ELECTRIC WIZARD play Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor West), Sunday (April 5), 7 pm. Sold out.
On Sunday, Electric Wizard – often billed as “the heaviest band in the universe” – play a sold-out show at Lee’s Palace, part of their first North American tour since 2002. More than just bruisingly heavy, the UK band are at the forefront of modern stoner metal, a genre that twists together the heaviness of doom with bass-driven psychedelia and fumes of pot smoke. And even though linking weed to metal is clichéd at this point, a few select records seriously elevate pot-smoking to a kind of pseudo-religious sacrament.
MASTER OF REALITY, by Black Sabbath (1971)
Just as Sabbath’s eponymous 1970 debut effectively invented heavy metal, their third (and best) record invented stoner metal. With the hacky, phlegmy cough that kicks off opener Sweet Leaf (a song about weed, duh), Sabbath set the tone for a whole genre: slow, titanic, groovy bangers built to sluggishly nod your head to.
GROWERS OF MUSHROOM, by Leaf Hound (1971)
Nowhere near as well known as Sabbath, English heavies Leaf Hound still left an indelible impact on the hard rock underground. Absorbing grooves mark Growers Of Mushroom more than Sabbath’s hypnotizing heaviness, and that influenced later stoner metal titans like Kyuss and Monster Magnet.
PSALM 9, by Trouble (1984)
Toward the doomier end of the stoner-doom spectrum, this debut from Illinois band Trouble combines the “slow and low” of doom metal with gnarly solos and pitchy vocals courtesy of Eric Wagner. It may rock more than it rolls, but just think of it as stoner metal suitable for your even-tempo jogging playlist.
DOPESMOKER, by Sleep (2003)
One of the greatest accomplishments/conceptual jokes of modern metal is the third record by California stoner-doom demigods Sleep. Following the success of 1993’s Holy Mountain, the band signed to the London Records label, who promised them complete artistic freedom on their follow-up. The result: an hour-long hallucinogenic metal jam built around a single riff and lyrics like “Drop out of life with bong in hand!” Hilarious. And awesome.
DOPETHRONE, by Electric Wizard (2000)
Perhaps a bid to steal the cannabis crown from Sleep, Electric Wizard’s Dopethrone is damn near the heaviest, weediest album ever recorded. Ploddingly slow, psychedelic and shot through with samples from cheesy British horror movies, Dopethrone is the kind of record that gets you rightfully labelled “the heaviest band in the universe.” Also: there’s a faux woodcut of a demon smoking a bong on the cover.
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