Ελληνικά
Jus Oborn was a very active young man since his early days, born in 1969 and a big fan of horror films and heavy music. As a teenager, he began his first attempts to play music in 1988 with Lord of Putrefaction. Although the band did not last long (they split up at 1991), the material they recorded was death / doom of great quality, especially at a time when the genre hadn’t become popular yet.
After a guitar player’s change in their ranks (Gavin Gillingham in place of Adam Richardson), the band is being renamed to Thy Grief Eternal and release the excellent “On Blackened Wings” demo in 1992. At the same year, they changed their name once again to Eternal, starting to resemble what would later become Electric Wizard. They released a live rehearsal tape and then the amazing “Lucifers Children” demo. The demo begins with the awesome “Magickal Childe” track, which has the same intro as “Wizard in Black” (from “Come my Fanatics …”); it moves on with a Black Sabbath cover (“Electric Funeral” ), while there is also a track called “Chrono.Naut.”; you guessed right, it is the same track that was also included in the self-titled EP the Wizard released in 1997. The band signed a contract with Lee Dorian’s Rise Above Records to release their debut “Eternal” in 1993. However, Gavin Gillingham’s departure put a halt in their plans; and then Major Jus Oborn decided to create the Electric Wizard.
The year is 1995 and Electric Wizard make their first appearance through a split with Our Haunted Kingdom, (you may wonder who they are; let me tell you that they were renamed to Orange Goblin a few years later…) through Rise Above Records, which in the same year also releases the band’s self-titled debut.
Heavily influenced by Black Sabbath and Cathedral (they even designed their album cover with Cathedral’s exclusive art director, Dave Patchett), the album is a killer and is just the first of many epic releases that have helped the band be considered as one of the greatest doom metal groups of all time. In July 1996, “Come My Fanatics …” is being recorded at “Red Dog Studios” and then released early in 1997 (with an extra track in its Japanese version, “Return To The Sun Of Nothingness”). No words can describe this record’s musical value. After that, EP “Supercoven” followed (released only in limited edition and through postal order), as well as another split with (who else?) Orange Goblin.
The “Dopethrone” album of 2000 received monumental appraisal, considered to be one of the most important albums of the genre. In order to realize the great importance of such albums, one just has to look at how many bands have spawned ever since named after the album’s tracks (Dopethrone, Son of Nothing, Vinnum Sabbathi, etc.). The recording of their fourth album was delayed due to Mark Greening’s bicycle accident, as well as Jus Oborn’s alcohol poisoning and hospital admittance. The album titled “Let Us Prey” was released on March 25, 2002 and the band announced that the concert at Philadelphia’s “Khyber Pass” would be its last. Nonetheless, Electric Wizard continued touring with Cathedral in November 2002 in Great Britain.
In 2003, drummer Justin Greaves replaced Mark Greening while Rob Al-Issa was recruited to play the bass. In addition, guitarist (and later Jus Oborn’s wife) Elizabeth Buckingham joined the band, who had meanwhile moved to the United States. The new roster released the album “We Live” and toured Australia in October and November 2005.
In 2006, Shaun Rutter filled in the drummer’s position and about a year later Witchcult Today” was released, recorded solely with 70’s gear, so as to present a more vintage sound. In 2008, Greek Tasos Danzazoglou (a.k.a Tas) replaced Rob Al-Issa; then Electric Wizard firstly released the EP called “The Processean” and then the “Black Masses” album in 2010.
Following the release of “Legalise Drugs and Murder” Mark Greening returned to the band, while Oborn announced the recording of a new album. Electric Wizard signed to Spinefarm Records, leaving “Rise Above” after twenty years of collaboration and released the controversial “Time to Die” on September 29, 2014, going up to Billboard # 64 in the United States and Top-20 in Finland.
In May 2016, it was made known that the band would return with a new record before the end of the year. However, their new release was delayed until the end of 2017 when “Wizard Bloody Wizard” was released via Spinefarm Records.
… and as such we get to February 2019, when the gods of doom will visit our country for another unique show, another unique ritual and another wonderful evening.
