The stoner-doom legends of Electric Wizard are back with a new full-length album: Wizard Bloody Wizard. The band excels in using the formula of doom and stoner, creating an atmosphere that could swallow you whole. And this brand new record is no exception to that. 

The title is a wink to Black Sabbath‘s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, and you can hear that too. The album is drenched in the old-school doom vibes that Black Sabbath had, leaving the stoner part a bit more behind than on their previous recordings. See You in Hell, released as a single before, opens up the record and is driven by a slow, heavy riff.

With songs like Necromania Electric Wizard dares to accelerate without losing the doomy vibe they carry along. This is not the only risk they took, the dark The Reaper is supplemented by a little organ à la Acid Witch. Though this track functions, with its 3 minutes, more as a kind of interlude, since the other tracks are not shorter than 6 minutes. Hear the Sirens Scream in itself is a pretty good song, but the main riff reminds us a bit too hard of Funeralopolis, which kind of brings dishonor to their masterpiece. This made me realize that the band might have become a bit repetitive. The album as a whole is good for sure, but it’s a bit of the same again and cannot compete against Dopethrone or Black Masses.

That being said, I still love -love!- their work. Mourning of the Magicians must be my favorite, a perfect thundering track to end the record with. It has a melancholic atmosphere and nice guitar effects that fill up the gaps and make the track truly outstanding. The lyrics ‘Goodbye, farewell, I’ll see you in hell’ keep repeating, and so the album comes full circle.

Release Date: November 17th, 2017
Record Label: Spinefarm Records
Tracklist:
1. See You in Hell
2. Necromania
3. Hear the Sirens Scream
4. The Reaper
5. Wicked Caresses
6. Mourning of the Magicians