Electric Wizard
|
|
Electric Wizard are a stoner metal/doom metal band from Dorset, England.
One of the more popular bands from their genre, they have a trademark sound which is extremely sludgy.
During 2003, founding members Tim Bagshaw and Mark Greening left Electric Wizard to form their own band, Ramesses.
Currently, they are signed to Rise Above Records.
| Contents |
History
Electric Wizard were formed in 1993, when Jus Oborn left his then band Eternal and joined with Tim Bagshaw and Mark Greening to record the split single Demon Lung with Our Haunted Kingdom (later to become Orange Goblin). The band's self-titled debut album was released two years later to good reviews, but it was 1997's Come My Fanatics... that really cemented their place in doom metal history. Extremely downtuned and bass-heavy, the album is often described as one of the heaviest records of the nineties. This was followed up with the Chrono.Naut split EP with Orange Goblin, and then another EP, Supercoven, in 1998. The latter saw a rawer, more "stoner" Wizard, and featured an old demo and a live track, along with two new songs. After some minor setbacks (Oborn removing his fingertip in a flooring accident, as well as suffering a collapsed eardrum), the band finally released their third album, Dopethrone, which many consider to be their finest work. Overall less "spacey" than Come My Fanatics..., Dopethrone was still classic Wizard, with heavy, chugging riffs and fantastical, Lovecraftian lyrics. The album's success prompted an ill-fated North American tour with Warhorse, and a quick follow-up, entitled Let Us Prey was released the next year. While this was Electric Wizard's most experimental release to date, incorporating piano and violin, and a hardcore punk song, it was paradoxically their most formulaic and predictable, and received mixed reviews from the press and fans alike. The lukewarm reception to Let Us Prey further soured already strained relations within the band, and drummer Mark Greening left in early 2003, with bassist Tim Bagshaw soon following suit. In August that year, Oborn revealed Electric Wizard's new line-up: Justin Greaves (ex-Iron Monkey) on drums, Liz Buckingham (also in Sourvein) on second guitar, and Rob Al-Issa on bass. We Live, the band's fifth album, was released in 2004, and featured a much tighter sound, with Oborn's vocals a lot higher in the mix.
Members
Current Line-up
- Jus Oborn - Vocals, Lead Guitar
- Rob Al-Issa - Bass
- Liz Buckingham - Guitar (also in Sourvein)
- Justin Greaves - Drums (ex-Iron Monkey)
Past members
Discography
- (1995) Electric Wizard
- (1996) Electric Wizard/Our Haunted Kingdom
- (1997) Electric Wizard & Orange Goblin Split
- (1997) Come My Fanatics...
- (1997) Chrono.Naut EP
- (1998) Supercoven EP
- (1999) Come My Fanatics.../Electric Wizard Re-release/previously unreleased mix.
- (2000) Dopethrone
- (2002) Let Us Prey
- (2004) We Live
External Links
Electric Wizard biography at Rise Above Records (http://www.riseaboverecords.com/electricwizard/index.html)