Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today review
| Band: | Electric Wizard |
| Album: | Witchcult Today |
| Style: | Doom metal, Stoner metal |
| Release date: | November 12, 2007 |
| Guest review by: | !J.O.O.E.! |
01. Witchcult Today
02. Dunwich
03. Satanic Rites Of Drugula
04. Raptus
05. The Chosen Few
06. Torquemada '71
07. Black Magic Rituals & Perversions
1 - Frisson Des Vampires
2 - Zora
08. Saturnine
As a paradigm of the green haze of doom I find the lack of reviews of Electric Wizard part disturbing, part saddening, all frustrating. Shame on you staffers. Far be it from me to announce Witchcult Today as their chef-d'oeuvre, especially considering the interminable veneration of Dopethrone, a reverence which for the most part falls outside the realm of my understanding (to mine ears it's just heavy; not heavily great), there's little skirting around the fact that Witchcult Today is perhaps the ultimate in its class, the one that defines in no uncertain terms that long used affectionate term of red-eyed metallers: stoner.
Gone is the oppressive bombardment of We Live, instead the retrofied riffs convey an all-encompassing, dense heaviness, dissipating much more organically into clouds of warm, trippy chorus-laden layers, a regurgitating bass line hitting you pleasantly in the pits of your stomach whilst Oborn croons, cleaner than ever, like a dirty junkie underneath the haze. A better case for legends adopting ancient analogue equipment in their production process (Killing Joke the only other springing to mind) I've yet to hear. Even the relative incongruousness of "Black Magic Rituals & Perversions" is outright fogged by future sing-along classics like "The Chosen Few" and "Saturnine" and as darkly foreboding as it is equally a session of jammed out fun, it's really hard to find fault anywhere on the whole record; even the use of lengthy repetition is highly fitting for an album of its kind, particularly as it's mellowed with interspersed frivolous soloing.
Naturally, many will long for the older days before the sound and line-up changes (and they can jolly well have them), but if you enjoy the simple pleasures of having your brain and muscles dunked into an intoxicated, mushy psychedelic-soup then you could do worse that give this a spin or ten. I recommend ten.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by !J.O.O.E.! | 25.08.2010
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 26
Visited by: 122 users
| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493  |
Hip hip, hurray! Hip hip, hurray! Hip hip, hurray! Anyway, I see you really got the thesaurus rolling here. So much, that this seems more like an eccentric pile of words than an actual review people would read. Still, it got me a bit... trippy.
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Agreed that it's far less wordy, but at the same time it comes across as a little too "smart". Think like a newspaper columnist: you want to keep it at a grade 10 (as in high school) level, but use "big words" to accentuate the integrity your analysis. That way you appease your entire audience without over or undershooting. *admittedly doesn't have anything to say about the album itself*
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Fair enough - I was just giving you advice on how to better write for METAL STORM, but if your plan is to move on with this (or at least to be prepared if the opportunity to move on with this presents itself) then I think you're doing the right thing in regards to the intellectuality and brevity. Good luck in your venture.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
Great return to form after releasing two mediocre albums
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by Dangerboner on 26.08.2010 at 07:03 Let Us Prey mediocre?  I find that one fuckign brilliant, almost up to the level of Dopethrone.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262 |
I don't care for Let Us Prey much at all. It's just too drawn out and repetitive for me.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6101  |
Question is: are you trying to actually review music, or are you trying to impress the reader with rare vocabulary and weird juxtapositions (regurgitating bass...). I read a few of your reviews and never had to use a dictionary, but still, I can't help but feel that reviewing music isn't your ultimate goal. *end another comment with zero said about the album*
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| destroyah supercharger Elite Posts: 12195  |
Written by [user id=4365] on 25.08.2010 at 23:49 Luckily I'm still on my summer break. If you'd made me read this mid-semester I probably would've shipped you a nailbomb for the quasi-academic style of the review. Other than that I have no complaints as to the style, job well done  As for the album, I too consider this their best work to date.
---- About me: "The best out of all the people ever" - Washington Post "We abandoned Christ for Destroyah's love!" - The Watchtower "Simply amazing!" - Rolling Stone
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by destroyah on 26.08.2010 at 13:23 Haha, thanks very much dude. I'll keep an eye out for suspicious, pointy looking packages just to be safe 
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Meh, didn't find it hard to read at all. I used the disctionary just 2 times and it was just to confirm some stuff since the meaning of everything was still easy to understand. It's nice when some "big words" are so similar to spanish. Anyway: Dopethrone is the fucking shit so I will give a "fffffffu you" to the part when you comment about it. Everything else is fine. It's not like I've heard such a huge evolution since Dopethrone. It's pretty much the same (awesome) stuff with some changes here aand there.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Maxx666 Meshuggahian Posts: 376  |
Best band to listen to when goin for a trip.... While Come My Fanatics and Dopethrone are always my favorite recipe.. this album also doesn't disappoint a bit...9/10
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| mz Posts: 4825  |
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| Ilham Giant robot Posts: 5161  |
Written by mz on 16.07.2014 at 01:58 It's the first time I see you swear. I like it.
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| mz Posts: 4825 |
Written by Ilham on 16.07.2014 at 02:44 I curse a lot in real life, but due to my experience, the lack of facial expression can cause misunderstanding in online forums when cursing. That's the reason of my politeness
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by mz on 16.07.2014 at 01:58  well, now I won't be getting front page reviews I feel even less compelled to do so really.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 16.07.2014 at 13:59 Maybe if you ask nicely. I like your reviews. Strings should be able to be pulled.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by X-Ray Rod on 16.07.2014 at 14:20 I'll see how it goes =P I could always use you as my nom de plume as it were
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| mz Posts: 4825 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 16.07.2014 at 13:59 since you did not published review in long time you got dethroned, and now you say that since you are dethroned you would not publish more reviews. You are mixing up the cause and the consequence of your actions (just wanted to pull a Joe-esque sentence ;p )
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by mz on 16.07.2014 at 14:40 Sounds like my kind of logic
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| Spirit Molecule spirit molecule Posts: 1918  |
Written by [user id=4365] on 25.08.2010 at 22:40 Haha nice name drop 
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