Electric Wizard are an English doom metal band from Dorset, England. The band formed in 1993 and have recorded eight full length albums, two of which are now considered to be genre landmarks: Come My Fanatics... and Dopethrone. Electric Wizard's brand of doom metal incorporates stoner and sludge traits, with lyrics focusing on the occult, witchcraft, H.P. Lovecraft, horror films and cannabis. In 2014 they formed Witchfinder Records, an imprint of Spinefarm Records, on which they will release all future albums.
History
Pre-Electric Wizard
The origins of Electric Wizard go back to 1988 and Jus Oborn's band Lord of Putrefaction. They put out three demo tapes from 1989–1991 and also did one split with Mortal Remains. In 1992, the name was changed to Thy Grief Eternal after Adam Richardson left the band. They put out one demo under this name titled On Blackened Wings. In 1993, James Evans left the band and they once again changed their name, shortening it to Eternal. The band released two demos under this name. After Gavin Gillingham left the band, Jus Oborn started Electric Wizard. The recordings from this era were issued on the Pre-Electric Wizard 1989–1994 compilation in 2006.
Electric Wizard is the debut studio album by English doom metal band Electric Wizard. It was released during 1995 through Rise Above Records. The music is in the style of traditional doom metal with some stoner metal traits. The album cover depicts a woman riding a winged seahorse across a psychedelic ocean floor, which has been decorated with stone statues. The font used for the logo is the same style used for Black Sabbath's self-titled album, a nod to one of the band's inspirations.
Electric Wizard was re-released bundled with their second album, Come My Fanatics... in 1999. A remastered version was then released on CD and LP in 2006, with two bonus tracks, taken from a demo entitled Doom Chapter.
Track listing
All tracks by Jus Oborn
Bonus songs on 2006 reissue:
Herman Slater (1935 – July 9, 1992) was an American Wiccan high priest and occult-bookstore proprietor as well as an editor, publisher, and author. He died of AIDS in 1992.
Early life
Slater was born in 1938 in a lower-middle-class Jewish neighborhood of New York. At a very early age, he became aware of anti-Semitism which was encouraged by the Catholic Church. This became one of the influences that led him to witchcraft. Slater studied business administration at New York University, liberal arts at Hunter College and traffic management at the Traffic Management Institute in New York. He also completed a full course at the United States Navy Personnel School in Bainbridge, Maryland. During 1958 through 1969, Slater had several business jobs in management, traffic expediting, and insurance claims investigation. 1969 marked the beginning of significant health-related issues for him. He was later forced to quit work due to bone tuberculosis, which cost him a hip bone and three years of recuperation.