Pray for mercy
R. W. Gross | Cumberland, MD.USApe | 11/28/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"May the gods be praised. This is beyond heavy. Turn this up to 10 and you'll be spitting blood for a week. Dark and disturbed. Fun for the whole family. Trust me on this! I only gave 4 stars because, well listen to their CD DOPETHRONE!"
Evil monks fall to their knees
Dune.Bison | Seattle, WA | 09/25/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Doom-heads will disagree, but this is Electric Wizard's finest moment. Eighth notes never sounded so heavy (see "Mourning Prayer," "Devil's Bride," "Black Butterfly), and lyrics never sounded so stoned.
There's something about a "black butterfly... traveling through the void of space" while "druids gather at the circle of stones to worship the ancient ones." You'll hear bits about THE wizard visiting on a dragon, ultraviolet suns and magnetic cobs spread in a spinning web. Most stoner rock lyrics are tired, forgettable. But I actually remember writing some of these out when I was a bored kid, trying to piece together the Wizard's lessons.
The album opener ("Stone Magnet") and closer ("Electric Wizard") are utterly brilliant, and will sit among the greatest stonerrock hymns of all time as uniquely Electric Wizard (a lot of the genre borrows heavily from itself).
I hear complaints from friends about the drumming on this recording. I'd agree it lacks the slipperiness and spark of most stoner records, but it doesn't hold this work back.
After recording this record, it's rumored that members of the band were busted for drugs, assaulting a cop and robbery (on separate occasions). One member of the band suffered a collapsed eardrum on stage. These guys are 24-hour metal.
"