It’s hard to discuss Electric Wizard, the spearheads of an occultic movement within modern doom, and not get lost in either hyperbolic praise, devil references or ’70s horror imagery. Indeed, if you look at the bulk of what’s been said about the Dorset group’s seventh studio album, Black Masses (by myself as well), you’ll find it can be classified in one or all of those categories. Perhaps the best thing I can say about that is that neither the imagery nor the hyperbole are unearned on the band’s part.

Because Electric Wizard are, in fact, one of the most important groups in doom today. Their earlier works like 1997′s Come My Fanatics and 2000′s landmark Dopethrone have an influence that pulsates throughout the genre, and even their most recent outings, Black Masses and its 2007 predecessor, Witchcult Today, have been responsible for setting much of the course thematically for a growing crop of bands. As founder, guitarist and vocalist, Jus Oborn has become the very sort of cult figurehead so many of Electric Wizard‘s songs describe.

Joined in the current incarnation of Electric Wizard by American expat guitarist Liz Buckingham (ex-13, ex-Sourvein), tattoo-covered bassist Tas Danazoglou and hi-hat shunning drummer Shaun Rutter, Oborn stripped down the ultra-fuzzed style of Witchcult Today for the latest album, putting a special focus on the interplay of his and Buckingham‘s guitars and the strength of the songwriting. Since both records were put to tape at Toe Rag Studios in London by Liam Watson, it’s that much clearer that the efforts of Oborn and the band have paid off.

The simplistic brilliance of the opening title-track, the revelatory psychedelic horror of “Turn Off Your Mind,” the misanthropic “Scorpio Curse” and the sexually-charged “Venus in Furs” all seethe with an attitude and atmosphere undeniably Electric Wizard‘s own. And of those who would pretend to their Satanic majesty (see first sentence above), it’s becoming increasingly clear that none of them can capture terrors quite as vivid. There’s only one Electric Wizard, and they didn’t happen overnight. Their demented anthems are unparalleled.

In the interview below, Jus Oborn — a week under the weather with the flu at the time of our conversation — discusses the songwriting process behind Black Masses and some of his more surprising points of influence, as well as the prospect of much-demanded touring in the US, the challenges in crafting memorable choruses, and much more.

Complete Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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This morning I interviewed Jus Oborn from Electric Wizard about the band’s triumphant dark masterpiece, Black Masses. Keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks, but until then, here’s a video made by Raymond Salvatore Harmon using the film El Topo for the track “Scorpio Curse” from said album, which finally gets its official US release next Tuesday. Appropriate as anything could ever be for this song:

Look, I did the best I could, but there was no way I was going to hear everything that came out in 2010. I thought, before I reveal The Obelisk‘s #1 album of 2010, it would be prudent to mention some of the records that might have affected the list one way or the other had I heard them in time. Kind of a procedural thing on my part, but here’s an alphabetical list of five:

Agalloch, Marrow of the Spirit

Electric Wizard, Black Masses

Grand Magus, Hammer of the North

Sahg, III

Suma, Ashes

Now, you might recall the Electric Wizard was actually number 20, the first post I did that started the countdown. Well, as I said then, I included in the last spot just because I knew it should be on the list but didn’t know where, and with the ensuing month I’ve had to spend with the album, I can tell you it would be higher than it currently is. So maybe it didn’t get counted the way it would have if I’d heard it more. Hence it’s listed here.

I actually own copies of Suma and Agalloch. The former I bought and the latter is a promo waiting to be reviewed, but I still haven’t had the chance to listen to either, and it’s been little more than the threat of import prices and/or the Euro-to-dollar exchange rate and the drive to buy other things instead that’s kept me from picking up either the Grand Magus or the Sahg records.

But I know I’ve enjoyed the past work of both bands, as well as Suma and Agalloch — both of whose new albums are amazing, from what I’m told, and both of which I’m looking forward to hearing — and I thought it worthwhile to consider the possibility that they might have played into the top 20 if I’d had the chance to hear them. Maybe I’ll feel fancy one of these days and drop some cash for Sahg and Grand Magus too, but definitely not before 2011 kicks off, so for now, here they are. Mentioned honorably.

#1 revealed tomorrow.

The seventh album from Dorset cult kings (and queen), Electric Wizard’s Black Masses (Rise Above) cements the band as one of the most important and accomplished acts in doom. The burgeoning genre of occult doom – perpetrated by acts like Hour of 13, Cough and to a lesser extent The Wounded Kings – owes as much of its origin to Electric Wizard as it does to Christopher Lee in The Satanic Rites of Dracula, and on Black Masses, guitarist/vocalist Justin Oborn (usually referred to as “Jus”) and company show why they deserve to be thought of as forebears of the style. Where past Electric Wizard efforts have scattered in different directions, trying to find themselves musically as much as in the lineup – take 2000’s classic Dopethrone and the 2002 follow-up, Let Us Prey, for example – Black Masses builds on and refines the ideas brought forth on 2007’s stellar Witchcult Today, offering a different take on some of the same notions musically and lyrically, while also clearly showing growth, development, and an almost scary self-assurance.

I’ve seen remarks around about the production on Black Masses, and indeed I find it’s worthy of discussion. Produced, like Witchcult Today, at ToeRag Studios by Oborn and Liam Watson, this 59-minute collection seems initially much less upfront with its fuzz than was the predecessor. Oborn and fellow-guitarist Liz Buckingham’s guitars come off as buried in service of Tas Danazoglou’s overwhelming bass. But I don’t actually think they are. Rather, it seems to me that Oborn and Buckingham are just tuned so low, and so much of the lower frequencies have been brought out in the recording, that the guitars and the bass sound blended together at points. On “Scorpio Curse,” where the riff bounces into higher-register territory (all things relative), they come through just fine. Because of this, I wonder if Electric Wizard aren’t pushing the boundaries of their media. I’d almost like to hear Black Masses on some uncompressed, super hi-resolution digital format, and see if Oborn and Buckingham weren’t clearer. I haven’t experienced the 2LP version of Black Masses, only the CD as is my wont, but I understand where the comments are coming from. I’ve heard that Shaun Rutter’s drums are too far forward, but I don’t think that’s the case either. I think they just cut through the ultra-low-end of the guitars and Danazoglou’s bass.

For what it’s worth, I like the sound of Black Masses. The expectation in doom is that the guitars are going to be out front and that everything else, vocals included, will be in service to the riff. Electric Wizard are a riff-centric band, no question, and one of Oborn’s great gifts is in their crafting, but Black Masses delivers its eight component tracks in experiential fashion. Once I’m sucked into the world of the album, I’m neither thinking of the production nor wanting more of any single instrument, guitar, bass or drums. Instead, I’m marveling at the balance Electric Wizard strike between their cultish atmospherics, their driving rhythms and their superb songwriting. The first half of a killer opening duo, “Black Mass” contains just one of Black Masses’ several distinguished choruses, and puts you right where Oborn, Buckingham, Danazoglou and Rutter want you to be. The sound is huge but not crushing in the modern sense of doom. The guitars don’t crunch; they wash. It’s a lyrical chant you want to join while listening, and Rutter’s propelling ride cymbal only seems to drive the point home. As the song slows to its 30-seconds-of-feedback finish and a sampled female horror scream leads into “Venus in Furs,” you’re more likely than not to already be won over by Black Masses. If it hasn’t happened yet, it probably won’t.

“Venus in Furs” might be the best performance Oborn has ever given on vocals, and a prime example of Electric Wizard’s songwriting acumen some 17 years into their tenure. As memorable as anything on Witchcult Today, it feels more stripped down lyrically – not necessarily simpler in idea, but decidedly less wordy – and only proves catchier for it. Oborn delivers the title line with perverted sexual longing, proclaiming, “I am the zodiac/I am the stars/You are the sorceress/Venus in furs” and holding out the last word as his voice fades into a riffy abyss. The vocals on Black Masses are presented in a range of effects, and the ghostly wisping in and out of “Venus in Furs” works especially well. Again, guitar noise ends the song, leading into a sampled bell and the mellotron-infused “The Nightchild.” More proclamations from Oborn – “I am the nightchild/Shadows gather round me” – during an anthemic chorus offset by riff churn and bass overload from Danazoglou and I don’t even care anymore, I just want to quit my job and go wherever Electric Wizard are going to be playing this song next. Between this cut, “Venus in Furs” and the later “Turn Off Your Mind,” Electric Wizard effectively repattern what’s thought of as their typical style. “The Nightchild” doesn’t do anything outlandish or really different in terms of structure – it’s got eight minutes of its verses, chorus, solo, bridge, ending chant – but it’s also impeccably performed with not a moment out of place. It’s not often you hear dirty doom this cleanly executed.

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When I sat down last night to make my Top 20 of 2010 list, I’d only heard Electric Wizard‘s seventh full-length, Black Masses, one time. And no, the copy I ordered more than a month ago from Rise Above Records still hasn’t shown up; it was the second one I ordered from All That is Heavy that came. Having only given it a once-over, I knew it deserved to be on this list, but in all fairness to every other album I listened to and/or reviewed in the last 12 months, I just couldn’t put it any higher than this. Call it a timing issue.

I’m going to post a full review sometime in the next week or so, but in the several subsequent listens I’ve given Black Masses since the first, it appears to be an evolution of the occultic ideas presented on 2007′s Witchcult Today: plenty of rituals being performed, plenty of ’70s boobage throughout, demons being called upon, and so forth. I’m looking forward to digging into it further, but so far, Jus Oborn‘s vocals on “Venus in Furs,” the bounding riff that leads “Patterns of Evil” and the anthemic chorus of “The Nightchild” all make Black Masses a worthy inclusion on this list.

And yeah, I’m sure that when I think back on 2010, Black Masses will be more prevalent than 20th place in my mind, but without knowing the record better than I do at this point, I’d be insulting the 19 other releases to come by buying into the hype and rating this higher just because it’s Electric Wizard and I’m excited about it. Incidentally, they’ve set a Jan. 18, 2011 release date for the official American issue of the album, so maybe Black Masses‘ll show up on next year’s list as well. In any case, expect much pronouncement of genius to come.

I still haven’t heard the new Electric Wizard album, Black Masses. By now I think I’m the only one. I bought a copy off the Rise Above website the weekend before it was to be released (Oct. 30 or so), and although I told myself that if it wasn’t here by this Tuesday, I was going to buy a copy off the All That is Heavy webstore because I couldn’t wait any longer — because spending more money on their product would certainly teach the label a lesson about their slow shipping — I haven’t done that either. I refuse to download the record. What am I, 19 years old? Fuck that.

Moreover, I refuse to listen to it digitally. Even the clip above for “Black Mass,” I didn’t hear it all the way through. I played about two seconds’ worth so I could gauge the audio quality (apologies if it’s unacceptable) and then hit stop and embedded the file. I’d rather wait than listen to shitty quality. Of course, I’d rather not wait, but if it’s one or the other… well, here I am.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be alternating between homework and patting myself on the back for actually posting all three of the promised interviews this week. Stick around next week because I’ll have a chat with Crowbar‘s Kirk Windstein to go up and all kinds of giving-thanks goodness.

Until then, I hope you have a great and safe weekend. I’m gonna go find some dinner.

The title track and the doomier “Scorpio Rising” are streaming now on Electric Wizard‘s very purple MySpace page. If possible, the songs sound even dirtier than Witchcult Today, though I don’t know what’s up with all that thrash on the title track. That song has at least 50 beats per minute! And you call yourselves doom! Pfft.

Just kidding. It pretty much rules. The songs will make your day better and clear any undesirables from your vicinity. Doom on.

Truly, The Obelisk must be the most delicious website in the world. I can think of no other reason why the internet would eat it with such regularity. Oh wait, Yahoo fucking sucks as a hosting company. It could be that too. Either way.

The above Electric Wizard video — posted in anticipation of their new album, Black Masses, due Nov. 1 on Rise Above — was forwarded to me by Mike “ZodiacLung” Hanson. Congratulations to him both on finding such a killer clip and for noticing Shaun Rutter includes no hi-hat with his drum kit. Oh yeah, and the impending birth of his child. Congratulations for that too. Ha!

The Patient Mrs. and I are spending the weekend doing homework and watching baseball in Connecticut. I was thinking of heading north tonight to catch the Suma/Unearthly Trance show in Northampton, but I just don’t have it in me. Chalk it up to being old, tired and busy, but with two (maybe three) shows this week coming, class and work, I need to stock up on energy while I can. Apologies to Black Pyramid, who also rule and are playing, but an extra three hours on the road tonight just isn’t plausible.

I promised a new podcast this weekend, and if all goes well, tomorrow you shall have it. Hope you like long songs.

Can you wait? I can’t. Black Masses is due out Nov. 1 on Rise Above.

Yet again, The Obelisk asks the big questions.

Speaking of British bands whose songs get irreparably caught in my head and in whose riffs I want to immerse myself for weeks at a time and who are allegedly releasing a new album this year, fucking Electric Wizard, man. I don’t really have a point other than that. Fucking Electric Wizard. In an effort to better your afternoon at work or wherever the hell you are, here’s “Stone Magnet” from their 1995 self-titled debut:

No, it’s not news. If it was, it would be this color. But just think about it: the tour dates are announced, you read it on Blabbermouth or on StonerRock ? or, Iommi forbid, you read it here ? and you see that coming to whatever midsized venue nearest you, wherever you are in the US, is the package tour of Cathedral, Grand Magus, Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin, with Solace opening. Full US run of shows, probably 40 dates or so. All the old-man doom you can handle and then some.