Dorset doom titans reveal details of their latest offering — a raw, straight-to-tape recording captured in their crypt. Sharing the sentiment, they say, “It’s raw as fuck.” Need we say more?

Words by Felix Bartlett | Nov 26, 2024

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Electric Wizard have revealed the upcoming release of Black Magic Rituals And Perversions Vol. 1, a double live album recorded straight from their rehearsal space. Aimed at capturing the essence of their sound as the pandemic hit, the band wanted to document their raw energy, fearing they might never perform live again. The iconic doom band retreated to their Westcountry crypt, where they laid down the tracks directly onto a 16-track tape machine.

“We’d been gigging for two years at that point, around America three times, going to Japan and Australia, and we were sounding pretty good by the end of it,” says frontman Jus Oborn, who operated the recording equipment himself. “When the pandemic happened, we thought, ‘Fuck it, maybe we’ll never play again.’ So we went into the jam room and played the songs to get them on tape to capture how we were playing at the time.”

“It’s raw as fuck, it’s like a lost ’70s black metal demo rehearsal session or something. It’s raw, nasty, screaming in your face. I always promised Electric Wizard was like rats in your face. This is verging on it.”

Despite the lack of an audience, Jus and the band drew inspiration from classic live albums such as Motörhead’s No Sleep ’til Hammersmith and KISS’ ALIVE!, choosing not to aim for perfection but to capture the true, untamed spirit of Electric Wizard’s live energy.

“It was more about capturing atmosphere and energy,” Jus explains. “I was really excited by the idea of just recording us playing purely live to tape and making it sound as raw as possible, like an old, lost recording. We used shitty mics, a crappy old tape machine, threw it all together as quickly as we could, and just went for it. No one’s sitting down, no one’s got headphones on, we’re all fucking headbanging, just going for it.”

Black Magic Rituals and Perversions Vol. 1 tracklisting:

1. Dopethrone
2. Incense For The Damned
3. Black Mass
4. Witchcult Today
5. Satanic Rites of Drugula
6. Scorpio Curse
7. The Chosen Few
8. Funeralopolis

Black Magic Rituals and Perversions Vol. 1 is released on December 13 via Spinefarm