Album Review: Electric Wizard - "Time To Die"
Imagine my surprise when I saw an album from a band called Electric Wizard in my inbox. I've been a Wizard for many years so I couldn't wait to hear what the electric version sounded like. As it turns out, Electric Wizard plays a style of music referred to as "doom metal" and hails from Dorset, England where all the best doom and dreariness comes from.
For those of you keeping score at home, "doom metal" as a genre is strongly influenced by the great Black Sabbath and tends to be, shall we say, a bit gloomy.
Electric Wizard's eighth LP is titled "Time To Die". Doom metal by definition intends to evoke a sense of dispair and, of course, doom. With that criteria in mind, Electic Wizard falls firmly into that genre. "Time To Die" is slow, dreary, murky and heavy.
Electric Wizard has had a number of personnel changes in their 20 plus years. The current line up is Jus Oborn on lead vocals and guitars, Liz Buckingham on guitar, Simon Poole plays the drums and percussion and their newest member is Clayton Burgess on the bass.
While reading the bands bio, I discovered that Oborn was the brainchild and sole member of the '80s death metal band Regurgitated Guts, a name I haven't heard in roughly 25 years. Talk about your blast from the past. Hey, Nick! Look, Regurgitated Guts!
The distorted bass of new bassist Clayton Burgess is the most prominent instrument throughout the album. It's constant droning is the heartbeat of the record. Vocalist/ guitarist Jus Oborn explains, "We brought Clayton in to be a good influence on us in lifestyle terms. But of course we will end up corrupting him with 1970s sadoporn, vintage doom, vicious in-fighting and endless touring".
Apparently doom is not just a style of music for the band, it's a lifestyle.
In full disclosure, I tend to be a thrasher. I enjoy speed metal and punk. Doom metal in general tends to be a bit slow for my taste. Having said that, there are some doom metal bands who's work I enjoy. In fact, I didn't completely dislike "Time To Die". It's not the kind of thing you'd want to put on the hi-fi to pump yourself up for the big game. It is, however, exactly the kind of soundtrack you'd want for those nights when you're filled with self-loathing and just want to wallow in your own sorrow.
The theme of "Time To Die", as you may have guessed, is death. The music and the lyrics reflect exactly that.
The record starts out with the sound of running water, a hammond organ and a sound-bite of a news story describing a murder and a suicide stemming from belief in satanism and drug use. And away we go!
"Incense for the Damned" is the first track and it's a murky, repetetive little number. Clocking in at over 10 and a half minutes, it sets the stage for what's to come on the rest of "Time To Die". If you like this one, you'll probably like the rest. The guitars definitely borrow their sound from Tony Iommi and early Sabbath. And this song in particular, slow though it may be, is catchy as hell. How you can not bob your head up and down while chanting, "we wanna get high before we die" is beyond me.
Folks like to toss around the term "stoner metal" from time to time and, based on the history of Electric Wizard, I don't think the band would necessarily disagree with that moniker. So it's stoner/doom metal. What could go wrong?
The songs tend to be a bit of organized chaos. There is no high speed riffing to be found. Lots of distortion and feedback, to be sure.
Oborn's vocals are intentionally buried in the mix with the mid-range cranked way up. Juxtapose that with the super down-tuned string instruments and the ominous organ wailing in the background and you've got yourself a very "doomy" record.
The songs can be somewhat sluggish but somehow never reach the point of becoming lathargic. There is just enough movement within each track to keep it interesting. The effect is a very minimalist take on what is usually a very active medium.
"Incense for the Damned", "SadioWitch" and "Lucifer's Slaves" are my picks for most listenable songs on "Time To Die". The rest of the songs start off fairly strong but have a tendency to devolve into a cacaphony of noise by the end.
Specifically, I found "Funeral of Your Mind" to be noisy, messy and, for me, difficult to listen to. Perhaps that's what the band was going for.
Frontman Jus Oborn explains, “Obviously, we want everyone to listen to ‘Time to Die’ because we want to achieve total world domination through doom, drugs and heavy metal! We’ve always strived to be regarded as a classic British band, like Sabbath, Motörhead or Hawkwind, y'know?".
As I mentioned, Electric Wizard is about 20 years into their career. The difference between Electric Wizard and Sabbath or Motorhead is that Tony Iommi and Lemmy are masters of the hook. As dark as the material may be, their best songs have memorable hooks that penatrate the listeners brain and lock themselves in. With a couple of exceptions, this is lacking on "Time To Die".
Additionally, Ozzy and Lemmy each have a way with a lyric that is unique and interesting. They developed styles that became their own which others try to emulate. This too is missing from "Time To Die". Heavy drug use and distorted guitars do not a classic band make.
Being a Wizard myself, I really wanted to love this whole record. Electric Wizard has created a few songs that caught my attention but most simply became distorted noise with a 4/4 beat. That may, in fact, be their intent. I applaud the band for their longevity and their will to stick to playing the music and living the life they love. Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind or not stoned enough to fully appreciate what "Time To Die" has to offer. If you're searching for an album compliment to your sorrow, "Time To Die" may be right up your alley.
I'll let Oborn have the last word, "...We are Electric Wizard, we don't really fit in anywhere. We are outsiders and freaks, just like you.”
