Metal Underground.com

When one of the most influential doom/stoner metal bands of our generation shifts gears musically for their latest offering, “Wizard Bloody Wizard,” you can bet your Ouija board there’s going to be some grumbling. You know what? I bet you a Tony Iommi Signature SG that Electric Wizard doesn’t give a fuck what their fans (or non-fans for that matter) think. In fact, you can probably just assume that Electric Wizard is never going to release a “Dopethrone II.” It’s not happening. Never. However, what did happen is that they just released their most compelling and pungent album to date.

There’s always a tipping point for successful bands when a noticeable change is made during the song writing process. Maybe the band feels that they’re in a creative slump, or perhaps a new member or members have joined the band recently. Or, maybe they’ve just been on a Blue Oyster Cult kick lately. Who knows if any of these are plausible reasons for the change of tune for Electric Wizard on “Wizard Bloody Wizard,” but I guarantee that they’ll still pack venues and they’ll still continue to wear the crown as the most popular and respected stoner/doom metal band to date besides Sleep.

The most obvious change in sound is best demonstrated in the lead track, “See You in Hell.” There’s a little bit of Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly and Blue Oyster Cult swirled throughout the track but in the end, it bleeds the signature Electric Wizard Hi-Fi sound. “Necromania” is also a departure from the Electric Wizard of the past few albums with almost, dare I say, a Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats feel to it. My favorite track without a doubt is “Mourning of the Magicians.” To my Electric Wizard worship ears, this is probably the closest they’ve been to the “Come My Fanatics” sound in a long time. The chorus is super catchy and the bass line backing it is the devil in the details.

Even though this change of sound might alarm some Electric Wizard die-hards, I wouldn’t fret. To me it just feels like they wanted to do something out of their comfort zone and it worked for them. If you didn’t enjoy “Wizard Blood Wizard,” well, you’ll just have to wait for the return trip…