Review: Often perceived as the UK's consulate of psychedelic, sludgy stoner-doom akin to US counterparts Sleep, Eyehategod and Bongzilla, the elusive and crushing Electric Wizard found themselves staring down the abyss of creative purpose once the 2020 pandemic hit. According to lead vocalist/guitarist/primary songwriter Jus Oborn - "We'd been gigging for two years at that point, around America three times, going to Japan and Australia, and we were sounding pretty good by the end of it. When the pandemic happened, we thought, 'Fuck it, maybe we'll never play again.' So we went into the jam room and played the songs to get them on tape to capture how we were playing at the time." Descending to their crypt/practice space located on the outskirts of the English Westcountry, the band would perform a bombastic live set for no audience whatsoever, recorded directly to a 16-track tape machine, with the fuzzed out, chaotic results dubbed Black Magic Rituals & Perversions Vol. 1. While you can thank the Ganja Gods the band still have the ability to tour, if you've yet to experience the Wizard in all of their raw, heaving, hefty glory, this voyeuristic fly-on-the-wall earful should provide ample warmth in the interim.
… Read more