Electric Wizard

by Ed Rivadavia & Tara Koets
 
Often referred to as the heaviest band in the universe, Englands Electric Wizard have consistently redefined the preconceived thresholds of a detuned guitar chord with their peerless doom metal achievements — this despite an often interpersonally troubled, if musically triumphant, career. Formed in darkest Dorset by vocalist/guitarist Justin Oborn (previously with Lords of Putrefaction), bassist Tim Bagshaw and drummer Mark Greening, and initially known as Thy Grief Eternal (briefer still, simply Eternal), Electric Wizard made their debut with 1993s Demon Lung single — a split release with fellow doomsters Our Haunted Kingdom (who later evolved into Orange Goblin). Released by Cathedral linchpin Lee Dorrians doom-specialized Rise Above Records, the single paved the way for Electric Wizards eponymous debut a year later; and, although it didnt quite revolutionize the genre (actually, it contained pretty standard doom fare for the time), the album still made for a rather impressive start. 1996s sophomore album, Come My Fanatics... was another matter entirely, however, effectively rewriting the doom rule book with the sheer volume and distortion contained in its planet-sized riffs, and rattling the underground metal scene to its core in the process. Unfortunately, its seismic aftershocks would also be felt by the members of Electric Wizard, who, due to various, poorly explained injuries (Greening was dealt a broken arm, while Oborn first lost a fingertip in a domestic accident and, less surprisingly, later suffered a ruptured eardrum!), managed only a set of EPs — 97s Chrono.Naut and 98s Supercoven — in the next three years. Other sources suggested the bands absence had a lot more to do with crippling weed consumption and/or simple lack of motivation, but all speculation was duly obliterated by the long-awaited arrival of the bands third magnum opus, 2000s superlative Dopethrone. Like its predecessor four years prior, Dopethrone was a revelation in terms of absolute mass applied to amazingly memorable songwriting. In fact, it so effortlessly bridged the stylistic gaps between doom, sludge, stoner, horror, and, at times, even space metal, that 2002s unusually efficiently recorded follow-up, Let Us Prey, often felt like a collection of outtakes from it. And yet, Let Us Prey was anything but a throwaway effort, and helped further Electric Wizards cause worldwide even as the group was crumbling from the inside. Tensions were mounting and the trios ill-fated American tour that summer pushed the growing animosity between Oborn and his cohorts to the breaking point, and their final date in Philadelphia was actually billed as Electric Wizards farewell show. This, as it turned out, proved to be a premature publicity stunt, but the bands next tour of the U.K. (in support of Cathedral) would see Greening replaced by former Iron Monkey drummer Justin Greaves, and ended with Bagshaws long-rumored departure as well. Curiously, he quickly reconnected with Greening in a new group called Ramesses, while, for his part, Oborn took a few months off to ponder his next move. In time, he decided to move forward with a new, expanded lineup featuring ex-13 and Sourvein guitarist Liz Buckingham, bassist Rob Al-Issa, and the aforementioned Greaves and the reborn Electric Wizard released its fifth full studio album in 2004s aptly-named We Live.