Since the release of Dopethrone in 2000, Electric Wizard has remained the ruler of an overpopulated sub-genre of metal without a signifying term that isn’t cringe-inducingly stupid. (Most call it “stoner metal.”) Every three to four years, the Wizard releases a full-length that erases any relevance from hordes of boring acts still trying to milk something interesting out of metal’s fundamental Genesis moment: Black Sabbath. Sadly, with Wizard Bloody Wizard, the quartet backs away a bit from 2014’s Time To Die, which was the noisiest, nastiest, most chaotic and heaviest album Electric Wizard had released. In some respect, a subtle turn toward friendlier pre-Sabbath butt-rock waters might’ve been the only feasible direction. While another updating of Bloodrock/Blue Cheer/proto-metal is exactly what the world doesn’t need, it’s a different story when Electric Wizard puts such source material in the crosshairs to show the saturated margins how it’s done.
—Andrew Earles
