Dopethrone

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Dopethrone
Dopethrone.jpg
Studio album by Electric Wizard
Released 25 September 2000
Recorded May–June 2000 at Chuckalumba Studios in Dorset, England
Genre Doom metal, stoner metal, sludge metal
Length 71:09
Label Rise Above
Producer Rolf Startin
Electric Wizard chronology
Supercoven
(1998)Supercoven1998
Dopethrone
(2000)
Let Us Prey
(2002)Let Us Prey2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars[1]
I-Mockery 5/5 stars[2]

Dopethrone is the third studio album by English doom metal band Electric Wizard. It was released in 2000 through Rise Above Records and re-released by the same label in 2004 and 2007 with an extra song.

Dopethrone, along with Come My Fanatics..., is often cited as Electric Wizard's seminal release and the highpoint of their career. Reviewers have described it as "some of the absolute slowest, heaviest doom imaginable"[3] and have said "it may well be the finest record to emerge from the whole British stoner-rock scene".[4] Speaking to Kerrang! in July 2009, Jus Oborn remembered: "Most of us were stuck in some drug addiction or alcoholism at the time, and it was just pure hate. It was us against the world, and we just wanted to make the most disgusting, foul, putrid record that anyone has ever recorded. We camped out at the studio, so it was literally just wake up, consume as much fucking drugs as possible, and then just start jamming."[5]

On this album, Electric Wizard's very slow, heavy and psychedelic sound became more abrasive and aggressive. Jus Oborn's vocals are heavily manipulated and low in the mix and the guitars are extremely fuzzy.

Dopethrone was crowned "Album of the Decade" (2000s) by Terrorizer magazine.

The song "Vinum Sabbathi" appears in the documentary "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia"

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jus Oborn/Tim Bagshaw. 

No. Title Length
1. "Vinum Sabbathi"   3:05
2. "Funeralopolis"   8:43
3. "Weird Tales"
  1. "Electric Frost"
  2. "Golgotha"
  3. "Altar of Melektaus"  
15:05
4. "Barbarian"   6:29
5. "I, The Witchfinder Aka Las Torturas de la Inquisicion"   11:04
6. "The Hills Have Eyes"   0:46
7. "We Hate You"   5:08
8. "Dopethrone" (10:55 on versions featuring "Mind Transferral") 20:48
9. "Mind Transferral" (reissues only) 14:54
Total length:
76:08

Silence and sound-clips

Silence

"Dopethrone" ends at 10:26 (on both issues) and is followed by silence; to the end of the track on the reissue and until 19:52 on the original. On the original, the ending features a 55 sec. sound clip from 20/20 in which two adults can be heard talking about whether or not a parent should take action if their child is being negatively influenced by heavy metal music by becoming depressed and joining satanic cults. The reissue negates the sound-clip from "Dopethrone" and has it end in only 30 seconds of silence and moves on to the bonus track which, in this essence, makes it a hidden track. Now the band had decided to move the sound clip to the end of the bonus track "Mind Transferal" which ends at 9:36 followed by silence until 14:00 where the sound-clip is now placed and leads to the end of the album. On the vinyl versions of Dopethrone the soundclip comes immediately after "Mind Transferral" ends.

Sound-clips

  • "Vinum Sabbathi," "Mind Transferral," and "Dopethrone" contain sound clips from the 16 May 1985 episode of 20/20, discussing Satanism.
  • "Barbarian" contains a sound clip from a scene in the film Conan the Barbarian.
  • "I, The Witchfinder" and "Dopethrone" contain sound clips from the film Mark of the Devil.
  • "We Hate You" contains sound clips from the film The Dunwich Horror.

Personnel

  • Jus Oborn – guitar, vocals, effects
  • Tim Bagshaw – bass, effects
  • Mark Greening – drums
  • All writing – Jus Oborn/Tim Bagshaw
  • All arrangements – Electric Wizard
  • Produced and Engineered by Rolf Startin
  • Artwork – Hugh Gilmour, Tim Bagshaw and Jus Oborn

Release history

Year
Label
Format
Country
Out of print?
Notes
2000
Rise Above
CD
UK
Yes
Original CD release
2001
JVC Victor
CD
Japan
Yes
Includes bonus track
2001
The Music Cartel
CD
US
Yes
2004
Rise Above
CD
UK
Yes
Includes bonus track
2004
Rise Above
2LP
UK
Yes
Includes bonus track; limited 1500 copies (1000 white, 500 black)
2007
Rise Above
2LP
UK
Yes
Includes bonus track; limited 800 copies (50 purple silk, 100 transparent amber, 100 clear, 550 black)
2007
Rise Above
DigiCD
UK
No
Remastered version; includes bonus track
2007
Candlelight
DigiCD
US
No
Remastered version; includes bonus track
2010
Rise Above
2LP
UK
No
Black Vinyl Re-issue
2015
Rise Above
2LP
UK
No
Purple Vinyl Re-issue

Covers

The American doom metal band Akem Manah released 2 versions of the song "Funeralopolis". A demo jam version on their 2011 EP Horror in the Eyes and an official version on their 2012 full-length album Night of the Black Moon.[6]

References

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  3. Doommetal.com review Archived 13 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine
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  5. Ruskell, Nick. Kerrang! #1269, July 2009. Treasure Chest. An Intimate Portrait Of Life In Rock. Jus Oborn, p.60
  6. http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Akem_Manah/Night_of_the_Black_Moon/336269