Posts Tagged ‘clutch’

Roadburn’s Album of the Decade: Electric Wizard – Dopethrone

Posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

The votes are in, the points have been awarded and the math has been done. More than 150 of you have taken the time to forward your Top 10 list for the Roadburn Album of the Decade.

Here then is your list (and a stunning list it is). It seems that some bands suffered because they had several good albums in the decade, like High on Fire, Neurosis or Mastodon, but champions Electric Wizard did not suffer from multiple great releases and in the end stood above all the contenders. Their magnum opus Dopethrone was mentioned the most, got the most points and clearly deserved to win. Not satisfied with the top spot, they also had the number 3 album of the decade with Witchcult Today.
Neurosis was the only other band to place two different records on the list, holding spot number 2 with Given to the Rising and number 8 with Eye of Every Storm.

Needless to say, we at Roadburn are very proud that we have had both bands at our festival (listen back to their appearances here (Electric Wizard) and here (Neurosis).

ROADBURN TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE DECADE:

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

01.Electric Wizard – Dopethrone, 2000 (298)

“How do you review one of the best records you’ve ever heard? That is the challenge that  Dopethrone has presented me with. It is so hard to tell whether an album sounds good in the short term, or whether it will stand the test of time. Luckily, you can look back to the last Electric Wizard full-length Come My Fanatics… and see how that has lasted. Quite nicely, it turns out. Four years have not diminished its potency or impact. Dopethrone maintains all the good things from Fanatics… and then makes it all… well, better. There is just MORE Electric Wizard-ness packed in. Enough to convince me that Dopethrone is an all-time classic.

What is Electric Wizard-ness? It is the primal opposition of different elements: super-saturated distortion next to drugged-out ambient spaces; minimal bpm’s pitted against edge-of-sanity vocals; “essence of Iommi” riffs versus subharmonic drone. It is also a feeling, an atmosphere of sociopathic danger and bleak despair fused with the comforting warmth of fuzz. It’s the uncertainty of taking heavy drugs and the euphoria of a good trip. It is density and space. Darkness and light. Basic, visceral elements translated into music.

In truth, that is exactly what this record is. The band went into the studio with rough outlines of songs, but left the final product up to spontaneous creation. And created the complex simplicity of Dopethrone. Or is it simply complex?

One of the interesting things about Dopethrone is that it nullifies all the normal criteria for judging records. Does it have great songs? Irrelevant. The album is great. Does it have excellent musicianship? Not applicable. The instruments work together as an organic whole. Is it well-produced? Again, not applicable. The sound is a function of the playing. The atmosphere simultaneously creates and is created by the music. This is one seamless unit. This is the dopethrone. Kneel before your liege lord… and inhale deeply” — Drew Webster, Roadburn 2000.

02.Neurosis – Given to the Rising, 2007 (177)
03.Electric Wizard – Witchcult Today, 2007 (144)
04.Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf, 2002  (130)
05.Om – Conference of the Birds, 2006 (124)
06.Celtic Frost – Monotheist, 2006 (123)
07.Mastodon – Leviathian, 2004 (120)
08.Neurosis – In the Eye of every Storm, 2004 (110)
09.Isis – Oceanic, 2002 (97)
10.Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters, 2007 (94)

Also in contention:

Clutch – Blast Tyrant
Sleep – Dopesmoker
Melvins – A  senile Animal
Sunn o))) – Black One | Monoliths & Dimensions
Witchcraft -  S/T
Jesu - S/T

The rules again:

-     Only discs released between 1-1-2000 and 31-12-2009 counted

-     Roadburn related

-     Number 1 gets 10 points, number 10 gets 1 point

-      Only one disc per artist

-      No re-issues

For our personal lists, please go HERE.

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Posted in Album of the Day, News, Playlists, Roadburn Recommended | 8 Comments »

Album of the day: The Company Band – TCB

Posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: After issuing their IPO in the form of the recently-vinylized Sign Here, Here and Here EP (on CD through the band’s own Venture Capital Records in 2008), the five-piece supergroup The Company Band return with a change in lineup and general approach on their self-titled ...read more

Album of the day: The Bakerton Group – El Rojo

Posted on Saturday, August 29th, 2009

Lovingly pinched from Ultimate -Guitar.com: Expanding on the sound they created originally developed 10 years ago, The Bakerton Group is back to deliver a solid set of experimental, bluesy, and somewhat spacey instrumentals.
Guitarists Tim Sult and Neil Fallon, bassist Dan Maines, and drummer Jean-Paul Gaster’s latest album El Rojo once ...read more

Album of the day: Clutch – Strange Cousins From the West

Posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Lovingly pinced from one of our favorite e-zines: Riding high on the success of their critically acclaimed album From Beale Street To Oblivion and their first-ever live DVD release Full Fathom Five, underground cult act Clutch are back with the release of their ninth full-length album, Strange Cousins ...read more

Clutch: New Song Available For Streaming

Posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009

A new song from veteran Maryland rock quartet Clutch entitled ‘50,000 Unstoppable Watts’ is available for streaming at MetalSucks (scroll down). The track comes off the band’s ninth studio album, titled Strange Cousins From the West, which will be available both digitally and through retail on July 7.
Produced by Clutch ...read more

Clutch Frontman Talks New Album

Posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Talking Metal” recently conducted an interview with CLUTCH frontman Neil Fallon. Watch the four-minute chat after the break.
CLUTCH entered Magpie Cage studio in Baltimore, Maryland last month with producer J. Robbins (JAWBREAKER) to begin recording the band’s new album for a tentative June 30 release via the group’s own label, ...read more