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Electric Wizard

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Electric Wizard

Electric Wizard are an English stoner/doom metal band from Dorset. Formed in 1988 under the name Lord of Putrefaction, the band have recorded nine studio albums, two of which have been considered genre landmarks: Come My Fanatics… (1997) and Dopethrone (2000). 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.

The origins of Electric Wizard go back to 1988 when Jus Oborn formed the band Lord of Putrefaction. They put out three demo tapes from 1989 to 1991 and also recorded a split album 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, Oborn started Electric Wizard. The recordings from this era were issued on the Pre-Electric Wizard 1989–1994 compilation in 2006.

The band adopted the name Electric Wizard during 1993, and featured guitarist-vocalist Jus Oborn, bassist Tim Bagshaw, and drummer Mark Greening. The band's name was taken from two Black Sabbath songs: "Electric Funeral" and "The Wizard". Oborn remarked, "Is the name Electric Wizard made out of two Black Sabbath song titles? Hahahaha, yeah it is!"

In 1995, the band signed to Rise Above Records and released their self-titled debut album. The music was in the vein of traditional doom metal, and received positive reviews. Later that year, they released the song "Demon Lung" as a split-single with Our Haunted Kingdom (later to become Orange Goblin).

In 1997, the band recorded and released Come My Fanatics…, which introduced the stoner and sludge elements that have come to define Electric Wizard's sound. Later that year, Man's Ruin Records released the Chrono.Naut EP. Following the release of Come My Fanatics... Electric Wizard released the Supercoven EP on Bad Acid Records in 1998 and then recorded and released Dopethrone in 2000, which was described by Allmusic as a "dirge masterpiece" and is regarded as the band's magnum opus. Kerrang! has noted that despite the "groovy" stoner rock vibes usually associated with the band, lyrics for songs like We Hate You were more like "an indiscriminate spray of bile against everyone" than the typical stoner rock themes of "shagging and cars".

During the three years following the release of Come My Fanatics..., the members of Electric Wizard encountered a series of setbacks, with Oborn suffering a collapsed eardrum during a concert and later severing a fingertip while laying a carpet. Greening broke his collarbone in an accident. Speaking to Kerrang! in July 2009, Jus Oborn remembered the days of the recording:

At the time, we were pretty bad people. I got arrested for arson of a car, outside a police station. Tim [Bagshaw] went to nick a crucifix off a church roof so we could use it onstage, then slipped, fell off through the window and sliced his arm open. He got community service for that. Then Mark [Greening] got nicked for robbing an offie. He smashed the window, nicked a bottle of whiskey, then sat there drinking it outside! We weren't very nice people, to be honest. We were feeding off that shit at the time. It made us feel like we were more of a heavy metal band.

Their next album, Let Us Prey, was released in 2002. It was Electric Wizard's most experimental record to date. Following the release, the band embarked on a North American tour that raised tensions between band members. It was announced that the band was breaking up after the last concert of the tour. However, Electric Wizard did a UK tour with Cathedral soon after, with Justin Greaves (of Iron Monkey) on drums. In April 2003, Greening and Bagshaw left the band.

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