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:Electric Wizard::REVIEW OF US TOUR 2001:

Electric Wizard/Warhorse/Internal Void
Baltimore, MD- March 6, 2001

by Mr HCl

My ears are still ringing. Internal Void is excellent, heavy MD doom, and of the three bands I knew on this night (the first up was seemingly generic hardcore) the other two made Internal Void look like a rock band. Still, Internal Void is a fantastic band and I think this was the best I've seen them yet. They mix a great amount of Wino-style doom with some very tight and complex dynamics, an honest sounding southern rock element and a subtle, yet evident energy and feel from another DC legend - Bad Brains. If you get a chance ot see these guys, do. I think their Southern Lord album "Unearthed" was one of the best psych-doom albums of last year, up with Abdullah's excellent s/t debut. They were definitely on tonight and what they couldn't compete with on the heavy side, they more than madeup for in their tight, dynamic set.

WARfuckingHORSE. Oh my fucking god. See here. I had great expectations for Electric Wizard, which they met for the most part. Warhorse was simply kind of a bonus. My wife got me As Heaven Turns to Ash for my birthday and it, like everything else I've heard is really great. Doom of the slowest pace that isn't totally dependant on the Sabbth sound alone - they definitely sound a bit more unique than most bands of this caliber. Warhorse simply blew me away, I found them heavier and more enjoyable than Electric Wizard even, which didn't occur to me on the way in. Warhorse was so heavy that my teeth hurt, just fucking incredible. I don't know the name of the song they opened with but their second was Lysergic Communion and I was simply crushed like an aluminum can under a steamroller. They also lumbered and drifted through Black Acid Prophecy and Scrape as well as one other. In terms of weight I think Warhorse is only exceeded by Godflesh and High on Fire for heaviness from a band playing in this size environment. And both those bands edge out only because they have a more aggressive edge and thicker (slightly) guitar sound. But it's more than just the weight of the band, they're very tight and really play in tune with eachother at an impressive level. Music this slow is very hard to keep in time with but these guys pulled it off amazingly well, I was more impressed than I thought I'd be, and I expected it to be great.

But it wasn't over there, Electric Wizard ascended the stage and continued to plague the crowd with wave after wave of sludgy doom. These guys sound immense and loose at the same time, grooves so slow and thick you can feel them it like audio humidity. They did several off of Dopethrone (whihc I don't have yet) as well as Supercoven, Return Trip and a couple others from Come My Fanatics. I really expected them to impress the shit out of me and I was far from dissapointed. The only less-positive things I could say about their set, and only because comparison was unavoidable, is that they aren't as tight as Warhorse and Jus simply doesn't have the guitar dexterity that Todd has. But their loose grooves of cosmic, apocolyptic sound are truly overwhelming, and in a very good way. I think any fan of any kind of extremely heavy music owes it to themselves to see this tour. It's extremely rare for two bands this heavy to be touring together. If I had any kind of money, I would fly west to see this lineup with Acid King and Goatsnake, those shows will truly be monuments to sludge. I can't wait to see this tour again in April, woohoo!