ELECTRIC WIZARD

England's modern-day doom metal torchbearers, ELECTRIC WIZARD, were just as dumbfounded as everyone else when confronted with the all-encompassing pandemic. Burdened by the uncertainty of what if any musical road existed ahead, the weed-fueled collective had the wisdom and foresight to document who they were at that moment in time. The eight songs on "Black Magic Rituals and Perversions, Vol. 1" find ELECTRIC WIZARD in fine form as a road-tested unit that, back then, had been touring quite extensively. By its live-to-tape design, it's as rough and gruff as an old sailor's sandpaper-like chin, reflecting the music's inherent grime and filth, and is well worth the attention of doom metal aficionados.

"Black Magic Rituals…" is a one-take slice of psychedelic, hellish doom that was seized by a 16-track tape recorder, in the spirit and manner of the old guard, somewhere in the English Westcountry. Head honcho Jus Oborn likens its essence to that of old black metal demos and believes that it fulfills his long-time promise to make ELECTRIC WIZARD seem like "rats in your face." If music can ever sound like that kind of outrageously horrific experience, his description isn't entirely wrong. Where he is off base is that while the recording is vile and nasty, it also entails the English band's twisted beauty. This album's take on a classic like "Dopethrone" mirrors the way that Charles Bukowski could find some kind of elegance even from within the furthest depths of the gutter.

This live double album culls content that can fairly be deemed as "greatest hits" or "best of" material. The lo-fi form highlights the most fundamental component of WIZARD's sound: The riff. And that slow, repetitive riff hypnosis takes hold throughout the menacing lurch that is "Witchcult Today". "Satanic Rites of Drugula", meanwhile, sounds like the soundtrack to an acid party that was double-booked with a black mass. It's a psychedelic voyage but one that includes absolutely monstrous doom riffage.

The SABBATH-worshipping doom outfit hasn't made any senseless stylistic departures since its 1993 inception. They've pulled in and embraced elements from sister sub-genres like stoner and sludge, but they've always marched to the beat of the same ol' doom drum. Ugly doom laying at the foundation of drug-addled tales of witchcraft, the occult, horror cinema and Lovecraft will likely always be the order of the day. "Black Magic Rituals and Perversions, Vol. 1" is an excellent document of their madness that appropriately scratches across the WIZARD catalogue and is their first effort since 2017's excellent "Wizard Bloody Wizard". Hopefully new music isn't too far around the bend.