Dopethrone incessantly generates a blackened forest with the same depravity as Ulver, Darkthrone and the rest of the Scandinavian black metal barbarians. вЂWeird TalesвЂ™ split into its three epicly-titled parts adds a kind of mythological subtext to the greater perspective, which itself is complemented by songs like вЂBarbarianвЂ™ and the title track. The longer tracks, fatiguing as they may be, are odysseys in themselves. It is nothing short of monumental, even though it provokes a splitting earache halfway through, which is generously salvaged by the groove break on вЂThe Hills Have EyesвЂ™. What Electric Wizard have done here is not only make what is arguably the greatest conceptual record in doom metal, but also turned a largely derivative genre into a purer form of high art. ItвЂ™s so easy to get lost in the groupвЂ™s winding tones and tinny noisescapes as it is, immersing the ears in a pool of darkened fantasy paved with the bones of vanquished foes and the air of untapped retribution. ItвЂ™s surely the Devil himself ripping a fat bong by the mountainside on the cover after all. Whether its a lone warrior firmly planting his feet in the ground as he faces 2000 troops, or a disgruntled employee finally leaving a toxic and shitty workplace, Electric Wizard are there to say, вЂњFucking do it.вЂќДЄnd of course, the stoners have their fun too. The last thing anyone would do listening to Dopethrone is give up. They are insubordinate and influential, like biblical texts of gloomy rebellion. Each riff is so spine-crushingly sludgy, they provoke a progressive element in the face of strife. Interestingly, the magnitude of Dopethrone does not see it take up a fatalist position. They are probably the only doom metal band that can make a listener forget about Black Sabbath for a while. But for every Acid King, Elder, Orange Goblin, Saturn and Spirit Caravan, there is only one Electric Wizard. There are countless (great, mind) stoner and doom bands out there that draw 99% of their material from Osbourne and co.вЂ™s excellent works. Despite a Black Sabbath comparison and that Electric Wizard get their name from two Sabbath tracks (вЂElectric FuneralвЂ™ and вЂThe WizardвЂ™), they are not a band fuelled entirely by Sabbath worship. Entwined in Electric WizardвЂ™s gory crusades is the aforementioned lore, like if Led Zeppelin IV met Master Of Reality. Tracks like вЂWe Hate YouвЂ™ exercise a lust for revenge after the right to do so was plucked from ObornвЂ™s hands (вЂњSo I'll take my father's gun and I'll walk down to the street, I'll have my vengeance now with everyone I meet,вЂќ) and вЂI, The WitchfinderвЂ™ thirsts for the blood of an arcane enemy (вЂњMy implements of torture are bloody red, your confession to sorcery will leave you deadвЂќ). Themes of hatred and vengeance ripple throughout. We camped out at the studio, so it was literally just wake up, consume as much fucking drugs as possible, and then just start jamming.вЂќ It was us against the world and we just wanted to make the most disgusting, foul, putrid record that anyone has ever recorded. ItвЂ™s a vastly coherent piece of noise, impressive considering frontman Jus Oborn had this to say about the album: 'Most of us were stuck in some drug addiction or alcoholism at the time and it was just pure hate.

Even through its unnerving and blistering sounds, Dopethrone paints a rich world of clandestine lore. That sinister quote on life in a cult lays the guide stones down for how monumentally twisted Dopethrone gets and all of it happens in the first three minutes.

That fucking song seems to carry the weight of Black SabbathвЂ™s exhausted, decrepit body and dumps it into the 21st century. If thatвЂ™s not the best doom track ever recorded. One is death, the other is mental institutions.вЂќ 9.0/10 вЂњWhen you get into one of these groups, thereвЂ™s only a couple of ways you can get out.

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