Dopethrone

Dopethrone is the third studio album by the English doom metal band Electric Wizard. It was released on 28 November 2000 through Rise Above Records and re-released by the same label in 2004 and 2007 with an extra song.

Dopethrone
Studio album by Electric Wizard
Released	28 November 2000[1]
Genre	Doom metal stoner rock[2] sludge metal
Length	60:14 (without hidden track) 71:09 (with hidden track) 76:12 (2004 and 2007 re-release)
Label	Rise Above
Producer	Rolf Startin
Electric Wizard chronology
Supercoven (1998) Dopethrone (2000) Let Us Prey (2002)

Background

Jus Oborn late spoke about the development of Dopethrone as being part of trilogy with Come My Fanatics…, and Supercoven, noting that he looked upon these albums with fondness and that "With those albums, I believe we really found our mark as a band. When we did our first album, none of us had ever been into the studio before – and had no clue what to actually do. But by the time we got to do Dopethrone, we knew what was needed – or, rather I did!"[3]

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."[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

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"[5] and have said "it may well be the finest record to emerge from the whole British stoner-rock scene.[6] The Terrorizer magazine crowned the album as "Album of the Decade" (2000s).[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jus Oborn and Tim Bagshaw.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Vinum Sabbathi"	3:05
2.	"Funeralopolis"	8:43
3.	"Weird Tales" I. "Electric Frost" II. "Golgotha" III. "Altar of Melektaus"	15:05
4.	"Barbarian"	6:29
5.	"I, The Witchfinder" (a.k.a. "Las Torturas de la Inquisicion")	11:04
6.	"The Hills Have Eyes"	0:46
7.	"We Hate You"	5:08
8.	"Dopethrone" (track length is 10:55 on 2004 and 2007 re-release)	20:48
9.	"Mind Transferral" (bonus track on 2004 and 2007 re-release)	14:56

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 30 seconds of silence and moves on to the bonus track which, in this essence, makes it a hidden track. 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.

In popular culture

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

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
2019	Rise Above	2LP	UK	No	Gold Vinyl Re-issue

Covers

The American doom metal band Akem Manah released two 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.[8]

References

1. Rivadavia, Eduardo (28 November 2000). "Dopethrone – Electric Wizard : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
2. Terich, Jeff; Blyweiss, Adam (20 April 2017). "10 Essential Stoner Rock Albums". Treblezine. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
3. Dome, Malcolm (17 August 2011). "The Story Behind Electric Wizard: Dopethrone". Louder. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
4. Ruskell, Nick. Kerrang! #1269, July 2009. Treasure Chest. An Intimate Portrait Of Life In Rock. Jus Oborn, p.60
5. "Doommetal.com review". Retrieved 20 May 2020.
6. Franklin Bruno (14 February 2001). "LA Weekly review". Laweekly.com. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
7. Stewart-Panko, Kevin (17 August 2011). "Disposable Heroes: Electric Wizard's "Dopethrone"". Decibel. Philadelphia: Red Flag Media. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
8. "Akem Manah - Night of the Black Moon - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 20 May 2020.