ELECTRIC WIZARD: 'Black Masses' To Receive North American Release In January

British doom metal band ELECTRIC WIZARD will release its long-awaited new album, "Black Masses", in North America on January 18, 2011 via Rise Above Records. The legendary group's seventh studio album and first since 2007's "Witchcult Today" was recorded with Grammy Award-winning British recording engineer Liam Watson (THE WHITE STRIPES) in London's Toe Rag Studios and promises to deliver "a crushing behemoth of funereal march psychedelia" and "the oblivion and ecstasy of 10,000 watts of doom!"

Long hailed as the true heirs to BLACK SABBATH, ELECTRIC WIZARD has achieved near iconic status in the metal underground but has not — as of yet — crushed the world! Now, in league with Satan himself, ELECTRIC WIZARD prepares to annihilate the planet with "Black Masses", its new LP and dark prayer to "Luciferian heavy metal" via crackling, vintage valve amplifiers set to full overdrive. Propelled by gigantic riffs and dripping with dark, bluesy undertones, "Black Masses" is an ugly, sleazy and dirty album steeped in unruly themes of '70s exploitation cinema, occultism, substance abuse and narco-satanism. Taken as a whole, the record creates a twisted amalgam of late 60's dark acid psychedelia and early '80s satanic metal, all draped in both vile, misanthropic imagery and lyrics.

"This ritual incantation of heavy metal sorcery will break down your psyche as wave upon crushing wave of lead weight acid-laced Doom leaves you numb and broken before our unholy altar," declared ELECTRIC WIZARD cult leader Jus Oborn when reached for comment. "Violent, bleak and ritualistic, we bow to the black altar of the RIFF. We do not rock, we kill!"

"Black Masses" track listing:

01. Black Mass
02. Venus in Furs
03. Night Child
04. Patterns of Evil
05. Satyr IX
06. Turn Off Your Mind
07. Scorpio Curse
08. Crypt of Drugula

Accessible and exciting yet violent and evil, ELECTRIC WIZARD has been riding a black wave of success since its formation in 1993. The band is an all encompassing paean to "dark and weird subjects" and a true celebration of bizarre low brow art (think: Weird Tales),vintage horror and B-movies, subversive foreign comics and H.P. Lovecraft coupled with a morbid fascination in cults, witchcraft, freemasonry, biker culture and ancient occult sciences and how these dark arts can be applied to music. The quartet's incendiary and apocalyptic live performances have thrilled audiences the world over culminating in near iconic status amongst true fanatics and devotees of HEAVY music. Now the band has prepared "Black Masses" — its greatest work and bleakest art — in unholy thanks.

In addition to Oborn, ELECTRIC WIZARD features Liz Buckingham (guitar),Tas Danazoglou (bass) and Shaun Rutter (drums/percussion).