Drug Cult’s debut album is a confident display of expert riffcraft cloaked in a shroud of mystery. It is highly recommended listening for doom connoisseurs and hints at an intriguing future ahead, particularly if they indulge in their expansive, psychedelic tendencies.
“Drug Cult” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Serpent Therapy
2). Release
3). Reptile Hypnosis
4). The Wall
5). Mind Crypt
6). Slaylude
7). Bloodstone
8). Acid Eye
9). Spell
The Review:
Bands that seem like they were named by selecting two words from a doom bingo card don’t inspire expectations of greatness. Fortunately, the racket Australian quartet Drug Cultcreate is leagues above the generic tedium of their moniker. Their debut LP may be low on originality but the bands distinct strain of hypnotic sludge is an intoxicating brew.
The spirit of prime Electric Wizard courses through this records veins. Imagine a combination of the concise songwriting of the “Witchcult Today” era with the spite and filth of “Come My Fanatics” and you get a good idea of Drug Cult’s brand of evil. The band have a seemingly bottomless supply of nasty, killer riffs that fuel the likes of “Reptile Hypnosis” and the slowly unfurling bad trip of “Serpent Therapy”. Aasha Tozer’s powerful vocals enhance the bleary, sinister ambience, hitting a darkly sweet spot between melody and grit. The entire production is caked in reverb that gives these tracks an otherworldly hazy heaviness that sets Drug Cult apart from their peers. This is particularly noticeable during the brief guitar solos in “Slaylude” and “Acid Eye”, glorious explosions of untamed cosmic noise that could easily spiral into endless jams into the beyond.
Drug Cult’s debut album is a confident display of expert riffcraft cloaked in a shroud of mystery. It is highly recommended listening for doom connoisseurs and hints at an intriguing future ahead, particularly if they indulge in their expansive, psychedelic tendencies.
“Hexenhammer” is surely one of the most talked about doom releases of 2018, more focus, more weight, more riffs... and better songs, once again confirming the band's status as one of the UK's premier doom acts.
“Hexenhammer” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Maleficus 2. Hexenhammer 3. The Devil’s Throne 4. Demons of the Mind 5. Eternal 6. The Parish 7. Like Sisyphus
The Review:
Witchsorrow are one of the handful of bands that play doom in the UK; not sludge, not sludge doom, not stoner doom, not stoner rock: just doom. Firmly from the Electric Wizard school of tempos and grooves, but with a little more in the way of songs.
On this record, the band have improved again; this is undoubtedly their best album yet. A very weighty production job combines with the best song craft from the band to date. After a suitably portentous intro, it's down to business with the title track, which is more dynamic than you might expect from the Witchsorrrow of yore. The record certainly sounds like a Skyhammer recorded production- deep drums with a nice tone, thick guitars and the whole thing is well mixed with the vocals occupying a pleasing slot in the centre of the soundscape.
Witchcraft themes abound as the band lurches from slow and leaden to downright brisk on “The Devil's Throne”, which has a great NWOBHM feel. The album knocks anything from their debut into a neatly cocked hat. It is more concise and focused, the band play in a very assured manner and sound as if they have found a musical groove which really works for them.
There is very weighty material on this release; “Demons of the Mind” is a fine example of the band lumbering into a dark groove with full force. At seven tracks, the album does not outstay its welcome- even with several songs running past seven minutes. In fact, the final three offerings to the gods of doom play really well and go by without anyone having to look at their watch. Such is the power of Witchsorrowin 2018; more focus, more weight, more riffs... and better songs.
Whether it be the creepy riffing of “The Parish”or the epic closing statement of “Like Sisyphus”, the album delivers consistently and powerfully. This is a huge step up from their self titled debut and a consolidation of the improvements made on “No Light Only Fire”. “Hexenhammer” is surely one of the most talked about doom releases of 2018 and it once again confirms the band's status as one of the UK's premier doom acts. Doom on.
The record can most certainly be filed amongst Witch Mountain's best and will slot right into the collections of doom heads alongside The Wounded Kings, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Castle and so on. This is slow and bluesy doom of the finest vintage with a vocalist who is fantastic.
“WitchMountain” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Midnight
2). Mechanical World
3). Burn You Down
4). Hellfire
5). Nighthawk
The Review:
A doom institution of the last twenty years, WitchMountain are back with their first full length post Uta Plotkin's departure. Kayla Dixon has stepped up to the mic and she absolutely delivers a vocal tour de force on this low, slow record. The bass is as deep as a mine shaft (supplied by another new addition to the line up- Justin Brown) and the whole sound consists of self assured performances alongside a very big sound.
Whether you will like this album depends entirely on your liking of doom; if you like Sabbath, you will probably like this. Likewise, if you like Sleep... ditto. Hell, even those at the more sludge end of the doom spectrum will find much to enjoy here. Dixon employs a ferocious growl at times to go with her crystal clear soulful vocals (double tracked for effect at times) which should appeal to all sides of the doom coin.
It's not perfect- the pace is uniformly slow and the fact that there are only five tracks here might irk some listeners- even if track five edges towards the fifteen minute mark! Opener “Midnight”tells you much of what youneed to know about the new record; it's weighty and atmospheric in equal measure, while utilising a lot of what is best about the genre in terms of sound and themes. From there, “Mechanical World”successfully captures the right mood and the record is starting to take firm form.
The sound is darker for “Burn You Down”and the pace is no quicker. “Hellfire”offers up a two and a half minute interlude of acoustic and folksy melancholy which acts as the perfect bridge to what is the grand finale.
Clearly, the closing “Nighthawk” is the heavy artillery here; a sprawling epic of huge proportions- but the rest of the album fits together perfectly and the five tracks absolutely work as a whole piece. The record can most certainly be filed amongst Witch Mountain's best and will slot right into the collections of doom heads alongside The Wounded Kings, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Castleand so on. This is slow and bluesy doom of the finest vintage with a vocalist who is fantastic.
Throneless do not break any musical barriers on “Cycles” but their mastery of riffcraft and ability to create massive, awe-inspiring compositions sets them high above the competition.
“Cycles” DD//LP track listing:
1). Born In Vain
2). Cycles
3). Senseless
4). Oracle
The Review:
Right from the opening subsonic bass rumble, you know you are in safe hands with Throneless. The Malmö trio’s new LP “Cycles” is a master class in monumental sludged-up doom bathed in a cosmic glow.
“Born In Vain”immobilises the listener with a ten minute onslaught of crushing riffs, each one striving to reach a higher plane of heavy perfection. The reverb-laden vocals and hazy atmosphere recall the rural horror of Electric Wizard’s“Dopethrone” recast as a science fiction epic. After this pulverising introduction, the title track initially offers some respite. Beginning as a laid back jam, there is an almost optimistic mood reminiscent of Colour Haze at their most blissed-out. It’s not long until Throneless unleash the full power of their earth-shaking backline once more, taking the track into lumbering Torchestyle thunder pop territory.
The second half of “Cycles” shifts towards slower tempos with an increase in punishing heaviness. This metamorphosis reaches its peak with the gargatuan “Oracle”. Over the space of fifteen glorious minutes, Throneless gradually build a sonic fortress of epic proportions from huge slabs of dense riffage worthy of Bongripper.
Throneless do not break any musical barriers on “Cycles” but their mastery of riffcraft and ability to create massive, awe-inspiring compositions sets them high above the competition. This is a hypnotic trip that will have you coming back for more throughout 2018.
5). Satan’s Satyrs – “Ain’t That Lovin’ You, Baby”
The Review:
I was lucky enough to catch Windhand and Satan's Satyrs playing together when they toured the UK at the end of 2017. At the time I didn't quite see the kinship between the two bands, but thanks to this new Relapse Records split release, the connection is now somewhat clearer to me.
On first listen Windhand’s opener, “Old Evil”, sounds like a track straight off of “Griefs Infernal Flower” (and that’s definitely no bad thing). Further plays however, reward the listener with something that’s actually a few degrees heavier, and tighter than the content of the 2015 album. Essentially it’s like the most Windhand that Windhand have ever been; they are well and truly on point here. “Three Sisters” is built around one simple and massive riff, with added keyboard gloom courtesy of Jonathan Kassilow (of Sinister Haze and former Windhand Split-buddies Cough). The track is staggeringly doomy: lumbering and powerful and miserable, and pretty fucking wonderful overall.
“Alucard A.D.” starts things off on the Satan’s Satyrs half of the record, and it does so in heavy style. Now previously, thanks to their 2015 album “Don’t Deliver Us”, I thought of Satan’s Satyrs as a kind of Glam Punk retro rock kind of band, but that’s not what they sound like here. This is juicy, juicy stuff which reminds more than a little of Electric Wizard’s“We, The Undead”,in the best possible way.
“Succubus”follows on wonderfully well with a main riff that’s both doomy and kind of cheeky and funny. There’s more than a hint of NWOBHM in the guitar work, and the whole thing just slots together in such a way that, even after several listens, still hasn’t failed to put a smile on my face. Closer “Aint That Lovin’ You Baby” is much more in line with my previous expectations with regard to Satan’s Satyrs. It’s a sleazy 12 bar blues that clicks into double-time half way through before going down in a blaze of Cock Rock guitar solos. Claythanas'/Clayton Burgess' shout of “thank you, goodnight!” is all that’s really missing from the end of this obvious set-closer.
Sometimes these split EPs can feel a bit like filler between “proper” releases; songs that didn’t make it on to the main record, or versions of some work in progress that’s not yet quite come together. That is definitely not the case with this Windhand / Satan's Satyrs release however. This is two bands at the top of their game, producing some of their finest work to date. So much so in the case of Satan's Satyrs that
I’m really regretting missing the beginning of their set back in October.
“Windhand & Satan’s Satyrs Split” is available here
At the end of 2017, today’s featured band, Shadowmaster and their self titled debut full length was voted the 11th best underground release by THE SLUDGELORD. Since July 2017, we selected 13 albums a month that were either released via smaller labels and/or via bandcamp and took it upon ourselves to focus the microscope on those bands and at the end of the year we selected our favourites and Shadowmaster was one of them.
Following in the footsteps of legendary doom royalty Candlemass and hailing from Sundsvall, Sweden, Shadowmaster are one of latest and heaviest of doom exports, and we talked to the band at the end of 2017, to get the lowdown on the roots of the band and the creation of their devastating new album, which was released via Seeing Eye Records.
Can you give us an insight into how you started playing music, leading up to the formation of Shadowmater?
Micke (guitar): I guess it all started when we went to high school. We all found out that we shared the same interest in music, so we developed a friendship and started hanging out, both in and outside of school. As time went by we all started playing in various groups based in our hometown Sundsvall, and as our music taste developed with time, Cedermark and I felt that we wanted to play slow and heavy doom, so we started this band called Desert Crone. In the beginning it was a duo, with Cedermark on the drums and me on guitar. We soon realized that the music lacked a certain feel, so we started looking for a drummer. Eventually we called Jimmy and told him that we wanted him, and he gladly accepted. After that we had some gigs, did a short European tour, made an album, changed name to Shadowmasterand here we are!
For those people unfamiliar with your band, are there any bands on the scene past and present that you would use as a reference point bands to describe your band, and who or what continues to inspire you and push you to try new things?
Micke: Well, I’d be a fucking hypocrite if I wouldn’t mention Electric Wizard to start with, as they are the biggest influence (surprise, surprise). But for people who are unfamiliar with us I would mention Monolord, Belzebong, Burzum and Sleep, to name a few. But honestly speaking, I look for inspiration everywhere. We’re talking movies, nature, emotions etc. Obviously heavy music is the greatest influence, but sometimes when I write, I listen to OST-music. It sounds weird, perhaps stupid, but it’s true. There are no limits to our imagination.
What can you tell us about your debut record and where do you feel it sits within the context of current doomscene
Micke: Dark. Heavy. Disgusting. That’s at least our goal with the album. Nowadays there are tons of bands out there, but you are only drawn to a few. We believe that the reason for this is that most people think that you can just pick up an instrument and write slow music, with no feel to it at all. So we think (and hope) that this album is going to be one of those record that people will react positive towards, and not get bored the first two minutes in. We can only wait and see.
Does anything spring to mind when you think about the completion of your new record “Shadowmaster”and how is the mood in the camp at present?
Micke: Well first of all we are just relieved that it’s done, as we worked really hard on the album both in the studio and in the rehearsal room. But in the end we are very pleased with the results so we are feeling great about the completion of the album. We are excited at the moment. The signing with Seeing Red Records feels great, the music is finally going to be released physically and merch is in the making. Now we will focus on playing live so all is good!
What stands out as your overarching memory from the recording sessions?
Micke: The recording of “The Lizard King” went horribly, as I got nervous playing by myself and fucked up more than once. Because off this I wanted to scratch the song, but Cedermark didn’t agree. In the end we got it, but I was pissed at myself. The recording of “Under His Black Skies” was also a moment of aggression. We first failed at the end of the song, so we had to do a second take. As the song is almost 20 minutes and we play everything live in the studio, it was a pain in the ass. But it wasn’t all bad. The vocals went smooth as fuck, and they sound amazing. Plus we had some help by Björn, a close friend of ours. He helped us with everything during the recording session and mixing.
With you new record in the bag, how is your schedule shaping up over the next 12 months?
Micke: Play as much gigs as possible, spreading the word of Shadowmaster and write more music! We already have a lot of ideas for new songs. Releasing the album on vinyl is also something we will try to do as soon as possible. But mostly perform live, since we truly enjoy it. Releasing some merch is also something we will do. T-shirts will be available in a couple of weeks with a design made by none other than Wizard Of Meth (Mephistofeles).
Finally, do you last words?
You can only die once. After that, nothing, and nobody, can harm you.
This Friday, November 17, Electric Wizard drops their ninth album, “Wizard Bloody Wizard”. Their second release through the legendary Spinefarm Records, the album is also their first with Clayton Burgess on bass and Simon Poole on drums. After honing their sound with an extensive international tour, the band recorded six tracks live to tape, creating one of their most accessible releases yet. Founding member and doom metal icon Jus Oborn took a few minutes to talk to THE SLUDGELORD about this new chapter in the band, future film projects, and what to expect from the legendary doom crew in the coming year.
What was the writing and rehearsal process like for “Wizard Bloody Wizard”?
Pretty much the same as usual, really! It was a bit of a hassle because we were moving houses at the time. A bit all over the place, rehearsing in different places. But basically we work on the riffs, me and Liz, and just jam them out at rehearsals.
In putting it to tape, did you put any restrictions on yourselves – a certain number of takes? It certainly sounds like a real throwback, not ProTooled but all in the same space.
It was all recorded live – first or second take to be honest, on all of it. I recorded all of it myself on a sixteen-track tape. You don’t really have options to do drop-ins and shit when you’re actually recording the whole band live. You gotta get it right. But I like that discipline. I like the fact that you capture a performance on tape, you know? What a band really sounds like. And you gotta play as fucking good as you can! You gotta really give it everything. Because it comes out – it’s not like ProTools or whatever where you can chop things up afterwards. You go, “Well ok that was ok, we can fix that bit.” Then you’re just making some kinda classical music or something *laughs*.
This is your first release with Clayton Burgess and Simon Poole on bass and drums and they bring some real swing and soul in their rhythm. What’s their addition to the band been like?
It’s definitely given us a whole new foundation we hadn’t had before. We were out on the road quite a lot in the last two or three years, so the lineup’s really solidified. And you noticed Simon and Clayton have a chemistry. We actually got them to rehearse together before we brought in the guitars to get them locked in together. And that was cool, that worked out. I think it’s something we’ve wanted for a long time – to have a bit of a stronger rhythm section so we can experiment and go a bit more over the top. I always had the idea that the guitars in ‘Wizardwere always very solid, very simple, very brutal, and then the drums and the bass would play around a lot more. Just have a lot of counter rhythm, counter melody. Just another dimension, you know? And I think it’s really worked out on this record. I’m pretty fucking pleased.
From the beginning, Electric Wizard has had a multimedia element, whether with the film references, the Drugula comic, the visual show. Do you have any plans with other media or film collaboration?
Well we’ve always been tinkering around with doing film, and we’ve filmed various things over the years. But it’s always a bit of a long process, a lot of the time. It’s all kind of unfinished projects and half ideas. I think this video for “See You in Hell” is the first real video we’ve ever done! We got to experiment with a few ideas there, recreating the old 70s TV studio sort of feel. But moving into film is something we’d like to do. I’ve been looking into – there’s actually an old biker movie called “Angels”. It’s a Danish biker movie by the people that did “The Sinful Dwarf”. But it’s missing its soundtrack and missing all the dialogue, so I’ve had the idea of re-recording it. Recording music and doing the dialogue again – I mean the plot’s pretty easy to follow! *laughter*
And as far as comics and stuff, I’ve been interested in doing comics for a long time. I’ve been talking with some people. A few people seem to like the Drugula idea, you know! I think they’d like to see a comic like that.
It seems there’s a lot of crossover appeal, from the beginning of metal, with horror and comics.
It’s just part of the culture, growing up with the dark and heavy metal stuff.
One of our readers, Eric, wanted to know what you’re listening to lately. Specifically, any non-metal/non-doom stuff that stands out for you?
I mean I do tend to listen to a lot of heavy rock and metal *laughs*. I’ve been listening to a lot of The Sweet, an English heavy rock band. They were kind of a pop band at first and they started doing some heavier shit. I think they’re a pretty big influence on a lot of people.
Non-metal I just picked up this album by Jean-Claude Vannier – an album called “Insolitudes”. A guy who collaborated with Serge Gainsbourg on the “Melody Nelson” album (1971’s “Histoire de Melody Nelson”). It’s a pretty cool album, man! It’s really dark, weird, kind of jazz, classical soundtrack music. It’s pretty far out, pretty psychedelic, to be honest. Good to smoke to. Fuckin blew my mind *laughs*.
But yeah I’d recommend The Sweet F.A. (aka Sweet Fanny Adams) to anyone. It’s some pretty fuckin epic, awesome guitar work on it.
Are there any reissues of some of the classic, out of print Electric Wizard stuff in the works? Specifically, “Chrononaut” and “Supercoven” have become pretty sparse.
We’ve actually been approached by some labels recently. Southern Lord have asked us about it again, because they put out the rerelease of “Supercoven” the first time round. I’d like to see them come back out, especially as “Supercoven” is one of my favorite Electric Wizard albums.
OK here’s an urban legend to either debunk or confirm: one of our readers, Dan, asked if the volume of an Electric Wizard show really made you go deaf once?
Yeah pretty much! *laughter* Yeah I burst an eardrum. Yeah it’s not cool. I mean I hurt my eardrums for many years and it got pretty bad.
What are you planning as far as shows in the near future?
With the new record, it’s time to get out on the road. We have a few festivals lined up – Inferno in Norway is gonna be cool with Satyricon and Obituary. It’ll be pretty fucking heavy! And we’re back in the US with the New Year. It’s fuckin awesome to go over there. Seems like everyone is still into heavy music, man.
“Wizard Bloody Wizard” transcends whatever the in-thing of the moment is, and focuses instead on musicianship, the album's all-analog approach creates a warm, vintage sound for the songs and on the whole Electric Wizard feels re-energized, whilst remaining true to their seedy pedigree
"Wizard Bloody Wizard"CD//DD//LP track listing
1. See You In Hell
2. Necromania
3. Hear The Sirens Scream
4. The Reaper
5. Wicked Caresses
6. Mourning Of The Magicians
The Review:
Doom metal institution Electric Wizard has been around so long that its musical progeny continue to make waves around the world. Its gritty, mystical method to metal has directly and indirectly influenced legions of heavy music performers for over two decades. Consider 2000's "Dopethrone" and what it meant for the genre. Indeed, the English band has been at it over 25 years, plying its brand of pulpy blues/stoner/sludge rock in the vein of Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer and other legends.
The 2014 release "Time to Die" saw the return of original drummer Mark Greening to the team. However, Greening again left, resulting in a pause from recording. Instead the group kept a hectic touring schedule, with new drummer Simon Poole joining Electric Wizard for its new chapter. With its over-the-top artwork and Occult/marijuana/horror themes in "Wizard Bloody Wizard,"Electric Wizard is back at last. The next inquisition is whether Electric Wizardcan make remarkable music in this period where plenty of acts have, arguably, co-opted it sonically and lyrically, or whether that brand of a seminal group still makes it something to watch.
The album got a preview with the lead-off single and opener, "See You in Hell." Great reason for that: it is easily one of the album's best tracks, with its plodding bass courtesy of Clayton Burgess, distorted guitars and vocals that overwhelm with lyrics rather than volume. Electric Wizard has gotten a reputation over the years for theatrical songwriting that is more Alice Cooper than Cannibal Corpse, and this opener only reinforces it. “This world is crazy and makes me sick/Maybe I'll torture you just for kicks/But I lie here possessed by evil/Forever a servant of the Devil." The delivery is not nearly as threatening as that sounds. In fact, it is entirely listenable in a manner that is reminiscent of the late 1970s' flirtations with evil music themes. Electric Wizard stay true to the seedy pedigree, though it remains accessible.
The more skeptical might find this opening a tad formulaic – Electric Wizarddoes particular things exceedingly well, and stays with it. However, credit must go to a band with this kind of history, which has mastered its craft in a way that transcends whatever the in-thing of the moment is, and focuses instead on musicianship. Jus Oborn's vocals are as spellbinding as ever, the album's all-analog approach creates a warm, vintage sound for the songs. Electric Wizard feels reenergized to give fans that dig what they do, exactly what they came for.
Still, familiarity for some is sure to breed contempt. You may have heard by now that "Wizard Bloody Wizard" has gotten its share of heat for lackluster moments. A dash of that criticism is fair, though some of that is based in expectation of a louder, lewder Electric Wizard in the vein of 2010's "Black Masses." Here, the group is looking for a more stripped-down performance; hence the aforementioned analog recording and flourishes that harken back to Led Zeppelin era heavy rock. True to that, a song like "Hear The Sirens Scream" offers you a taste of a cleaner vocal and more of the downtempo, bluesier hard rock of the period. "Necromania" opens with a more conventional booming heavy rock riff. It too is an energetic jam, in a fashion that can likely attract new fans, frankly.
One of the few disappointments is that this release is incredibly short, at just under 45 minutes. Electric Wizard try to make up for the brief disc with "Mourning of the Magicians," an 11-minute closing cut that sees Liz Buckingham doing some impressive guitar work. The chorus "see you in Hell" reappears, as if to close the story loop from the opener, and the song's themes, which speak of darkness and betrayal, illuminate the thick rhythm laid out. Although "Wizard Bloody Wizard" is unlikely to be considered Electric Wizard'scrowning achievement, it may in fact turn into bait for a new audience into the renaissance of old-school hard rock.
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