''Witchcult Today'' is the sixth studio album by English

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band

Electric Wizard Electric Wizard are an English doom metal band from Dorset. The band formed in 1993 and have recorded nine studio albums, two of which have been considered genre landmarks: '' Come My Fanatics…'' (1997) and ''Dopethrone'' (2000). Electric Wi ...

, released on 20 November 2007.

Album information

The band's fascination with horror movies and writers continues here with "Satanic Rites of Drugula", a reference to the Hammer Studios horror film ''

The Satanic Rites of Dracula ''The Satanic Rites of Dracula'' is a 1973 British horror film directed by Alan Gibson and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the eighth film in Hammer's ''Dracula'' series, and the seventh and final one to feature Christopher Lee as Dr ...

'', and "

Dunwich Dunwich is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon period, Dunwich was t ...

", a reference to H.P. Lovecraft's short story ''

The Dunwich Horror "The Dunwich Horror" is a horror novella by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in 1928, it was first published in the April 1929 issue of '' Weird Tales'' (pp. 481–508). It takes place in Dunwich, a fictional town in Massachusett ...

''; also "Black Magic Rituals & Perversions (I. Frisson Des Vampires II. Zora)" makes reference to

Jean Rollin Jean Michel Rollin Roth Le Gentil (3 November 193815 December 2010) was a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his work in the fantastique genre. Overview Rollins' career, spanning over fifty years, featured early short film ...

film '' Le Frisson des Vampires'' (''Shiver of the Vampires'') and to Italian comic book character Zora the Vampire. Furthermore, the album cover of "Witchcult Today" is edited from the poster for '' The Devil Rides Out'' and is reminiscent of a scene from the 1975 occult thriller ''

Race with the Devil ''Race with the Devil'' is a 1975 American action horror film directed by Jack Starrett, written by Wes Bishop and Lee Frost, and starring Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, and Lara Parker. This was the second of three films Fonda and ...

''. On 23 May 2012,

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

issued a limited edition

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

which contained ''Witchcult Today'' and ''

Black Masses ''Black Masses'' is the seventh studio album by English doom metal band Electric Wizard, released on 1 November 2010. It is the band's only album to feature bassist Tas Danazoglou. Background Guitarist-vocalist Jus Oborn described the albu ...

'', in order to coincide with the 10th

Maryland Deathfest Maryland Deathfest (often abbreviated to MDF) is an annual American extreme metal festival founded in 2003 by Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting. The festival is held in Baltimore, Maryland during Memorial Day weekend, and it features many bands from ...

Critical reception

Reviews for ''Witchcult Today'' were mostly positive, with Thom Jurek of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' writing "Musically, Electric Wizard inhabit the same basic world of stoner/doom/sludge they always have."

Track listing

Personnel

Jus Oborn Justin Oborn is a British musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist of Electric Wizard, an English doom metal band from Dorset, which Oborn co-founded in 1993. Prior to forming Electric Wizard, he was a m ...

– guitar, vocals,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

*Liz Buckingham – guitar,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

*Rob Al-Issa – bass *Shaun Rutter – drums *All lyrics – Jus Oborn *All music – Electric Wizard *Cover artwork – Jus Oborn *Produced, mixed and engineered by Liam Watson *Mastered by Noel Summerville

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Electric Wizard albums Rise Above Records albums Candlelight Records albums