Music review: Electric Wizard - Dopethrone (2000)

Probably my only favourite clearly belonging to the "babby's metal starter kit" category; Burzum might have qualified, but not Det som engang var (and Varg is too "fweaking yikes!" for the modern metalhead).

But there's not that much to say about it, except that it's probably the heaviest sound achieved in all of music history. And I do mean "sound", because the composition itself, while often well complementing said heaviness, isn't as bludgeoning as some competing supertankers like Swans' Cop or P.H.O.B.O.S.'s Tectonics.

Said weight, together with the massive amount of fuzz - well, "fuzz" is much too gentle, "gnarly unwashed sasquatch pubes" is more fitting - basically makes the album when you listen on 11.

That's also the big downside: it wouldn't be very special without the monolithic sound, and when the mood isn't right, this can hit you like a truck. That and the substandard/superfluous "Barbarian" right in the middle can easily break the magic required to hold a 1 hour album together, removing its 6 and a half minutes would be a major improvement.