chances are if you're really into stoner/doom metal you won't like Mighty High...In Drug City, but check it out anyway. You'll like the album cover at least.

It may be a prerequisite to burn one as one listens to this album, but since I don't toke and don't intend to, you'll have to settle for a sober review.

OK, here's the screenplay: Imagine an ancient race of malevolent gods brooding under the sea, waiting for that opportune moment to arise out of the cold, black depths to rid their planet of the vermin of humanity. They are aided by a small cult of humans - betrayers to their race, if you will - that will be rewarded for their faithfulness once the Dark Ones are placed back on their rightful thrones of the earth. Electric Wizard's "Witchcult Today" would be the soundtrack to that movie...

The album is atmospheric more than anything else, with Osborn's and Buckingham's guitars laying down slab after slab of thick, fuzzy, crunchy guitar riffs nodding to Sabbath. I have read that the band dedicated themselves to using vintage instruments and equipment from the late 1960's to capture the full effect of the sound. It worked.

The songs are typical doom numbers in structure. Tempos are walking pace to downright super-largo, like oozing molasses in slow motion. Every song is in a minor key. Rob Al-Issa's bass is the backbone to the entire sound of the album, and rightly should be, as opposed to the failure of any identifiable bass on albums such as St. Vitus's "V". Also, don't look for excessive guitar noodling or a wide vocal range on any of the cuts. In a phrase, this album is for lovers of this genre only, and will NOT appeal to the mainstream, which is exactly what Electric Wizard wants...

The first two tracks, "Withcult Today" and "Dunwich", immediately drag the listener in with dark, catchy opening grooves. However, both songs get a bit repetitive within the last few minutes (the repeated phrases, "Our witchcult grows..." and "Our time has come...", ad nauseum). Still, these two gems practically pay for the album. "Satanic Rites of Drugula" is apparently a pun from the 1960's cult horror movie of the similar name ("Satanic Rites of Dracula"). "Raptus" is a forgettable soundscape that is totally unnecessary. "The Chosen Few" and "Torquemada '71" are similar to the first two tracks, but suffer from the same faults. "Black Magic Rituals & Perversions" is way too long for its own good. It starts out with a great groove, but ends in an atmospheric piece that literally goes nowhere. Plus, I just don't dig all the satanic incantations near the end. I almost always skip this track. The album ends with a great number, "Saturnine". This is one of my favorite songs on the album. Although it clocks in at around 11 minutes, it is enjoyable from start to finish.

Two big drawbacks I have with the whole project:
1. It is possible to overdo the satanic aspect. This is one of those albums that I have to listen to by myself for fear of offending others.
2. Depending on the edition one buys, the inside artwork of the American release is shocking to say the least. It is filled with photographs of acts of satanic worship. I can only hope the photographs were staged...!

This will probably be the only Electric Wizard (EW) album I own, but in a few places, it truly shines with that dark, rich luster from the Netherworld.