maandag 2 november 2015

360 records from 2000: 98. Electric wizard - Dopethrone

98. Electric wizard: Dopethrone


Country: UK
Artist: Band
Career: recording since 1994
Language: English
Genre: Heavy metal


For about 30 seconds you think you stand a chance. ‘Vinum sabbathi’, the first song, starts with a heavy but melodic riff, and you can almost tap your foot to it. Then a tidal wave of subliminally low sludge and noise drops in right on top of you and completely submerges you for the duration of the song. And that’s the ‘pop’ song of the album! ‘Funeralopolis’ does the same trick but a lot slower – a nice, slightly bluesy rickeytickey riff. This time when the ocean comes down, you’re ready, you welcome it, but they’re always ahead of you, don’t kid yourself you know what’s up. The riff goes through heavier and heavier permutations, at about 5’20” the main riff drops back in at double the original speed (still slow as molasses though) and the ground swallows you up. ‘Weird tales’ starts off with five minutes of this kind of pounding sludge, but that’s only a third of it, the second part can only be described as a musical depiction of climbing down into the pits of hell, one slow step at a time, the third part is just feedback and someone far off tapping a beat. The molten core of the record ('Barbarian', 'I the witchfinder') is so intense that I can only listen to it from the next room, and when the singer tells you (in 'Barbarian') that ‘you will never understand’, man, you take him at his word. This one is out of the competition. You’re on your own.


At its best: Vinum sabbathi, Funeralopolis, Weird tales (i. Electric frost ii. Golgotha iii. Alter of Melektaus), I, the withfinder (long ending – supreme spacerock)

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