Black Masses

Taking the “Sweet Leaf” schoolings of Black Sabbath to its next logical extreme, Electric Wizard earned their “heaviest band in the universe” title years ago, right around the release of their instant classic *Dopethrone*. Now nearly two decades into a career that’s shown no signs of slowing down — literally; the band’s doom-laden tempos have only gotten testier with age — Jus Oborn’s wrecking crew have delivered yet another essential slab of sludge-slicked death marches and hazy guitar heroics. From the hornet nest hooks of “Satyr Ix” to the storm-cloud chords of “Venus In Furs,” these are the kind of cuts you crank on six-lane highways or the day you decide to finally get back at your neighbors for the party that spilled onto your lawn last month. And if you’re feeling especially adventurous, there’s always “Crypt of Drugula,” an unsettling instrumental complete with creeping thunderclaps, distant drum rolls, and feedback that fills the room like a fog machine. Leave it to Electric Wizard to turn a total B-movie title into something truly transcendent.