ELECTRIC WIZARD, MOSS

MOSS' Olly Pearson exudes lengthy, pained screams against a backdrop of slow and sluggish guitar chugs all the while remaining virtually static and not even facing the marginally appreciative crowd. Not the most visually riveting of acts but it seems like it's enough to prepare the Ballroom's ears for the imminent onslaught of the doom legends that are ELECTRIC WIZARD.

There's a lot more to look at once they materialize on stage. Take your pick from bassist Tas' impressively extensive collection of facial ink, or axe-weilder Liz Buckingham who is frankly a much needed oasis of beauty in the desert of sludge/doom metal; a genre populated almost exclusively by big, hairy, bearded blokes.

They begin their set with classic track “Funeralopolis” followed by favourites like “Dopethrone”, during which vocalist Jus Oborn fittingly mimes hitting bongs and smoking joints. Such a display just simply comes with the territory of sludge and without it ELECTRIC WIZARD would probably be making MTV-friendly pop rock tunes or something equally uninteresting, so you carry on, son. In between songs, Oborn engages in some mild crowd banter that insinuates he's most likely off his tits. Excellent behaviour. Then they unveil a couple of new tracks from their newest (and as yet unreleased at the time of the show) album “Black Masses”. The title track proves little more than the fact that ELECTRIC WIZARD are still heavy as fuck and thankfully haven't strayed far from what we all know and love.

Song number eight “Devil's Bride” is unfortunately the last. (Sounds like a short set, but let's not forget that many of WIZARD's tracks are topping the ten-minute mark) Proof that it's all about quality, not quantity, and they most certainly delivered that with all the marijuana-fuelled prowess that the Ballroom expected, and a bit more.