YEP... - I agree with the common wealth... tis da shat!cheers!!!
Electric Wizard At Their Best - While this is only marketed as the 1996 release Come My Fanatics here on Amazon, it also contains a 2nd disc which is their s/t debut from 1994. My review will be mostly based on the main Come My Fanatics disc.Along with 2001 s Dopethrone, Electric Wizard managed to carve out some of the best doom/stoner music of the 90 s. I personally prefer Come My Fanatics as I believe it to be slightly more consistent and concise, but both albums are absolute essentials for both fans of the genre, and more generally fans of good old metal such as Sabbath and St Vitus.The band kick things off with simplistic bliss - one big fuzzy note. The effect of this is unexpectedly powerful, instantly getting the adrenaline rushing and creating the inevitable sense of what s about to come. After some buildup play EW swamp the listener with a cascade of sumptuous bluesy riffs with that unmistakable low-end resonance. Return Trip is simply a fantastic opener, and the best of any EW album. It comprises everything a metal fan could want, big riffs, catchy hooks, solos, tempo changes...a real demonstration that this band is no second-rate act. They are the real deal.After a characteristic vocal sample opening, Wizard in Black reveals its main riff, possibly the finest on the album, and the band knows it, they do not hesitate in repeating it. Which is a good thing - believe me. The song is typical classy EW, again mixing the big riffs with catchy choral lines and clever song writing, another instant winner. Continuing the theme of class comes Doom Mantia, an incredibly trippy number that slowly eases its way, flowing riff by riff into a gigantic wall of guitar fuzz and swirling vocal effects. This is THE song to rip a bong to ladies and gents. The final few minutes of Jus repeating the title with his underwater styled effects, backed by a huge ominous riff and pummelling drums is quite simply divine.Ivixor B is a psychedelic break from the wall of fuzzy guitars, consisting of middle-eastern sounding vocals and some swimmy bass playing, and of course weird outer space synthesised effects. Things get back to style when Son of Nothing booms in with its very simple but mega heavy leading riff. While not quite up to the standards of previous tracks, it is still solid album material, and a song most other doom/stoner bands would die for. The chorus line of `baby, just maybe, we ll take you to the son of nothing is intertwined with a lovely change of riff, very well executed. The album then closes with an instrumental track that is the weakest on the album, which isn t exactly shameful as the rest of it is so outstanding.The 2nd disc containing the bands s/t debut is considerably less stellar due to somewhat poor production and a lack of attack on the guitar tone. While it does have some moments of excellence such as the title track and Stone Magnet, you will spend much more time with Come My Fanatics.Overall this album is not just for fans of doom and stoner music. This is top notch metal in the 70s style - great riffs, fuzzy tones and ultimately infectious. You will struggle to find a better demonstration of this style of music.
the first note alone - I have recently gotten into these guys, and while I am finding Dopethrone to be one of the ultimate metal albums of our time, I just cant resist the first track on this cd. The rest of the CD is good, especially Son Of Nothing and Wizard in Black, but the opener Return Trip...my god, it opens with possibly the lowest most gutteral bowel shaking bass heavy power chord I think I have ever heard...It is exciting, it gets the adrenaline pumping, and it is one chord! Then it chills out intoa little jammy bit and then the riff comes again and just pummels...great stuff.Electric Wizard worship the almighty riff, and in doing so, raise the riff to a god like status. And when you hear that first chord, you will realize that the riff is almighty and you will love this album.PS. Dopethrone is THE album to buy though....just too good...
I am unsure why I like this so much - This could easily be called talentless, sludgy garbage. This band cares nothing for musicianship, sound quality, or songwriting. All they care about, simply put, is weed. However, that s what makes this music was unique. Nobody but a group of total stoners could produce this. The good things about this album are primarily things not everyone would see in it- groove and ambience. This is trance-inducing music (intended for listening while you smoke weed). I don t smoke weed, but it s still quite hypnotizing, in fact. It could best be described as Black Sabbath with twice the distortion and half the tempo, with a singer who sounds like Chino would if he had no range. Add in some weird ambience and existential lyrics. This album is particular is worth getting because it s a solid album and it included their debut, which was more coherent and less unstable and heavy. Electric Wizard seems to have descended further and further into absolute sludge throughout their career. Come My Fanatics... contains my favorite Electric Wizard song Wizard in Black (although it s probably tied with Barbarian from Dopethrone). I d recommend people start with Dopethrone, though. It s more musical than this and generally less repetitive. This is the step to take if you like Dopethrone. Here s what I think of the songs on CMF...Return Trip- The least musical song on the CD, good in context, but it s only got like 2 riffs.Wizard in Black- Very well written. I increased the speed with music software once and realized this band would have a lot more fans if they just played everything twice as fast. Awesome samples, and good lyrics The eyes of God look upon what he s done, and the eyes of man look on and beyond.Doom-Mantia- Extremely groovy song, great riff repeated the whole time, actual good vocal melodies, and interesting vocal effects. Ends with the whole band soloing.Ivixor B / Phase Inducer- Probably the most interesting thing on the CD. Very drugged out, it s bass and drums with an Indian-chant like sample over the top for 2 minutes, and then 6 minutes of ambient sound effects. A nice change.Son of Nothing- Faster and more energetic than the rest. Simply rocks. I love the Oh baby, just maybe...Solarian 13- Great riff, but it s repeated for 8 minutes, alternating clean/distorted guitars sounds. No vocals. Like Return Trip, good in context.I won t go over the songs on the debut, but I really like Electric Wizard and Mountains of Mars.The sound quality on CMF is kind of unclear, and takes a little of the groove out of it because the guitar notes have no attack, they just flow together. There isn t this problem on the debut.I hope I ve been of help. Buy if you have Dopethrone, and you have a long attention span. I actually enjoy the feel of this album more than Dopethrone, but Dopethrone is almost undoubtedly better. Haven t heard We Live or Let Us Prey yet.
Pleasing Doom for everyone. - Electric Wizard can appeal to a lot of people. They have the heaviness for the metalheads, the psychadelic edge for stoners, and the weird noises and ambiences for Radiohead fans. This is their 2nd best album, and it also comes with their impressive debut. Come My Fanatics is a lot heavier than their debut, and it shows, with the bass-heavy groove of Return Trip and the long jam of Doom-Mantia. The first album is in more of a Sleep sound, with some more stoner elements and Sabbath-flavored than their other albums. It s interesting to see how much they ve evolved into the doom masters they are now. If you re a fan of Sabbath or Sleep, this is for you.