Live Review: Electric Wizard

When we say Electric Wizard is a cult band in the metal scene, we mean it in both senses of the phrase. Punters here tonight have travelled from all around the country and, indeed, the world to see this beloved doom metal four-piece from Dorset.

Drummer Simon Poole's beats are so slow it's like you're being hypnotised while floating down a green river of Gibson fuzz. The effect of this is surprisingly relaxing for a doom metal gig. Sure, the screen behind them is throwing us 1950s cult films, with huge-breasted women covered in blood, enjoying various phases of satanic bondage rituals. And sure, they are singing about Lucifer and black mass, but it's all quite polite really. There is also something about a doom metal frontman tuning his guitar with Big Muff effect in place that is really fucking funny. I'm trying not to go there but I can't stop thinking about Spinal Tap.

Make no mistake though, this is a serious undertaking and punters are making the obligatory signs of the devil and pointing their goat hands proudly towards the heavens, heads nodding in approval. They are fanatical and there's an eerie sense of silent ritual about it all. This is a significant gig; Electric Wizard haven't been to Australia in 13 years and something does feel particularly powerful about them playing the night of the winter solstice. Guitarist Liz Buckingham is a formidable talent, shredding all the most articulate and complex guitar parts with all-out ballsy gusto. And as the set progresses, visuals evolve and it becomes clear that what's unfolding is something of a homage to each of the stylistic eras this band has navigated since their 1993 inception. We're seeing images of the atom bomb being dropped, soldiers and the war, as the set moves through doom metal tracks to the more sludge and stoner influenced sound of Come My Fanatics... and Dopethrone. In an impressive finale, crystal clear, almost fluorescent geometric patterns take over the stage, as they close it all out with punchier, almost hard metal tracks from latest album Wizard Bloody Wizard. It's a conscious choice on Electric Wizard's behalf to give back to each era of fans who've come so far to see them tonight — a polite nod of respect from one side of the metal world to the other and a cracking (little known) example of how civilised the world of metal can be.