Sunday, May 20, 2012

Countdown to MDF X: (1) Electric Wizard

The last band to play outside on Sunday, May 27 at the 2012 Maryland Deathfest will be UK stoner doom stalwarts Electric Wizard. After four straight days of all manner of death metal, black metal, grind core and noise, the crowd will be ready for something a bit more laid-back and introspective. Well, maybe that's not an accurate description of Electric Wizard, but this is certainly music devoid of blast beats and rich with layers upon layers of doom-y spacey goodness.

Founded in 1993, Electric Wizard consists of founding member Justin Oborn (Guitar & Vocals), Liz Buckingham (Guitar),  Simon Poole (Drums) and Glenn Charman (Bass). Their music sounds like it's being piped in from an earlier era. It is chockfull of fuzzy, psychedelic and distorted guitar riffs and droning bass.  The group has taken their throw back aesthetic to the extreme, in that their entire 2007 album Witchcult Today was recorded on vintage equipment from the 1970s. Nothing says authentic like recording in analog.

Drugs and the occult form the basis of the group's lyrical content. Even the Electric Wizard logo looks like the thick smoke billowing up from a pipe or bong. Hearing just a few chords of one of their songs makes me want to dig out my bell bottom jeans and fringed leather jacket, if I had them to dig out.

Electric Wizard is working toward releasing a new full-length album but until then, the group has issued a 7-inch single entitled "Legalise Drugs and Murder." Their appearance at MDF is the group's first trip to the US in more than a decade. I don't know if they all have any kind of psychedelic slide-show back drop, but it would be kind of cool if they did.





1 comment:

  1. i like the new song, but godamn if im not seeing a pattern here. Is the weed finally catching up? Im a huge fan and am rarely critical of this band....but this sounds like The Chosen Few.

    ReplyDelete