UMUR
"Wizard Bloody Wizard" is the ninth full-length studio album by UK doom/stoner metal act Electric Wizard. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in November 2017. It´s the successor to "Time to Die" from 2014 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Mark Greening has been replaced by Simon Poole.
Stylistically the material on "Wizard Bloody Wizard" is horror/occult themed stoner/doom metal with the occasional psychedelic touch. It´s brick heavy music, featuring heavy groove laden power chord riffs, organic bass playing and drumming, and lead vocalist/guitarist Jus Oborn shouting vocals in front. If you´re familiar with the last couple of albums by Electric Wizard, you won´t be surprised by the style of music presented here. There´s maybe a slight hard rock edge to some of the tracks and an even more organic/analog sounding production than on the preceding albums, but it´s details, and Electric Wizard still worship at the alter of 70s Black Sabbath, like they´ve done on a lot of their output. The title of the album is of course also a pun on the legendary Birmingham band´s fifth studio album "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (1973).
The songwriting is decent, but it´s not the most interesting nor the most challenging release by Electric Wizard. They´ve always repeated their riffs a lot during tracks to create a hypnotic effect, and it has often worked well for them, but there is always the risk that repetition creates a feeling of indifference or even boredom in the listener, and that´s unfortunately occasionally the case here. It´s not a major issue, but a more concise songwriting approach and a little more focus on catchiness wouldn´t have hurt. Of course the dark occult atmosphere, the high level musicianship, and the great parts of the songs save the day, and "Wizard Bloody Wizard" is overall another high quality stoner/doom metal release by Electric Wizard. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.