does electric wizard still tour

Electric Wizard

Concerts and tour dates, bandsintown merch.

Live Photos of Electric Wizard

Fan Reviews

Fans Also Follow

About electric wizard.

• Moscow concerts Moscow concerts Moscow concerts See all Moscow concerts ( Change location ) Today · Next 7 days · Next 30 days
• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Popular artists

Electric Wizard tour dates 2024

Electric Wizard is currently touring across 1 country and has 1 upcoming concert.

The final concert of the tour will be at Fernhill Farm in Compton Martin.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (1) See nearest concert

Past concerts.

Damnation Festival

SonicBlast Fest

View all past concerts

Recent tour reviews

Electric Wizard is always a great band to see when you can.

A crushing force upon your skull, and your ears will cry in joy. Relentless and unforgiving, just relax and accept the raw power.

Report as inappropriate

Always a thrill to see Electric Wizard live! An intense, Earth shattering event fit for an apocalyptical end to the world! I'm still shaking from the deep dark slow rumble of their instruments!

On another note, Midnight was surprisingly great! They need to adjust their vocal mics though so we can hear their singer better. Other than that, great band.

Lastly, Brooklyn Steel needs to post their price list for their libations. It's always sticker shock to buy a drink there as you don't know what you are getting into!

Good stuff!

The Wiltern is a horrible venue for a band like Electric Wizard. After two songs, the venue decided to cut their visuals because they deemed them inappropriate. That kind of censorship is inexcusable and disgusting. We all came out for a metal show, not some PG13 shit. I will never come back to The Wiltern and I hope they get an ass load of bad juju for the shit they're trying to pull.

• Most popular charts
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

• Cover Story

Electric Wizard Announce East Coast U.S. Tour Dates

Stoner doom legends Electric Wizard will hit the States this November.

It's been a hot second since stoner doom metallers Electric Wizard have toured the U.S. Now, the band has announced a series of American dates, with blackened street-metallers Midnight coming along for the ride.

The shows focus entirely on major markets along the Eastern Seaboard, most likely because the weed isn't as good in, say, Minneapolis (we kid, there's primo bud in MN).

Get stoned in the name of Pan at one of the following dates:

15 - St. Petersburg, FL @ Janus Landing 16 - Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle 18 - Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore 19 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel 20 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore 22 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium

READ THIS: All things weed with High On Fire's Matt Pike

The Wizard's had a solid year thus far, having blown minds at Psycho Las Vegas only a few weeks ago . Kerrang!'s own Morat described the singular experience as "not to be missed. Sure, they play pretty much in the dark, as do many bands this weekend, but with all the craziness on the huge projection screen it looks very atmospheric. And whatever is lacking in lights is more than made up for with volume. Good God, this is LOUD!"

Electric Wizard also got very high (ba-dum TSS) on our list of the best songs ever written about vampires . The band's inclusion on that ranking was for The Satanic Rites Of Drugula off of 2007's Witchcult Today. Describing the track, K! writer and self-professed vampire fanboy Chris Krovatin wrote, "In their eternal quest to mix old monster movies and pothead culture, stoner doom crew Electric Wizard created the greatest villain of all time: Drugula, a hellish shadow who craves dope-laced bloody. The weed vampire’s anthem is a crushing, regal doom epic that will have listeners hitting the bong and putting on a Christopher Lee movie in no time. Kudos for the inclusion of the lyric, 'Bloodlust! Druglust!'"

Midnight, meanwhile, came in at #11 on our list of the 50 best American metal bands of the past decade , which described them in flowery terms: "[Midnight's] grimy, nihilistic street thrash is the stuff out of every mother’s nightmare, while their songs about repugnant sex and switchblade justice somehow feel inclusive and welcoming. Leather, flames, and sweaty fucking — all of which are American dreams."

READ THIS: Psycho Las Vegas took me to Hell on Earth and back

Check out more:

Now read these.

“It’s going to be biblical!”: ArcTanGent announce Mogwai, Electric Wizard, Explosions In The Sky and loads more

This year’s ArcTanGent is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever, with Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Electric Wizard, Ihsahn and loads more signing up for the festival’s 10th edition.

The big review: Damnation Festival 2023

From Enslaved to Electric Wizard, Unearth to Undeath, Damnation Festival 2023 unequivocally underlined its status as the destination for all things extreme at the tail end of the European festival season. As always, we were there for every brilliantly gnarly body blow across a truly wild weekend...

Damnation Festival announce two special Katatonia sets

Dead End Kings in full and a greatest hits set from the Swedish gloom metal icons? Yes, please…

Book review: Come My Fanatics: A Journey Into The World Of Electric Wizard

Dan Franklin takes you on a wild trip through the world of one of the UK’s most important and mysterious bands, Dorset doomers Electric Wizard…

Damnation Festival announces headliners Electric Wizard, and a special Enslaved set

Electric Wizard’s only UK show in 2023! Enslaved to play Vikingligr Veldi in full!

Electric Wizard announce new book, coming in June

Take a trip into the weird world of the Wizard this summer with new book Come My Fanatics: A Journey Into The World Of Electric Wizard.

The big review: Download Festival 2022

Download Festival is back at full-scale for the first time since 2019! Here’s all the action from Donington Park…

The things we learned at DesertFest 2022

Last weekend, DesertFest once again hit the venues of Camden for three days of volume, weed and riffs. Here’s what we found…

The best of Kerrang! delivered straight to your inbox three times a week. What are you waiting for?

or continue with

Electric Wizard

​Electric Wizard tour dates: 1 concert in United Kingdom

About electric wizard.

Electric Wizard are an English doom metal band from Dorset. The band formed in 1993 and have recorded eight studio albums, two of which are now considered to be genre landmarks: Come My Fanatics... (1997) and Dopethrone (2000). Electric Wizard's brand of doom metal incorporates stoner and sludge traits, with lyrics focusing on the occult, witchcraft, H.P. Lovecraft, horror films and cannabis. In 2014 they formed Witchfinder Records, an imprint of Spinefarm Records, on which they plan to release all future albums.

© MyRockShows 2017-2024

Sign up to MyRockShows, subscribe to your favorite artists and bands and get the updates you need.

or log in with social networks

Electric Wizard tour dates

• On tour: No
• Concertful ranking: #1944
• Category: Hard Rock / Heavy Metal

Similar artists on tour

Electric wizard past concerts.

Top Tours · Just Announced · Categories · Festivals · 2025 Tours

Terms of Service · Privacy and Cookie Policy · Contact © Concertful

Hi, what are you looking for?

Metal Injection

• New Albums Out This Week
• Top Tracks Of The Week
• Top Stories Of The Week

Upcoming Releases

• Funny Stories
• Photo Gallery
• Latest Videos Listing
• Music Videos
• Metal Injection Exclusives
• Live Footage
• Funny Videos
• Slay At Home
• ASK THE ARTIST
• Kids In Metal

Mashups & Covers

• Rockumentary
• View All Channels
• Apple Playlists
• Spotify Playlists
• Los Angeles

ELECTRIC WIZARD Announce U.S. Tour Dates This Autumn

Bringing the doom close to your room!

Want More Metal? Subscribe To Our Daily Newsletter

Enter your information below to get a daily update with all of our headlines and receive The Orchard Metal newsletter.

Sponsored Links from Around the Internet

You may also like.

Damnation Festival 2023 Now Has Two KATATONIA & ENSLAVED Sets Plus ELECTRIC WIZARD's Only UK Show

Plus Leprous, Khemmis, Undeath, Sigh, Akercocke, and more!

What If ELECTRIC WIZARD Wrote BLACK SABBATH's "Paranoid"?

It would rule, actually.

Latest News

System of a down, kiss, biffy clyro headline download festival 2021.

Fingers crossed, Download Fest 2021 is scheduled to go down June 4-6, 2021 in Donnington, UK. The festival announced the majority of their lineup...

Matthew Castleman's Unsettled Quarantine Playlist

Featuring Judas Priest, Slayer, Cirith Ungol, Green Lung, and more!

MARKO HIETALA Says NIGHTWISH's Business Side Is One Of The Biggest Reasons He Quit The Band

IRON MAIDEN Adds A Show To Their North American Tour, Announces Opener

This Guy's Impression Of KORN Covering HANSON's "MMMBop" Is Spot On

STATIC-X Celebrates Wisconsin Death Trip Turning 25 By Announcing A New Documentary

OZZY OSBOURNE On His Chances To Play Live Again: "I Would Love To, But I Can't Stand Up Right"

Metalocalypse: Army Of The Doomstar To Hit Streaming Services Next Month

All Five BLACK SABBATH Vocalists, Ranked By You

• Win a Trip to a Big Rock Fest
• Album Release Calendar
• Festival Guide
• Heavy History

Electric Wizard’s Jus Osborn on Returning to ‘Real’ Rock Roots, Why Genre Labeling Is ‘Killing’ Heavy Music

Electric Wizard are the benchmark band for doom in the 21st century. With two albums behind them, they entered the new millennium with  Dopethrone , a dense, resin-caked offering of nihilistic riffing and warped production values that remains the holy grail of modern doom. They've been conscious not to tread the same path, dodging any sheepish attempts at recreating that classic record, instilling a distinct sense of smoke-friendly character with each ensuing release.

The British outfit will drop their ninth studio offering,  Wizard Bloody Wizard on Nov. 17. It comes three years removed from the acrid  Time to Die , and strips back the band's typically heavy use of effects in favor of returning to the roots of, as mainman Jus Osborn puts it in our interview, "real," rock 'n' roll. Make no mistake, Electric Wizard are still the Iommi-worshipping Riff-finder Generals you love them as, this is just another chapter in their still-growing legacy.

To dive further into what  Wizard Bloody Wizard has in store, check out our chat with vocalist / guitarist Jus Osborn below.

The riffing on Wizard Bloody Wizard is less drony and spaced out and more rigid and jarring with an old school rock approach at times. How did this sound come together? Was there any music that you rediscovered to ignite this sound?

I dunno really… every album is a reflection of what we are into at the time. I’m still influenced by music I hear, its an unconscious thing really. These days it always seems music is being pigeonholed into a genre — it’s really killing heavy music. Everything is compartmentalized into genres and then you can only have any success if you serve that niche and churn out good genre product. The idea that a musician is an artist is becoming rarer these days unless it’s some deliberate attempt to create a genre niche for ‘artistic’ music.

So yeah we tried to create a very honest LP less reliant on production techniques. We tried to present ourselves as a ‘real’ rock 'n' roll band. Even though we’re always listening to new stuff we always find ourselves drawn back to a certain era of heavy metal… y’know late '60’s / early '70s. When heavy music was born, when there wasn’t any rules or genres…there weren’t any influences really other than just inspirations from blues and rock 'n' roll. Every band sounded different and every member of the band contributed their own style. I guess we were influenced by this approach more than anything, to not be bound by convention and, yeah, the way we approached this was by getting back to our roots — more about what musicians and artists actually inspired us to pick up an instrument rather than a sound or style. We wanted to just concentrate on those influences and build the sound up from there.

This is the first album with Simon Poole and Clayton Burgess, who joined in 2014. How much of a say did they have in the writing and what excites you most about having both of them in the band?

Well, with a couple of years touring under our belts it felt we had definitley locked in as a unit. I always believe a band is the sum of its parts — everyone has a role to play in the creation of a good song. Liz [Buckingham, guitar] and I have always been looking for a strong, independent rhythm section, not an accompaniment. A real bedrock that we can use to build the guitar work and vocals. It hasn’t been easy in the past because sometimes the chemistry doesn’t happen, but Simon and Clayton have locked in very naturally.

Electric Wizard have always found inspiration outside of music and in horror films and the occult. Did any films in particular spur the ideas behind any of the songs on Wizard Bloody Wizard ?

We are never really directly inspired by horror movies etc. — it’s all in our subconscious. I’m always watching movies, reading comics etc. I’m obsessed with the darker side of life… with cults and black magic. The band uses these influences aesthetically to help create a deeper, evil spirituality in our music.

I try to use horror films, horror comic imagery as a metaphor. I mean “Dunwich” for instance was using the Lovecraft story as a metaphor for teenage rebellion and isolation in a small rural town. How being ‘different” was often viewed as being ‘evil’ and the parallels between this and the '80s ‘Satanic panic’ era. Basically it was a witch hunt, something that seems to reoccur in human history over and over again, albeit in different guises.

The songs on this LP use all our metaphorical imagery but I think it is in fact our most autobiographical album. Obviously we take an extreme standpoint but you have to make a point sometimes. It’s usually ‘worst case scenario’ type stuff, it’s not like I want to kill everyone all day, everyday. Just quite often.

The occult sciences are more inspirational metaphysically and influence the band on a much deeper level — how we present the band, the use of symbology, release dates etc.

The band has been playing in the U.S. more often. Are there plans to increase stateside appearances or do you prefer doing select festivals and small tours?

Yeah we are definitely trying to come over more but, yeah, we prefer festivals and small tours. I prefer the short sharp shock. If we are on the road too long I think the shows lose their spark. It's hard to stay focused over more than a few weeks. I would like to come over more than we do because it’s such a great place to play and we have such cool dedicated fans over there, but to be honest the brutal visa restrictions make it very difficult sometimes.

Your last album, Time to Die , and the new one were both released through your own label, Witchfinder Records. Are there plans to expand the roster beyond Electric Wizard in the future?

That would be cool, we have looked into it a few times as I want to support the new music that I like. But it’s a big responsibility and I wouldn’t want to sign bands until I was totally happy that we could serve their interests as well as possible.

I think there are a lot of ways bands can self-release now, so a label's relevance is becoming less important. I think the industry is responsible for pouring the most inane shit onto the public these days as it is easily marketable product and if you are serious about making good music you should probably stay as far away from it as possible.

What’s your favorite Black Sabbath album and is there one Tony Iommi riff you can call your favorite?

LP:  Master Of Reality . Favorite riff: "Iron Man." I mean it's the kind of riff that makes you wanna play guitar.

Thanks to Jus Osborn for the interview. Electric Wizard's 'Wizard Bloody Wizard' is out Nov. 17 and pre-orders can be placed at the Spinefarm Records webstore  and you can stay up to date with everything the band is doing by following their Facebook page .

See Electric Wizard in the Top 25 Doom Metal Albums of All Time

More From Loudwire

Electric Wizard

Latest setlist, electric wizard on november 4, 2023.

Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Popular Tracks

• 0 Shopping Cart £ 0.00 -->

Electric Wizard

 Electric Wizard

Electric wizard are dead – long live electric wizard.

Electric Wizard are:

Jus Oborn – Guitars / Vox

Tim Bagshaw – Lead Bass

Mark Greening – Drums & Concussion

THE WIZARD RETURN…

After four years of self imposed exile from the scene (drug abuse, arson, robbery and near death experiences), the most intense stoner sludge band in the world have returned with their heaviest most acid drenched, yet accessible, and diverse material to date. Yes, the sons of nothing return to reclaim the Dopethrone!

The Wizard are prophets of a new era, preaching salvation and oblivion through mind melting riffs, savage drumming and psychedelic B-Movie imagery.  It’s raw and barbaric, with little or no consideration for modern production values.

Electric Wizard push their urge to destroy complacency and jolly vibes through battered old vintage amps and decaying pedals, they don’t need or desire the high-tech gloss that they feel has diluted heavy music over the past 10 years. The bands strength is in their conviction – weak shit move aside!

From their isolated Dorset surroundings Electric Wizard are one of the most influential bands of the British Stoner scene, inspiring both Iron Monkey and Orange Goblin alike with their early incendiary performances and anti-trend approach. Mixing raw cement mixer style guitar tones with a fluid 60’s three piece rhythm section has created a unique and much emulated sound throughout the global underground acid sludge scene.

With new album ‘Dopethrone’, Electric Wizard draw you further into their bizarre and paranoid world of 70’s exploitation movies, immense marijuana abuse, combined with the shitty reality of unemployment and crime. Indeed, from the seemingly uninspiring and isolated home town vistas, the frustration and anger of detachment is magnified and echoed so perversely loud into the void of life outside. The Wizard drone reflects the blind drudgery of a day to day futile existence, where nothing is questioned, only accepted.

It wasn’t until a small UK tour in May ’99, that Electric Wizard was reborn after several years of bewilderment and inactivity. The crowd was ecstatic and electrified to see the original British ‘Stoner Rock’ band give everyone a lesson in serious bonged out doom rock. No frilly 70’s rock cop-out here, but the real fucking deal – dark, oppressive, hallucinatory and 1000% heavy!

At the close of their headlining set in Birmingham, a massive thunderstorm coincided with the final crushing chords, which some felt was an omen or a blessing – who can say? But Electric Wizard was reborn as the most influential, incendiary and insanely fucking heavy doom band in the Universe.

• Default Order
• Click to order products ascending
• 9 Products per page
• 18 Products per page
• 27 Products per page

Pre-Electric Wizard

Electric Wizard Self Titled

Come My Fanatics

Witchcult Today

Black Masses

Let us Prey

The Story Behind Electric Wizard: Dopethrone

Dorset metal overlords Electric Wizard were already known as ‘the heaviest band in the universe’ when they created one of the slowest, most-doom laden records of all time.

THE STORY SO FAR... In the land of sludge, there was always one British antidote to the onslaught from Louisiana. While this style of music – the inbred offspring of doom, stoner and southern music – was essentially an American redneck phenomenon, us Brits could nonetheless compete in our own way, and Electric Wizard took on the fight better than anyone else over here.

COME MY FANATICS…

The Dorset decibel dervishes were once dubbed ‘the heaviest band in the universe’ – and with good reason. They strapped on the riffs of Sleep, Candlemass, Saint Vitus and Cathedral, and gave grindcore a damn good rogering. It was a musical form covered in moss, and about as commercially viable as putting snuff movies on children’s TV. More toke than token. More boa than bore. The Wizard’s music has set remarkable standards, without the band ever compromising to gain even the slightest of toe holds.

It started in 1993 when former Thy Grief Eternal guitarist/vocalist Jus Oborn teamed with bassist Tim Bagshaw and drummer Mark Greening to start the Electric storm. A split single with Our Haunted Kingdom [later to become Orange Goblin] was followed in 1995 by the trio’s self- titled debut album. But it was 1997’s magnificent album, Come My Fanatics… , that set the seal on the Wizard influence, as they dragged their doom vines through a space-rock acid bath.

This record immediately put Electric Wizard among the rarified underground elite, something reinforced by the EPs Chrono.Naut [a split one with Orange Goblin, again released in 1997] and Supercoven a year later. And then, as the new millennium dawned, we were hit with Dopethrone.

CHRONO.NAUT

“To me, Come My Fanatics… , Supercoven and Dopethrone are the trilogy of terror. I look back with a lot of fondness on all three,” says Oborn. “With those albums, I believe we really found our mark as a band. When we did our first album, none of us had ever been into the studio before – and had no clue what to actually do. But by the time we got to do Dopethrone , we knew what was needed – or, rather I did!”

Get the Louder Newsletter

The latest news, features and interviews direct to your inbox, from the global home of alternative music.

For Oborn, this record not only represents the very best from the first era of Electric Wizard, but exposed cracks in the personal relationship between the three that were only to get a lot worse through the coming few years.

“If you were to have asked me back then about how we were getting along, I’d have completely denied there were any problems at all. I just didn’t wanna believe that anything was wrong. Now I can admit to myself that our relationship was very rocky. The trouble was that Mark and Tim had ideas for this band that simply didn’t fit what we were about. It may amaze fans, but they wanted to introduce Nirvana and rap influences. That was just crap. What had they gotta do with Electric Wizard?

“Then things got very heated in the studio. There were constant death threats. I think we were all having a go at each other! So, it really ended up with me being the most involved of anyone as far as the recording process went.”

Now, most bands operate on the principle that, while they enjoy a possible reputation for being outrageous, drug-taking zombies, there’s nevertheless more than a particle acceleration of professionalism in the studio. Not with this lot, though, mind…

“Did we do drugs in the studio? Of course. As far as the three of us were concerned, what was the point of being in a band if you couldn’t indulge? That’s one of the perks. What could be better than three or four bongs before you start recording? For us, it was absolutely essential.”

There was, of course, a three-year gap between the Come My Fanatics… and Dopethrone album. But this wasn’t exactly a planned situation. Merely the product of minds who refused to conform to schedules or to confirm timetables.

“This isn’t pop music, where there’s commercial pressure to deliver all the time. This is underground metal where, if you’re lucky, you might sell one or two copies,” smirks Oborn, at the mere thought of planning ahead. “Lee Dorrian, who owns the Rise Above label [to which Electric Wizard have always been signed] drove us mad, constantly nagging about when we’d go into the studio to start doing what was to become Dopethrone . But, for us, it was always a case of when we’re ready we’ll do it. Not before. We were never one of those bands who’d sit down, write a load of songs, demo them up,aandsthenibookestudio_ _time. It could never be that simple.

“Honestly, it’s tough to explain how we worked. But all of us thrived on jamming out ideas. Sometimes they’d lead to proper songs. Other times… to nothing. We had only had three tracks fully written for the album when we went into the studio: Dopethrone , Funeralopolis and We Hate You … the first one was based on a story that I’d heard, about someone who had a sofa completely made out of dope. And the third one, well, that was inspired in a way by Ozzy. He was always going about how much he fucking loved everyone, so we thought it would be great to go and do the opposite.

“When we finally realised that it was time to do the new record, those were all we had ready. A track like [epic album centrepiece] Weird Tales , for instance, came about purely in the studio. And it was all the better for it. Being so new, it was a lot fresher than the old shit we had!

“I still remember when I called up Lee and told him that we were ready to record, his reply was, ‘About fucking time!’”

Oborn was responsible for all the lyrics on Dopethrone , and his inspiration was a combination of hallucinogens and early 20th-century fantasy/horror author H.P. Lovecraft.

“I really got so many ideas from his stories. I’d sit there, out of my brain, reading his stuff, and extrapolating on what he’d written. It was amazing. The irony was that he wrote while straight, influencing someone like me, who certainly was not.”

FUNERALOPOLIS

However, if Oborn certainly enjoyed his mental vacations, when it came to the nitty gritty of studio grime, he was the man who got his hands dirty.

“It was our producer Rolf Startin who understood the technology of the time. But I was the one from the band who was most involved. We were in the studio [Chuckalumba, in Dorset] for a few months. Not all at once – we’d do a few days and then take a brief break – but there were neither time nor budget constraints as such. Everyone understood that when the record was ready, then it would be delivered. Like I said, we weren’t dealing with chart music here, so if we missed a deadline, who cared?

”I learnt so much from Rolf that now I’d feel able to produce another band. However, back in 2000, I concentrated on coming up with the concepts as to how we should sound. There’s a lot of intricacy and subtlety on the record. A number of sonic layers that had to be built up. If you listen carefully, there’s more going on than perhaps we get credit for.

“I got a lot of ideas from watching Pink Floyd videos, especially the way they set up their microphones. I spent ages working out the best way to mic up my amps. It was very important to the way we sound on the record. The other two guys weren’t as heavily involved as me, but that wasn’t a problem at the time. As I said before, it was only later on that I realised this was the beginning of the end. Part of the trouble was that all three of us were going through tough personal situations. We all had full-time jobs, but were in the process of giving them up, which brought extra financial burdens.”

WE HATE YOU LIVE

Oborn doesn’t fully recall exactly how the album title came about, although he’s fairly convinced that nothing was actually decided until after recording was done and dusted.

“I think it was my idea, but I believe we left the choice until the last minute. But I came up with the cover idea [a satanic figure getting stoned]. I did a basic line drawing [which you can now view in the booklet that comes with the recent re-issue], but it was Tim’s brother [Tom Bagshaw] who conceived the final version that we used. It has a nightmarish, Lovecraftian, early 1970s quality to it, which was exactly what I wanted to capture. I suppose my attempt would have done, but Tom’s was a lot better. Besides, I didn’t feel it was right that my name should be all over the album!”

It was also Oborn who came up with the cult slogan that was used on the sleeve. The phrase ‘Legalise Drugs And Murder’ still puzzles people to this day. Inevitably, its origins lie in a combination of things Wizard are known for: drugs and humour.

“Yep, that was my nonsense. I think I got really off my face one day and said something like, ‘Let’s get stoned and kill everyone.’ That just developed into what we used on the album. What we were after was a catchphrase that summed up Dopethrone – and this seemed to fit.”

WEIRD TALES

But, there is one more revelation that may surprise Wizard fanatics about this record. Are you sitting comfortably? Well… it was never meant to be a fully blown album at all!

“We were aiming to do another EP,” admits Oborn. “But, in the end, we couldn’t agree on what tracks to leave off so the three of us just agreed that we’d put everything in there and it became a complete album. In a way, it was an accident – but a happy one.”

Dopethrone was released by Rise Above in October 2000, to nods of underground approval, and all seemed to be going the band’s way as the internal rifts looked like they were slowly melting away under the heat of acclaim and touring demands. We now know that, eventually, personal differences proved to be greater for Bagshaw and Greening than any musical commitment. But, for Oborn, Dopethrone represents the true spirit of the band.

“I feel we captured something special. Sure, there are flaws with the record, and I know we could have made it a lot better. But this is where Electric Wizard should be. After a few years experimenting with different sounds and styles, we are gonna get back to basics with our next record. It will be the conclusion of what we started with Come My Fanatics…, and continued on through Dopethrone .”

VINUM SABBATHI

I, THE WITCHFINDER

THE HILLS HAVE EYES

WE HATE YOU

MIND TRANSFERRAL

JUS OBORN: GUITAR, VOCALS, EFFECTS

TIM BAGSHAW: BASS, EFFECTS

MARK GREENING: DRUMS

PRODUCED BY: ROLF STARTIN

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT

In many ways, the huge praise accorded the Wizard at this stage in their career proved to be too much of a millstone. A year later, they seemed to have taken their collective all-seeing third eye off the ball, and the result was the inconclusive Let Us Prey . Although the elements that had made both Come My Fanatics… and Dopethrone so crucial were still there, the band reacted as if bored.

LET US PREY

They threw in some punk and hardcore influences, introduced piano and violin parts – as if trying to emulate Celtic Frost circa Into The Pandemonium – and generally lost their way. Maybe it was an attempt to avoid the tempting rut of becoming formulaic. Or perhaps they really wanted to push the envelope. In any case, Let Us Prey openly indicated that all wasn’t right with the band and it was to be the final work from this trio.

In 2003, Greening quit, followed soon afterwards by Bagshaw (the pair later formed Ramesses). Undeterred, Oborn put together a new line-up of the band, bringing in former Iron Monkey drummer Justin Greaves, Sourvein guitarist Liz Buckingham (who also is married to Oborn) and bassist Rob Al-Issa.

It represented a fresh era for Electric Wizard, as proven by their one release to date, 2004’s We Live . Tighter and perhaps little more focused than what had gone before, it still retained enough early Wizard underground authority to convince many diehards that they’d not lost the plot. But it had enough modern ideas to avoid the trap of being an anachronistic curio. So, what did the future hold? Surely, a new album?

“We’re working on ideas. But I couldn’t tell you when it’ll be out. We may go into the studio next week, next year, or… well, this is Electric Wizard. Never hold us to a timetable.”

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

WHERE DOPETHRONE STANDS IN THE CHAIN OF INSPIRATION

CANDLEMASS EPICUS DOOMUS METALLICUS (Black Dragon, 1986)

Apart from having perhaps the most ludicrous album title of all time, this is a pivotal doom record. In many ways, it re-styled the genre with a European twist and refreshed its credibility.

SOLITUDE AETURNUS INTO THE DEPTHS OF SORROW (Roadrunner, 1991)

One of the most underrated doom trappers of all time, the Texans brought a new sense of mournful, dark riffage into metal with this, their debut album.

IRON MONKEY Iron Monkey (Earache, 1996)

Louisiana had the sludge monsters, but we had Iron Monkey. The Nottingham nutters took grindcore to new extremes on this first album. It was so underground, it made Napalm Death seem like disco divas.

SLEEP JERUSALEM (Rise Above, 1999)

One of the most preposterous albums ever, this began in 1995 as Dopesmoker, conceived as one song, it lasts an hour. Their label, London, was so shocked at the anti-commercial bullishness they refused to release it. Subsequently, Sleep split up. Fortunately, this work of genius was give a posthumous airing.

ELECTRIC WIZARD Dopethrone (Rise Above, 2000)

Welcome to the new millennium, as the Wizard fuzz up their sound, giving it an almost surreal bent. The album was still so determinedly slothful it almost suffocates the senses in a blanket of hypothermic riffs.

ORANGE GOBLIN THIEVING FROM THE HOUSE OF GOD (Rise Above, 2004)

Grime-infested rock’n’roll that still retains sufficient connection to the band’s roots to make it heroically accessible to stoner, doom and sludge fans. Madder than a goose on stilts with a cherry bomb up its arse.

CATHEDRAL THE GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS (Nuclear Blast, 2005)

After spending a few years dabbling on the edges of psychedelia, Lee Dorrian and the crew get right back to doom basics with an album that’s drenched in the fluids of the dirty underground.

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for  Record Mirror  magazine in the late 70s and  Metal Fury  in the early 80s before joining  Kerrang!  at its launch in 1981. His first book,  Encyclopedia Metallica , published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the  Anthrax  song  Metal Thrashing Mad  in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021 . 

Hello Cleveland! What's wrong with being sexy? Eleven ways in which Spinal Tap changed the lexicon of rock

"I don’t want to be sending a bandmate home in a body bag": why unhinged Texan noise-rock legends Butthole Surfers won't be reuniting, despite "six-figure offers" for live shows

The Replacements intended to subvert the underground scene with Let It Be: Instead, they completely reinvented it

Most Popular

By Dave Everley 24 March 2024

By Niall Doherty 24 March 2024

By Matt Mills 24 March 2024

By Julian Marszalek 24 March 2024

By Jerry Ewing 24 March 2024

By Metal Hammer 23 March 2024

By Chris Chantler 23 March 2024

By Paul Elliott 23 March 2024

By Mick Wall 23 March 2024

By Niall Doherty 23 March 2024

Electric Wizard on Sabbath Worship, Doom Domestic Bliss, Death of Rock

Dorset, England's Electric Wizard sit at the pinnacle of the doom-metal movement, having released classic efforts like Dopethrone that helped shape the genre while still staying relevant and pushing the music forward to this day. Founded nearly 25 years ago, and guided through that time by vocalist/guitarist Jus Oborn's singular vision, the riff-heavy band has stayed close to its original blueprint: Black Sabbath (the band's name alone is a combination of the song titles "The Wizard" and "Electric Funeral") on a drug-fueled trip through a horror-film wasteland.

Oborn, the group's lone constant member, is now readying LP No. 9,  Wizard Bloody Wizard , with longtime collaborator (and life partner) guitarist Liz Buckingham, as well as bassist Clayton Burgess (Satan Satyrs) and drummer Simon Poole. The album, due on November 10th, finds the band employing some of its tried and true old tricks but to greater affect, as well as leaning more heavily on vocal melody to drive the songs. It's Electric Wizard's catchiest and most compact LP, and might be their most easily digestible, too.

With Wizard Bloody Wizard  on deck, we talked with Oborn about the melodic direction of the record, doom marital bliss and whether or not rock is totally fucked in 2017.

THERE'S A CLEAR FOCUS ON VOCALS AND HARMONIES ON WIZARD BLOODY WIZARD . IT COULD BE YOUR MOST MELODIC RECORD YET. WAS THAT A CONSCIOUS DECISION? JUS OBORN It's kind of how it happened. The vocals were pretty much added after we wrote the music. So I did spend a little time working on the vocals and I wanted them to have a much more important role in the song — something that we hadn't really tackled before. I listened to some stuff from the older days for inspiration, like Stooges, Alice Cooper, Sabbath and Zeppelin. The singer takes over the emotion of the song, where it's going and the sound. That was something I really wanted to do with this record.

IT'S MUCH EASIER TO GRASP ONTO THE SONGS. The last album was a very long, very heavy drug-abyss-type of album. And for this one, we wanted to do something different, so we made sure the album fit onto one single vinyl and the 20, 22 minute sides were the basis of how we approached the album. Get the songs to the point a little quicker. A kind of more direct album.

SO THIS IS YOUR 9TH ALBUM, AND IT'S NO SECRET HOW MUCH INFLUENCE YOU TAKE FROM BLACK SABBATH — EVEN THE NEW RECORD'S TITLE IS A NOD TO  SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH . WHAT'S IT LIKE KNOWING THAT YOUR GREATEST INFLUENCE ONLY MADE EIGHT ALBUMS TOGETHER? I actually never thought about that before. The first time I saw Sabbath, they were pretty much going as long as we've been going now. Sabbath has always been our first influence and probably our main influence as a British band ... working-class band that started from nothing.

AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN PLAYING A SINGULAR STYLE FOR SO LONG, WHERE DOES INSPIRATION COME FROM? IS METAL EVEN AN INSPIRATION ANYMORE? The term "metal" has become so elastic or yet also more restrictive than it used to be. I'm not even quite sure what metal is anymore. For me, heavy metal was Led Zeppelin, Motörhead, AC/DC or whatever [ laughs ] but things have changed since then. I'm not so much into you know, like, high gain, fast guitar-ing type of stuff, but there's a lot of heavy music out there that still gets my attention. Whether it's strictly metal or not, I don't really know anymore sometimes.

As a band we've always had a wide range of influences. I don't think we're a metal band straight up. I know our first album was kind of doom metal, but then we were listening to, like, a lot of acid rock and a lot of drone-y English bands like Loop and [ My ] Bloody Valentine. I'm really into abstract jazz and noise stuff. Is that an influence? I don't know, and it's always hard to say because I don't think I'm ever influenced by anything in particular anymore. You pick up inspiration anywhere — sometimes it can just be a little melody or phrase or a scene from a movie or a line from a book. Not to sound cheesy, but these things can set off a chain of inspiration, but it's not necessarily a musical thing. It could be anything.

DO YOU EVER FEEL CORNERED BY THE FACT THAT YOU ARE IN A HEAVY-METAL BAND? OR DO YOU FEEL LIKE IT'S MORE OF A CHALLENGE IN THAT YOU CAN TAKE YOUR OUTSIDE INFLUENCES AND FILTER THEM THROUGH A METAL LENS? Oh, that's a big question. Yeah, sometimes I feel restricted by this band and the idea of it and people's expectations of it. And I think that you can take the wider thing with being regarded as a heavy-metal band ... that could be restrictive, as well. I have played many other types of music over the years but I haven't tried to package it and sell it to people. I'll do some country or some jazz because I like playing mostly. But I'll have these crazy ideas and then after a while I think, "This would make a fucking good Electric Wizard song." [ Laughs ] It's happened a few times.

THAT'S AMAZING. ONE FASCINATING THING ABOUT ELECTRIC WIZARD IS YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH LIZ BUCKINGHAM. IN MY HEAD, I IMAGINE THE TWO OF YOU SITTING AROUND AND WATCHING TV, THEN THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, ONE OF YOU IS GRABBING FOR A GUITAR AND YOU'VE WRITTEN A SONG TOGETHER. It isn't far off from that. [ Laughs ] I mean, in an ideal situation we aren't watching TV — it's more like endless reruns of [ Spanish exploitation-movie director ] Jess Franco films. But that isn't far off in an ideal world. [ Laughs ] That doesn't happen too often.

SO A MIX OF DOMESTIC BLISS AND RIFFS ... I mean, we have the amps set up in the house to just get going.

SO LAST YEAR YOU ONLY PLAYED ONE U.S. SHOW, AT PSYCHO LAS VEGAS, AND IN 2015 YOU DID A FULL U.S. TOUR. CAN WE EXPECT A FULL U.S. RUN IN 2018? Fingers crossed — it is the plan. I would say that when we did the tour in 2015, we got royally shafted on our end and then we didn't want to come back so quickly or for so long. You know, it's one of those situations, but I definitely, definitely think we'll probably be doing it. It's a big country — they love really heavy rock and they always have.

ELECTRIC WIZARD ARE STILL A VERY UNDERGROUND BAND, AND YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT FOREVER. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU OFFER A BAND WITH A MODERATE AMOUNT OF SUCCESS, COMPARABLE TO WHAT YOU GUYS HAD IN THE EARLY YEARS? We are an underground band in a general sense. I don't think we're a doom band or a black-metal band or this particular metal band, but I do think we are a really fucking heavy underground band. As long as you're into dark, more obscure music, music with a bit more soul and a bit more passion than you know just fucking bopping around. I think the fans we found are pretty loyal ones, and I think we put on a good show.

If people want to, like, emulate our path and what we've done, whether they should or not, I don't know. [ Laughs ] I just think honesty, really brutal honesty, and really sticking to the music you really love is the key. Not swaying too much. I mean, I've never been one for jumping on all these lame trends, but then again some other bands do and maybe they're pretty genuine with it. I would stick to tradition, what I've always liked and I think that carries its own rewards in the end. You stick with something and it becomes a craft.

THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT LESSON: HAVE YOUR VISION AND STICK TO IT. EVENTUALLY, EVERYONE IS WRONG AND YOU ARE RIGHT. That's what you hope, right? If you have a strong vision and you stick with it then everyone's proved wrong. I mean, I think as far as how we start, I think we've done that to an extent because no one thought we'd amount to fuck all. [ Laughs ] No one thought we'd even turn up to gigs because we didn't have a fucking van or anything, you know? [ Laughs ] The odds were pretty bad. [ Laughs ] So yeah, I think you can do it if you fucking believe in it. And you gotta have a little bit of that ... If people put you down, you either curl up or you think, Fuck them, they don't understand what we're doing man. [ Laughs ] I think that It was, like, almost a badge of honor how many people you could get to empty a building during one of our gigs ...

HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU CAN GET RUNNING TO THE EXITS? EXACTLY. THEY SAY THAT THE BIGGEST INSULT IS APATHY. IF A BUNCH OF PEOPLE ARE JUST "WHATEVER," THAT'S WAY WORSE THAN ELICITING ANY SORT OF EMOTIONAL RESPONSE, BE IT POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE. Yes, that turns out to be quite true. That's what we did exactly with the first album — we weren't too happy with it. The second album, we were like, "Let's make this sound like the most horrible fucking thing that's ever been recorded." [ Laughs ] That makes people cringe — that's good.

AS THINGS PROGRESS FOR ELECTRIC WIZARD, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BAND'S FUTURE? DO YOU HAVE A GRAND PLAN? I think this record is, you know, the product of a new lineup that's got its shit together. I'd like to see us record at least two or three albums in succession, and kind of developing a new style and taking it from there.

DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THE SOUND OF THE NEW RECORD TO STABILITY IN LINEUP? Well, that would be awesome. [ Laughs ] I mean, I'm not gonna promise anything but everything is great now. That's what we hoped from this record. For someone to say, "I don't like doom" or "I don't like heavy metal, but let me listen to this." The melding of melody and heaviness to it, that has created something pretty cool.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE STATE OF ROCK IN 2017? It's possibly totally fucked. [ Laughs ]

POSSIBLY OR TOTALLY? Well, I don't know. You never know if things are gonna pan out. There was disco and brutal death metal a few years later, so things can swing back. I'd like to see a lot more, but what the fuck is rock music anymore anyway, you know? I read a magazine on the airplane telling me that Coldplay is the greatest rock band in the world. Is that what rock's become? Jesus fucking Christ. [ Laughs ]

We've played a lot of festivals that have a quite wide range of music, and you see people go fucking apeshit for hip hop and the dance music. It's fucking loud and it sounds kind of aggressive to me and brutal. And I'm thinking, "What's happened to rock?" It's not doing that anymore. It's not making people wanna go, "Fuck, fuck, shit." It lost a bit of that. We need to get that back. I'm kind of anticipating that the next generation is going to be only playing the blues and shit.

THINGS WORK IN A CIRCLE. I was in a record store a few months ago and some pretty young kids came in — 11 or 12 years old — and they asked the guy behind the counter, "Do you have any Yardbirds or Stones or John Mayall?" And the guy said, "I don't think we've got any." The kid said, "You call yourself a fucking record shop?" [ Laughs ] And I was like, "What the fuck? Maybe there is hope." [ Laughs ]

WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT FROM YOUR UPCOMING GIGS IF THEY HAVEN'T SEEN YOU BEFORE? Expect blood. Blood and violence. And horror. That kind of stuff, I hope.

LOTS OF RITUALS. I mean, that's up to the fans. We just provide the soundtrack, you know?

10 Greatest Doom Bands: Temple of Void's...

11 Greatest Doom Albums: YOB Bandleader...

15 Great Albums From 2000

20 Greatest Comebacks in Heavy-Music History

25 Essential Thrash Albums

15 Essential Grunge Albums

Hail to the Kings: M. Shadows Interviews Hetfield and Ulrich

How Lamb of God Came Back After Randy Blythe's Arrest and Imprisonment

Florida Death Metal's Gory Rise, Groundbreaking Reign: The Definitive Oral History

Slipknot's '.5: The Gray Chapter': How Death, Trauma Shaped Comeback LP

Drugs, Death, Chaos, Contradiction: Inside Dillinger's 'One of Us Is the Killer'

This story is over 5 years old.

The guide to getting into electric wizard, so: you want to get into angry and direct electric wizard, so: you want to get into full on, bad trip, psychedelic hypnosis-inducing electric wizard, so: you want to get into cult movie-referencing electric wizard, so: you want to get into the super rare ep’s and early split vinyl releases, original reporting on everything that matters in your inbox..

By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

• Radio & Podcasts
• Privacy Notice

Beyond Existential Dread: Electric Wizard’s Wizard Bloody Wizard Richard Fontenoy , November 9th, 2017 08:56

After more than two decades, Electric Wizard serve up heavy heavy slabs of nihilism and misanthropy with renewed power and purpose.

One of the things that stands out when revisiting Black Sabbath records is just how relatively straightforward blues-based rocknroll they are, all pentatonic scales and guitar solos. Lyrically, Geezer Butler changed everything, of course, helping propel a whole genre into existence, and mostly for the better. At a distance of nearly half a century, it's easy to forget how radical this all was at the time, even if it was also largely ignored, downplayed and mocked, save for the faithful of what became heavy metal. In some ways they turned into the ultimate cult rock band success story, cleverly managed and corralled into a money-making music machine. Their farewell tour earlier this year was one last turn around the lucratively overpriced arena circuit.

Read Mick Wall's entertaining biography of Sabbath for one version of the occasionally preposterous story of a band who seemed to be making it up as they stumbled along, enjoying good-natured Satan-bothering japes as they did so. Then consider another band from a later, more cynical generation, one which has perhaps adhered to, and advanced, the particular atmosphere and agenda of Sabbath's paranoid dope-fuelled gloominess the most faithfully of all.

Twenty years and more into their own trajectory, Electric Wizard are as indebted to Sabbath as ever - the album title, riffing further on their choice of band name, gives it away - just like every other doom and stoner band since circa 1973, maybe, but crucially Electric Wizard still manage to sound like themselves. Here, there's more than a few frazzled nods towards the likes of Blue Cheer or Groundhogs – as Sabbath did too, of course. The chugging riffs on Wizard Bloody Wizard are remarkably upbeat by comparison to the sometimes impenetrably sludgy fug of weighty mayhem for which they have become a byword, more suited to moshing perhaps than the slow-motion headbanging usually induced by, say, the ‘Satanic Rites Of Drugula’ or most of Dopethrone .

All the Electric Wizard tropes are out in full bone-quaking force: Hammer Horror schlockery, nihilistic lyrics celebrating narcotic-fuelled misanthropy and a visceral response to the iniquities of contemporary life, all draped in frank celebrations of drug culture, which is referred to as their religion on the anti-authoritarian ‘Hear The Sirens Scream’. There's not much actual cheer on offer: “I’ll be dead and blue”, Jus Oborn warns sardonically early on, “just like you”. He points out repeatedly that “all hope is lost, there'll be no new dawn, and all of your dreams will die... die” with the distant scorn of someone who gave up on hope for humanity long ago.

Such existential dread and derision is par for the course, but here it’s been stripped back musically from the band's usual monolithic and murky wall of sound. Oborn's voice is foregrounded, pulled into sharper focus up from the grinding nether regions of old, though he still sneers lustfully about funeral shadows, black whips and leather on ‘Necromania’. That song would make a great soundtrack for a remake of 1973's suicidal biker classic Psychomania . (Actually, Psychomania was re-released earlier this year on BluRay and DVD, so I’d say just enjoy the gleefully bizarre original with the volume turned down and Wizard Bloody Wizard playing instead.

The second half of the LP eases further out from the newly invigorated guitar-bass-drums churn, taking on a more psychedelic feel without necessarily flicking the switch to the full-on doom as last revisited to suitably dismal effect on 2014’s bleak and overwhelming Time To Die . The woozy organ-raddled flood of ‘The Reaper’ sets the walls dripping red and green, the wah’d guitar trickling and wobbling in the lysergic back-draught of the wind-tunnel rush, complete with addled, slightly sinister chuckles. There’s yet more lascivious leering on ‘Wicked Caresses’, but it’s the walking bluesy bassline and frazzled guitar line of the unfurling swirl of ‘Mourning Of The Magicians’ that lifts things to a higher - far higher - plane.

“So, come together,” Oborn implores, offering up a valedictory glimmer of hope as the album spreads its sulphurous wings in amplifier-endangering fed-back wails and head-nodding grind that splurges mordantly into the darkness. “Goodbye, farewell - I'll see you in hell,” he sings, neatly looping back round to the title of the album’s lurching opening number as he does so. This is pretty much Electric Wizard at their best – riding all the cliches, lyrical and musical, with the deft assurance of daredevil bikers taking one more turn around the wall of death.

As any band that’s been around for a while finds, it’s hard to stay fresh with each new album and most groups have their less-than-successful moments along the way. As with Sabbath’s 13 , so Wizard Bloody Wizard demonstrates that sometimes it’s worth going back to basics. It’s largely about nuance, how to wring every last drop of feedback and fuzz out of instruments that can’t realistically be pushed much further than they have been already. The trick that Electric Wizard pull off here is making it still feel as much as sound right, and above all remaining eminently listenable – and relistenable - while doing so.

Long live the new Wizard, much like the old one in so many ways but with a renewed sense of purpose. Wizard Bloody Wizard still rocks hard enough to justify the occasional rebellious upward glance from the existential trudge down the long spiral into nothingness that they evoke so bleakly, and so well.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE QUIETUS

If you love what we do, you can help tQ to continue bringing you the best in cultural criticism and new music by joining one of our subscription tiers. As well as the unparalleled joy of keeping the publication alive, you'll receive benefits including exclusive editorial, podcasts, and specially-commissioned music by some of our favourite artists. To find out more, click here.

SEARCH THE QUIETUS

More from richard fontenoy.

• Daniel O'Sullivan - The Colour Of Entropy (In Three Stages)   »
• Daniel O'Sullivan - Folly   »
• I Am Reality: Butthole Surfers In Coffee Table Book Shocker  »
• Pharaoh Overlord - Zero   »
• Kilchhofer - The Book Room   »

MORE: ALBUM OF THE WEEK

• Written On Skin: Julia Holter's Something in the Room She Moves  »
• Building Back Better: New Monuments By Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones  »
• Staying With The Trouble: The Collective by Kim Gordon  »
• Deeper And Deeper: Ministry of Tall Tales By Sote  »
• To Hear Hearing: Spectral Evolution By Rafael Toral Is Our Album Of The Week  »

Support tQ's work by becoming a subscriber and enjoy the benefits of bonus essays, podcasts and exclusively-commissioned new music. To find out more, click here.

• North of Purgatory: A Coma Diary »
• One for the Road »
• The Rumour Mill »
• It Started With A Mix »
• Escape Velocity »
• In Extremis »
• Quietus Artists Of 2008 »
• Remember Them... »
• Things I Have Learned »
• Rock's Backpages »
• A Quietus Interview »
• In Their Own Words »
• The Spotify Playlist »
• Sonic Router »
• Dragnet »
• In Conversation »
• Autobahn »
• Dr Rock »
• Columnus Metallicus »
• A Domino Halloween »
• Beyond The Hits »
• Quietus Artists Of 2009 »
• Anniversary »
• Fall Sound »
• Noel's Straight Hedge »
• 2010 A Glass Half Full »
• Quietus Artists Of 2010 »
• Baker's Dozen »
• Rockfort »
• Ten Songs »
• An Eastern Spring »
• Rum Music »
• Quietus Mixes & Radio »
• Hyperspecific »
• A New Nineties »
• Quietus Artists Of 2011 »
• Strange World Of... »
• The Long Lunch »
• Afrosonic »
• John Peel's Records »
• Hoody Who »
• The Calvert Report »
• Radio-Activity »
• Tape Adapter »
• I Am Demo Suzuki »
• Electro Chaabi »
• Track-By-Track »
• Complete Communion »
• Spool's Out »
• Radio »
• One Take »
• Quietus Charts »
• At Leisure »
• Junk Shop Classical »
• Album Of The Week »
• Reissue Of The Week »
• Subscriber Area »
• New Weird Britain »
• Columnfortably Numb »
• Live Reviews »
• Television »
• Art »
• Books »
• Black Sky Thinking »
• In Defence Of... »
• Mr Agreeable »
• I'm No Expert... »
• Dr Johnson »
• 2009 Wreath Lectures »
• Come On Fry Young »
• John Moore's Diary »
• 2010 Wreath Lectures »
• You Heard Me Wrong »
• Wreath Lectures »
• The Quietus Essay »

It looks like you're using an adblocker.

As a wholly independent publication, we rely entirely on our ad bookings to keep The Quietus going. Please whitelist our site in order to continue to access The Quietus.

Interview: Electric Wizard’s Jus Oborn on weed, satan, and the band’s first North American tour in a decade

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Gabriel Sigler in Live Preview , Music // 1 Comment

Electric Wizard have always existed on the periphery, a highly-influential stoner doom band relegated to cult status. That all seems poised to change, however, as the UK band are about to embark on a sold-out North American tour for the first time in nearly a decade.

With songs centered around massively sludgy down-tuned riffs, expounding on themes of horror, weird fantasy, the occult, and weed, Electric Wizard have remained consistent over the course of eight albums, including fan favourites like 1998’s Come My Fanatics…  and 2000’s landmark Dopethrone .

Despite early critical success, the band struggled with constant line-up changes over the years and became embroiled in a complicated legal morass with their former label Rise Above Records, with the label threatening to prohibit the band from releasing any further music. That still-simmering situation resulted in the band forming their own imprint, Witchfinder Records, distributed through the UK’s Spinefarm Records, to release 2014’s Time To Die album. Written and recorded while the band’s future was in doubt from their ongoing legal situation, the album is the band’s angriest yet, with vocalist / guitarist Jus Oborn describing it as “negative and horrible” (in the best way possible).

We caught up with Jus to chat about weed, record collector nerds, and the band’s plans for the upcoming tour, which includes a long sold-out Montreal stop at Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre on April 4th. For all upcoming tour dates, visit  http://www.electricfuckinwizard.com/ .

You’re about to start your first North American tour in almost a decade, what’s taken you so long to get back here?

Quite a few reasons, but one of the main ones is I’ve had a few visa problems over the years, so I’ve had to go through quite a few hoops to do it, it’s always been a pain in the ass. It’s always been hard getting into the States, it’s a big operation, and every time we go to do it, we get too lazy and never finish it, you know?

It must be vindicating that the shows have been selling out so fast, was that surprising to you guys?

It’s awesome. I guess we were holding on and hoping that it would at least work. We’re definitely pleased about it.

Do you have weed hookups in each city already?

Uh, well like 90% of them. We kind of tried to stay in cities where I know we could hook up. And so, we should be OK. Unfortunately, that’s why we’re not playing too many in the South.

That dirt weed wrecks my balls man! I have that shit.

I heard you had a good story about crossing into Canada a few years back, what happened there?

Ha! It was a bit difficult last time, we were refused our visas, so we had to kind of say we were going to see the House of Frankenstein up in Niagara Falls, which they kind of believed because we looked like a bunch of freaks. And then we just hopped on the tour bus like a mile down the road and just started crossing our fingers.

Did you get to see the House Of Frankenstein?

Yeah, it was with Enslaved actually, the early black metal band that are still going. And to be honest, it was the most terrifying thing we ever did, we came out screaming like schoolgirls!

Getting on to the new record, Time To Die , what was it like recording this record with all the legal troubles surrounding the band at the time?

Um, I mean, it was a fucking pain. All you want to do is record music, and when you try to record it, you can’t. You can’t fucking hold on for fucking assholes to get their shit together. It was a real nightmare, you know? The important thing was to get the music recorded. All that other stuff is torture. I don’t want to have to deal with any of that crap, but I don’t want to get shafted up my ass the rest of my life. So you’ve got to deal and decide when you’re going to at least start a battle to like regain your rights and shit, you know?

Did all that negative energy find its way onto the album?

Oh yeah, definitely. It’s hard for me to listen to now.

It’s spewing with like, hatred and negativity. It’s a really negative and horrible record, but in many ways that’s cool.

We moved up to a bigger label and I think there was a fear from people that we were going to become commercial. I’m proud of it.

Were you going for that raw production this time around?

In many ways it was a circumstance of the recording. You can’t beat those kinds of idiosyncrasies of raw recording, you know?

Are you satisfied with the way everything resolved itself with Rise Records?

Um, things haven’t played themselves out legally yet, so to speak. We’ll let the crucifixions be done publicly.

The band has gone through a number of lineup changes, how long does it take you to settle in with a new member?

It’s never an easy thing. I hope we can pick the right people and keep things running as smoothly as possible, you know? I mean, you do know what you’re looking for, as you’ve been doing it for quite a while. You hope the transitions aren’t too painful for anyone, ha! I mean, you’re trying to keep the spirit of the band very true, so you don’t need too many wildcards coming into the band, everyone has to stick to the plan. People come in and they want to bring in their own stamp and identity, but then on one level, it’s still Electric Wizard, you know?

You’ve said that Electric Wizard could still continue if you weren’t in the band, do you still feel that way?

Ha well, I was just joking, but you don’t necessarily have to have me be a part of it, I think its become its own fucking beast sometimes. I’d say that to try and escape.

Do you feel that style you pioneered is living on outside the band now?

It’s hard to say, you know? I think the style has become quite, um, emulateable , right now, ha. I think there’s certain bands who really define their own styles that almost become like parodies of themselves eventually. It’s not easy, you know? We’ve done quite a few albums, and I hope we can still offer someone good quality music and still move forward in some way, but without changing that much.

There’s something to be said for having a consistent style though.

Yeah, I mean it’s hard, how many people want their favourite band to change? Slayer, Sabbath, Iron Maiden, people are like fucking furious when they try and move on.

People don’t want to hear a band like Motörhead change their style.

Yeah, exactly. I don’t!

Continued on page 2 below. 

• Electric Wizard
• Psycho Vegas
• Rise Above Records
• Spinefarm Records
• Time To Die
• Witchfinder Records

Related Articles

Interview: ‘You Cannot Kill David Arquette’ directors David Darg and Price James on their hugely entertaining wrestling doc [Fantasia 2020]

Bad Feeling Magazine Podcast # 36 with DANIELS (Swiss Army Man)

Damon Herriman on the nightmarish revenge tale Judy & Punch, and playing Charles Manson for both David Fincher and Quentin Tarantino

A Sweet Tooth for the Soul: James McGee on his hilarious one-person Bonhomme Caramel show

Interview: The Perfection star Allison Williams and director Richard Shepard on their shocking Netflix feature

1 trackbacks & pingbacks.

• Cough: Still They Pray | RedotZone | Rating and awarding artistes and creatives across Africa

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Copyright 2013-2021 Bad Feeling Magazine