2020… The fear of the unknown was a genuine reality but in the fields of Dorset in rural England, in the middle of nowhere stands the always and forever with that castle. This pandemic was time for self reflection for it changed us all but how did it change the Electric Wizard?
Well as it turns out Jus, Liz, Haz and Simon were all isolating together and they reached into the legendary Doom Metal bands past to bring them into the present. Performing songs from the bands catalogue from years gone by and rediscovering who they are, dark dwelling, heavy, pot smoking fiends with a need for captivity.
This is an Electric Wizard ‘alive’ album as the band are only performing for themselves whilst looking into the mirror back at their own reflection. It defines that notion of falling off of your horse, dusting yourself off and then getting back on the saddle, only to ride again.
No sound technician and no stage manager, the band turned around and looked at each other, with their instruments in hand and stepping on a single smoke machine pedal in the corner of the room. The room fills with this known comfort as a mutual thought connects these four minds from this point onwards, “Ah shit, here we go again”.
This is an Electric Wizard ‘alive’ album as the band are only performing for themselves whilst looking into the mirror back at their own reflection. It defines that notion of falling off of your horse, dusting yourself off and then getting back on the saddle, only to ride again.
No sound technician and no stage manager, the band turned around and looked at each other, with their instruments in hand and stepping on a single smoke machine pedal in the corner of the room. The room fills with this known comfort as a mutual thought connects these four minds from this point onwards, “Ah shit, here we go again”.
Electric Wizard then launches into Dopethrone and as by magic, the ear-piercing high notes knock pictures and ornaments off the shelving and low notes sink everything into the floor, forming a forever falling hole in the ground. This feels right…
Later we go through many portals till we find The Chosen Few. Three portals align our vision, a point to the middle signifies Electric Wizard’s direction as we step through the pink radiating clouds, we disappear in an instant.
Later we go through many portals till we find The Chosen Few. Three portals align our vision, a point to the middle signifies Electric Wizard’s direction as we step through the pink radiating clouds, we disappear in an instant.
The second we open our eyes again we find ourselves on motorcycles flying high through the sky, approaching giant angles in the sky. Think of Kenny’s death experience in the South Park movie, that’s where we’re at… Perverse? Yes! A sin? Maybe…Little boy you’re going to hell.
Finally we have reached the un-promised land, a place fuelled by hate, revenge and a taste for blood, Funeralopolis… Those first few notes capture me in a trance very single time, to me they identify what a Heavy Metal band is, patient but waiting for destruction, much like a Shark hunting for its prey until it’s time to strike.
Finally we have reached the un-promised land, a place fuelled by hate, revenge and a taste for blood, Funeralopolis… Those first few notes capture me in a trance very single time, to me they identify what a Heavy Metal band is, patient but waiting for destruction, much like a Shark hunting for its prey until it’s time to strike.
When the fireworks launch at 1:04, you know that you’ve exploded into a million pieces. To sum up this legendary song, it takes Doom Metal and Punk, two things that shouldn’t be together and makes them work effortlessly, it’s like Tom and Jerry, they need each other not only to survive but thrive, it’s the thrill of the chase.
Black Magic Rituals & Perversions Vol. 1 presents an outer body experience being captured onto tape. You’re there in Dorset, isolating with Jus, Liz Haz and Simon and they’re performing, not because they love it but because they need it. This past year, I was lucky enough to see Electric Wizard live at ArcTanGent Festival and that for me was a dream come true and they surpassed my expectations.
Black Magic Rituals & Perversions Vol. 1 presents an outer body experience being captured onto tape. You’re there in Dorset, isolating with Jus, Liz Haz and Simon and they’re performing, not because they love it but because they need it. This past year, I was lucky enough to see Electric Wizard live at ArcTanGent Festival and that for me was a dream come true and they surpassed my expectations.
Everyone was saying to me that they were very hit and miss live but I was like man, this is ELECTRIC FUCKING WIZARD we’re going on about here… This live album matched my feelings after seeing the band live in the flesh, I felt free and I wanted to go to bed immediately to sit with this feeling for it could flee at any moment. 10/10
Blue Oyster Cult - 50th Anniversary Live: Third Night (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]
I could make this review very simple and just say if you liked the first two nights of the three-night residency of the legends Blue Oyster Cult playing their first three records end to end, one each night, with a hits and rarities set as the second half of the show from back in September 2022, you will really enjoy the recording of night three, which is the band playing their best record in full, Secret Treaties.
Blue Oyster Cult - 50th Anniversary Live: Third Night (Frontiers Music Srl) [Rich Piva]
I could make this review very simple and just say if you liked the first two nights of the three-night residency of the legends Blue Oyster Cult playing their first three records end to end, one each night, with a hits and rarities set as the second half of the show from back in September 2022, you will really enjoy the recording of night three, which is the band playing their best record in full, Secret Treaties.
For a band celebrating their 50th (or so) anniversary they still certainly sound amazing live and rip it up for two-plus hours of end-to-end BOC greatness. Not bad for a bunch of 70-80 or so year olds, or really anybody playing live these days.
As I mentioned, you get Secret Treaties, and 10-10 album with zero skips, in full, so that alone is worth the price of admission. You get the hits that are required in any set, with great versions of Burnin’ For You, Reaper, and Godzilla.
As I mentioned, you get Secret Treaties, and 10-10 album with zero skips, in full, so that alone is worth the price of admission. You get the hits that are required in any set, with great versions of Burnin’ For You, Reaper, and Godzilla.
But you also get gems like the opener to Cultösaurus Erectus, Black Blade, and the live ripper, Buck’s Boogie. You also get a couple of deeper cuts from Agents Of Fortune, Sinful Love and Tenderloin, which all sound great. It is another excellent and varied set to go along with the other two nights.
Blue Oyster Cult are underrated rock and roll heroes that everyone should dig into, because there is so much goodness to go around over the 50 plus years they have been doing it. This is a fun conclusion to the live series that fans of the band and newbies would both enjoy. 8/10
An Axis Of Perdition - Apertures (Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings) [Mark Young]
This is something else. There are a lot of bands who proclaim that their sound is unique and that the latest release further separates them from the herd. Apertures is a release that makes good on every single promise.
Blue Oyster Cult are underrated rock and roll heroes that everyone should dig into, because there is so much goodness to go around over the 50 plus years they have been doing it. This is a fun conclusion to the live series that fans of the band and newbies would both enjoy. 8/10
An Axis Of Perdition - Apertures (Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings) [Mark Young]
This is something else. There are a lot of bands who proclaim that their sound is unique and that the latest release further separates them from the herd. Apertures is a release that makes good on every single promise.
It is unsettling with some nightmarish sounds that stay with you after the final track has completed. This doesn’t go down ‘the every song at hyper speed route’ of black metal you might be used to, it’s also not a blast fest (although they are there), it’s just different.
Unimaginable Depths then followed by Private Acts Of Abnegation which has to be said is a stunning track. By now they have got the atmospherics running but doesn’t overshadow a fantastic riff. The whole thing is wonderous really, squalling background effects and that unhurried approach that amplifies the effect the song has on you.
The music here is the result of a band writing what they believe to be their truth. It just so happens that their truth could be used as the backdrop to a horror film and with that in mind, Corrupted Pulse represents the start of this journey, an electronic collision of noise that just wants to unsettle you.
Until Metempsychosis comes in on its heels and starts off in what you could describe in a traditional manner, but not with a barrage but with a mesmeric arrangement that has so much going on you will have to listen multiple times to really get to grips with this. It continually builds, adding more layers here, removing where redundant but keeps pushing forward.
Now, if you have ready my reviews this year you may have noticed that I’m not keen on instrumental breaks or interludes. On here Corrupted Pulse didn’t act in the same way that others could do and so it meant something and wasn’t there just to fill time.
However, they follow Metempsychosis with The Undercity Awaits, which is another soundscape that is designed in the same manner as Corrupted Pulse. Moving on, Chant Of The Worshipful Prey comes in with a build that is just odd. Its heavily laden with background sounds, discordant guitar lines that repeat and just an overall feeling that if you dig this, then great.
If you don’t, bye. It just meanders its way from start to finish, infuriatingly without seemingly going anywhere but at the same time getting its hooks into you so that you stay with it till the end. Sewer Of Lethe is somewhere you probably don’t want to go, and a The Undercity Awaits acts as a bridge to The Truth Is There to Tear Apart. Taking audible cues, it is another slow and measured effort that brings in those guitar lines that cannot stay in one place for any great length of time.
This is as far away from what I considered black metal to be as possible. It should be applauded for being so unique but at the same time I just wanted it to go all out. The constant song then interludes then song pattern also doesn’t help but as you make your way through you discover that these are an essential part of the album.
Unimaginable Depths then followed by Private Acts Of Abnegation which has to be said is a stunning track. By now they have got the atmospherics running but doesn’t overshadow a fantastic riff. The whole thing is wonderous really, squalling background effects and that unhurried approach that amplifies the effect the song has on you.
And then they hit you with Flesh Underfoot and I Am Odium; Flesh Underfoot is eerie, and I Am Odium is last act, and what a song it is. It is massive, covered in an oppressive cloak partly due to their use of background sounds. You have to check out the drumming on this, it is first class. The avoidance of using heavy guitar is remarkable and yet it is still heavy, you just have to dig deep and let it flow over you. Incredible stuff.
Reading this back, I think you can say that I loved half of it and didn’t care for the other half. I’m being unfair to be honest. The album is built so that the respective interludes have a job to do in linking each song and are so well thought out that I can forgive them for being there. Without them, the album would not work as well as it does as you would have a collection of great songs but with no context or flow between them. Its brave, exciting, maddening and completely unique. 10/10
Dwelled - Suffering Heritage (Self Released) [GC]
On first glance absolutely everything about Suffering Heritage, the debut EP form Dwelled loudly screams that they are UK based, the cover artwork, band name and font, song titles, literally everything is what you would expect it to look like it all reminds me of old UKHC bands, and I am all for that, but does it sound like it should?
Starting with Spineless might be a bit of a bit of way to throw you off as it starts with a big nasty drop that the descends into some chaotic noisy insanity that merges into a deathcore beatdown which throws into some blasting death metal also and while it’s all done well, it feels like they are maybe trying too much all at once?
Reading this back, I think you can say that I loved half of it and didn’t care for the other half. I’m being unfair to be honest. The album is built so that the respective interludes have a job to do in linking each song and are so well thought out that I can forgive them for being there. Without them, the album would not work as well as it does as you would have a collection of great songs but with no context or flow between them. Its brave, exciting, maddening and completely unique. 10/10
Dwelled - Suffering Heritage (Self Released) [GC]
On first glance absolutely everything about Suffering Heritage, the debut EP form Dwelled loudly screams that they are UK based, the cover artwork, band name and font, song titles, literally everything is what you would expect it to look like it all reminds me of old UKHC bands, and I am all for that, but does it sound like it should?
Starting with Spineless might be a bit of a bit of way to throw you off as it starts with a big nasty drop that the descends into some chaotic noisy insanity that merges into a deathcore beatdown which throws into some blasting death metal also and while it’s all done well, it feels like they are maybe trying too much all at once?
Ripped Apart does get a bit more regimented and follows a less chaotic path but still has some unpredictability involved which while offering a nice twist on the more straightforward metalcore sound does make you kind of sit and think what is actually going on but when they chuck in the beatdowns everything improves 100% these guys know how and when to add the heavy to songs to devastating effect!
Echoes then goes full death metal and mixes the deathcore sound in without the 2 sounds clashing they bounce off each other perfectly and create an ungodly heavy track. Otherside proceeds to then flatten you with more breath-taking heaviness, it’s a song full of big chunky riffs mixed with squealing noisy guitars and the gutturals on this song are on point and it feels like they have settled on a sound now which helps to show direction and gives you something to focus on.
Suffer is just brilliant and actually reminds me of a host of mid 00’s UKHC bands all of which were fucking fantastic, it perfectly unleashes a dark and brooding feel that when mixed with the savage and relentless nature of the track is exactly what I want to hear and makes me want to get up and throw thigs around the room. Rivers Of Regret finishes with a final flourish and is yet another intensely punishing and relentlessly heavy 3 minutes of nicely executed deathcore and it’s a nice way to round everything off.
I must be honest and say that Suffering Heritage started off on a bit of a mixed note and I wasn’t sure where it was going but, after the initial bump it just got better and better as it went on! You can tell Dwelled have something special up their sleeves and just wanted to test the water with this EP, if their future releases are anywhere near as good as this the UK has another special talent on its hands. 8/10
I must be honest and say that Suffering Heritage started off on a bit of a mixed note and I wasn’t sure where it was going but, after the initial bump it just got better and better as it went on! You can tell Dwelled have something special up their sleeves and just wanted to test the water with this EP, if their future releases are anywhere near as good as this the UK has another special talent on its hands. 8/10
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