By Kara Hinman
Are you ready? Can you handle one record with 9 songs bringing you over an hour of dark, satanic, heavy sludge? Well get ready because the long waited Time to Die by Electric Wizard is here. I did some stretches before I sat down and listened to it in its entirety. I needed to get prepared and really let it soak in. I highly recommend lighting some candles, turning down the lights, turn a cross upside down, line up some crystals in a pentagram shape, and roll a big J to let this album truly set in.
Electric Wizard is one of my all-time favorite bands. 'Funeralopolis' is one of my favorite songs and Dopethone is one of my all-time favorite records. So I couldn't wait for Time to Die to come out. I just had a feeling it wouldn't disappoint. Sometimes you get that feeling after a band has released 5 or 6 records, their lineup changes, they get older…you just think the worst. But just knowing how heavy, dark and bad ass Electric Wizard truly is, expectations could be set fairly high and you would not be let down.
And that’s exactly what happened.
I have been listening to this album over and over again for the past 3 hours. That’s about listening to the entire album 3 times. The first song 'Incense for the Damned' is a perfect way to start the album. Almost 11 minutes of bringing you nothing but that heavy sludgy that you know and love. The vocals are diabolic and the guitar is exceptional. I especially love the end of the song where the guitar gets kind of emotional and the vocals continue in a ritualistic chant style.
Liz Buckingham and Jus Oborn, the geniuses behind the guitars, have really carefully played the guitar sounds to give a possessed feeling on this album. You can tell it was well thought through and planned. I always appreciate the bass from Electric Wizard. It’s so fucking deep, it completes the sound. Clayton Burgess, the newest member of Electric Wizard, is already up to speed and is killing it.
I could see 'I am Nothing', the 12 minute song near the beginning of the album, to be some of their fan’s least favorite. It’s long, it’s sludgy, it’s slower. But for real music fans, they will get it, understand it, and like it. The rest of the songs are excellent with 'Funeral of Your Mind' being my favorite. It’s spooky and jammy that just makes you want to toke up and do the slow head bang. The final song, 'Saturn Dethroned', brings in an old sounding organ. How fucking rad is that? I think it’s an epic way to end this album. Jammin’ out, dark psychedelic style.
All in all, I would say this album is a bit heavier than Black Masses, the band’s 2010 release. It’s going back to the good ‘ol Dopethrone days which we all know and deeply love. I think that would make a lot of fans happy.
Time to Die is a must have for your collection. If you like Electric Wizard, or stoner, heavy sludgy in general, be sure you pick this up on September 29th, 2014.
