electric wizard - wizard, bloody wizard

there wasn't much for me this year's record store. literally not one single release caught my attention. i wrote off rsd 2018. in one of my regular searches at the new vinyl section over at the european nuclear blast store i came across a new pressing of the recent electric wizard record. it was actually released in 2017 and of course i was aware of the output but a few factors really put me off and i refrained from ordering a copy.

coloured first press copies had a hefty price tag on them considering this was just a single lp release. even for a double lp, i think thirty bucks are quite expensive. furthermore the colour-way was clear vinyl and i am not the biggest fan of that. other stuff seemed more attractive at that point. ok, hands down for this rsd version i didn't pay much less but i felt it was finally time to get a copy. i wasn't disappointed at all.

this is a no frills doom/stoner metal record with the right dosage of occultism. electric wizard seems not to be capable of writing a bad album. the presentation is pretty neat. gatefold cover with glossy card on the outside and matte card on the inside. a cool touch, never saw something like this before. then we have a printed dust sleeve, a huge poster and nice white with red splatter vinyl. tattooed retro female ass and genitalia in the artwork is always a winner. rsd '18 release on spinefarm records. 2017/2018.

electric wizard - time to die

my latest addition to the electric wizard collection. it is their freshest full length being released two years ago. for the first time in their longplayer history there was no involvement by rise above records. it is a co-release by spinefarm records from finland, which might be known to a broader audience through their melodic death metal releases by children of bodom or dark tranquility, and the band's own label - witchfinder records.

yet another record on which the wizard comes around with an altered personnel. tas danazoglou and shaun rutter - bass-player and drummer - left the band and jus osborn recorded the bass tracks himself on this album. most remarkably is the return of mark greening on drums. when he left after the 2002 album 'let us prey', it seemed there was a lot of bad blood between him and band leader osborn.

whatever it was that brought them back together, the world was about to witness the return of this fertile combination of the two, completed by the excellent craftsmanship of liz buckingham. the record has become one of their strongest efforts to date, as long as my humble self is concerned. a bit more sludgier all in all and with all that movie samples it has a great cinematic feel to it. the artwork ties in perfectly with that occult seventies horror movie theme.

i love the back piece showing the band members and the bonus poster in particular. i got this copy via a friendly discogs seller from germany. my version actually is a record store day release from 2015 to be distinguished from the first press by it's copper coloured cover art and the clear vinyl colour. the quantity pressed seems to be unknown, at least i couldn't find any info. spinefarm records. witchfinder records. 2014.

electric wizard - black masses

the sixth month in a row with a electric wizard record on display. this time it's about their sixth full length 'black masses'. i bought this baby around the same time i ordered 'let us prey' and 'we live'. at one point early last year, nuclear blast carried some copies of this 'black masses' tri-coloured vinyl. they sold out pretty quickly and i didn't snag one because i wasn't into the wizard's work at that time.

when their music clicked with me while listening to 'dopethrone', i was looking out for any available album on vinyl. shortly after that nuclear blast took pre-orders for a not otherwise specified tri-colour vinyl version. i was wondering if it was the same that was available a few months ago but definitely didn't care enough to wait for detailed information which i actually didn't need to know i would like it.

hey, it was a tri-colour split so there wasn't a chance that i let this pass me by. in the end it was the same version they already offered. can't really find a sensible explanation as this is actually the most limited colour-way of the second press. these were probably some forgotten copies from the vault or something. whatever the reason was, i am happy with it as they look pretty awesome.

musically this is the very own electric wizard sound with which they started since 'we live'. 'we live' will stay as my favourite second line-up electric wizard record, still 'black masses' is a damn strong album. heavy, gloomy, catchy - all this with this sleazy seventies sound. what more can you ask for. especially when 'black masses' has this slightly erotic, occult artwork. worship the wizard on your phono altar under a moonlit sky. 275 copies made. rise above records. 2010.

electric wizard - witchcult today

my fifth electric wizard record is the band's sixth studio album called 'witchcult today. it was the first one that wasn't as easily available as the ones before. no german store was carrying a coloured vinyl version of this album. so i had to search for them on second hand market places. the first i seek in such cases is usually discogs. when i looked to find what specific colour way would take my fancy, there was one that definitely got me hooked.

a lovely pink vinyl pressing which i had to make mine. fortunately i found a seller from germany who offered it for a price that i could live with. listening to this record, i am not to 100 percent sold on it. it's the second album with the new line-up and the dirty, melodic rock side to their doom metal sound is more prominent here. don't get me wrong, it's a real good album. i simply prefer their earlier work, is all. but i unconditionally recommend 'witchcult today' to any electric wizard fan.

for this record the band recorded the songs entirely on seventies vintage equipment. i mean, if i didn't read this somewhere, i wouldn't hear the difference but the fact is pretty cool on its own. the artwork ties in seamlessly. the pictures must have been taken with seventies camera equipment as well or been at least reworked to look like pictures of that time. they have that specific grainy look. the hot 180g pink vinyl is definitely a winner. don't know how much have been made. rise above records. 2007/2010.

electric wizard - we live

'we live' marks electric wizard's fifth album and leads me to the conclusion that the band is unable of producing a bad album. although this wasn't the same band i knew from the previous records. for 'we live' only founding member and vocalist/guitarist jus oborn remained and three new members joined the electric wizard. by a mysterious incident oborn fell out with tim bagshaw and mark greening.

rumour has it that the north american tour to promote 'let us prey' from 2002 raised a lot of tension between the band members. shortly after that tour even the break-up of the wizard was announced. however, in 2003 bagshaw and greening left the band and founded ramesses later on. liz buckingham on second guitar, rob al-issa on bass and justin greaves on drums were the new names in the game.

remarks to that change in line-up are that the band refers to itself as the electric wizard on the cover for the first time and within the booklet as electric wizard II. furthermore, statetments such as 'my enemies, i fear not... but god save me from my friends' printed in the booklet or the whole album title can be considered as raised middle fingers to the former band-members.

anyway, the songs are great. check out the title song and 'flower of evil a.k.a. malfiore' and get your wizard's fix just like you need it. i ordered this one together with the 'let us prey' record from high roller. it's a copy of the 2014 re-press on clear green with black marble. my second disc came out pretty dark, so i held it up to the light. looks lovely. third pressing. 500 copies made. rise above records. 2004/2014. 

electric wizard - let us prey

the third electric wizard record to appear on my blog and the fourth in the electric wizard discography. after i bought 'dopethrone' on a whim at the nuclear blast shop and was blown away by it i set out to get the wizard's back catalogue on my beloved vinyl. a fun task because there are eight full lengths on numerous colours, so a lot of searching and seeking to get the best possible option.

in this case i had to make a compromise. when i was buying this record i had the following reasonable options. the clear/black smoke re-press from nuclear blast, a few discogs options and a gold re-press from high roller records. as you can see, i opted for the solid gold version from high roller because i was able to order a 'we live' copy along and save on shipping, although other colours looked cool, too.

the record was initially released in 2002 by rise above records. back then, rise above didn't go for a vinyl version. dark times for vinyl. only the u.s. label, the music cartel, released a black vinyl edition for the north american market. five years later rise above did the second pressing on a variety of colour-ways. seven years later the third pressing came around with my golden copy being part of it.

musically this record has a gloomier feel to it. i read in some interview that the band really tried to push the boundaries of their sound in the studio. experimenting with guitar layers and trying to give 'let us prey' an old horror movie feel. works for me. i really love this one. the artwork is a bit strange, though. can't say what it depicts. looks still good. 500 copies made. rise above records. 2002/2014. 

electric wizard - come my fanatics...

the wizard is back again. after i fell in love with their 2000 masterpiece called 'dopethrone', i set out to collect all their releases on coloured vinyl. so this is my second find. the band's second full length 'come my fanatics...' from 1997. luckily rise above records did a lot of re-presses for their electric wizard back catalogue recently, and so this was relatively easy to obtain.

i was checking german distros carrying electric wizard titles and i stumbled upon high roller records, which had a fair amount of copies up for sale. among others they got copies of 'come my fanatics...' on purple/gold vinyl in stock recently. seeing them, i didn't hestitate to order even though i already blew my monthly vinyl budget. but man, you know how it is, being late means paying even more in the future. this logic will always justify my dirty deeds, haha.

i like what rise above does with those electric wizard re-presses. for 'come my fanatics...' they changed the art work, which was absolutely in favour of the all around look. check the original here. aside from my love for vinyl, i am also a big comic book enthusiast. i recently read 'fatale' by ed brubaker and sean phillips. it has a lovecraftian theme and is partly about a cult worshipping the cold, alien gods known as the great old ones.

the dudes from the cover remind me of those cultists. check out an excerpt here. musically this is great stoner/doom metal of that special electric wizard kind, that i came to love on 'dopethrone'. the only song i find a bit useless is the instrumental 'ivixor b/phase inducer', the rest is doom perfection. check out 'wizard in black' and 'son of nothing'. 500 pressed on that gold marbled purple vinyl. rise above records. 1997/2015.

electric wizard - dopethrone

i heard of electric wizard a thousand times before because they are the big thing in their genre. i even listened to them at some point, but you know how it is, it just wasn't the right time for me and the wizard. when i was browsing through the nuclear blast eu shop recently i came upon a re-press of 'dopethrone'. nb always has some good stuff of rise above records through a distribution deal of the two labels.

i pretty much liked the cover art. it's kind of ominous and with its blurriness it seems to fit whatever the horned man on the cover is doing. i don't know about things like these. so i hit the tube and checked some tunes and lo and behold, i really liked what i heard. great fuzzed out doom worship with a distinctive stoner edge. nice stuff. check out 'we hate you'. probably my favourite song of the record.

therefore it was a no-brainer to add a copy to my cart. after some listens i only grew to like it more and more. 'dopethrone' often gets praised as electric wizard's crowning achievement. of course with only knowing this album i can't be sure about this statement, but it's definetely a hell of a good doom record. understandable that rise above keeps cranking out re-issues of the wizard's work.

good for the fans and especially good for me. this re-press looks real lovely. gatefold sleeve with all lyrics on the inside, black poly-lined dust sleeves and this nice 180g semi-translucent, white marbled vinyl makes it looking sharp! electric wizard has eight albums in their back-catalogue. it's going to be fun to collect them. the hunt is on! can't say how many were pressed of these, though. rise above records. 2000/2015.