# Black Masses

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{{For|the Satanic ritual|Black Mass}}
{{distinguish|text=the [house music](/source/house_music) collective<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/4799-Black-Masses|title=Black Masses|website=Discogs}}</ref> known for their 1997 single ''Wonderful Person''}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{primary sources|date=February 2011}}
{{Infobox album|
| name       = Black Masses
| type       = studio
| artist     = [Electric Wizard](/source/Electric_Wizard)
| cover      = Black Masses cover.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{Startdate|2010|11|1|df=yes}}
| recorded   = May–August 2010
| venue      = 
| studio     = [Toe Rag Studios](/source/Toe_Rag_Studios), London, England
| genre      = [Doom metal](/source/Doom_metal), [stoner metal](/source/stoner_metal)
| length     = {{Duration|m=59|s=09}}
| label      = [Rise Above](/source/Rise_Above_Records)
| producer   = [Jus Oborn](/source/Jus_Oborn), Liam Watson
| prev_title = [Witchcult Today](/source/Witchcult_Today)
| prev_year  = 2007
| next_title = [Legalise Drugs and Murder](/source/Legalise_Drugs_and_Murder) (EP)
| next_year  = 2012
| misc       = {{Extra album cover
 | header  = Limited Edition cover
 | type    = studio
 | cover   = Electric Wizard Black Masses Alt Cover.jpg
 | border  =
 | alt     =
 | caption =
}}
}}

'''''Black Masses''''' is the seventh studio album by English [stoner](/source/stoner_metal)/[doom metal](/source/doom_metal) band [Electric Wizard](/source/Electric_Wizard), released 1 November 2010. It is the band's only album to feature bassist Tas Danazoglou.

==Background==
left|thumb|upright|''Black Masses'' is the only Electric Wizard album to feature bassist Tas Danazoglou.

Guitarist-vocalist [Jus Oborn](/source/Jus_Oborn) described the album as a "continuation of ''Witchcult Today'' in many respects," although he also sees it as part of a lineage composed of ''[Come My Fanatics...](/source/Come_My_Fanatics...)'', ''[Supercoven](/source/Supercoven)'', ''[Dopethrone](/source/Dopethrone)'', and ''[Witchcult Today](/source/Witchcult_Today)''.<ref name=Prefix>{{cite web|last=Bugbee|first=Tim|title=Electric Wizard: Interview|url=http://www.prefixmag.com/features/electric-wizard/elecrric-wizard-interview/47944/|publisher=Prefix|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref> However, he does draw a contrast between ''Black Masses'' and ''Witchcult Today'' in that he views the former as "violent, aggressive" and the latter as "mellow and alluring".<ref name=Prefix />

"Venus in Furs" is based on the [book of the same name](/source/Venus_in_furs) by [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](/source/Leopold_von_Sacher-Masoch); however, the song made references to the [film of the same name](/source/Venus_in_Furs_(1969_Franco_film)) by [Jesús Franco](/source/Jes%C3%BAs_Franco). As Oborn notes, "Venus in Furs" is "about evil women. Every song on the album is a meditation on a different type of evil. When you say the term 'Venus in furs,' people get the image in their mind of a dominant female. So that's our 'evil woman' song. It's a classic doom theme."<ref name=InvisibleOranges>{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Cosmo|title=Interview: Electric Wizard|url=http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/01/interview-electric-wizard/|website=[Invisible Oranges](/source/Invisible_Oranges)|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref>

When asked about the influence of drugs upon the album, Oborn concedes

{{quote|1="It's a good part of my life to a certain degree, so it's hard to separate them. I think our sound is steeped in it to a certain degree, and improvisation is quite a lot based on drugs....You gotta be slightly telepathic and drugs can help that definitely. You can write brilliant music when you're not on drugs, but you don’t have that connection with other musicians, that telepathy. I think that's the important thing for a band, for the musicians."<ref name=Prefix />}}

==Album information==
This is their first album since ''[Electric Wizard](/source/Electric_Wizard_(album))'' to not feature a song longer than 10 minutes in length, although the fifth track, "Satyr IX", is close to the mark, clocking in at 9:58.

==Reception==
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [About.com](/source/About.com)
|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=about>{{cite web|last=Schalek|first=Dave|title=Electric Wizard – 'Black Masses'|url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/electricwizard/gr/Electric-Wizard-Black-Masses-Review.htm|publisher=[about.com](/source/about.com)|access-date=24 April 2013|archive-date=6 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906140655/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/electricwizard/gr/Electric-Wizard-Black-Masses-Review.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

|rev2 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
|rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name=AllMusic>{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=Electric Wizard – Black Masses|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/black-masses-mw0002059058|publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref>

|rev3 = [Beatsperminute.com](/source/Beatsperminute.com)
|rev3score = 54%<ref name=BPM>{{cite web|last=Zukowski|first=Ed|title=Electric Wizard – Black Masses|date=11 November 2010 |url=http://beatsperminute.com/reviews/album-review-electric-wizard-black-masses/|publisher=[Beatsperminute.com](/source/Beatsperminute.com)|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref>

|rev4 = [Metal Forces](/source/Metal_Forces)
|rev4score = 8/10<ref name=mf>{{cite web|last=Fisher|first=Mark|title=Electric Wizard: Black Masses|url=http://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/album-review-electric-wizard-black-masses/|work=[Metal Forces](/source/Metal_Forces)|access-date=10 February 2014}}</ref>

|rev5 = [http://www.onemetal.com Onemetal.com]
|rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name=Onemetal>{{cite web|last=Traveller|first=Jack|title=Electric Wizard – Black Masses|url=http://www.onemetal.com/2011/04/12/electric-wizard-black-masses/|publisher=Onemetal.com|access-date=25 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830054400/http://www.onemetal.com/2011/04/12/electric-wizard-black-masses/|archive-date=30 August 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

|rev6 = [http://www.stereokiller.com Stereokiller.com]
|rev6score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name=Stereokiller>{{cite web|last=GorDaBoy|title=Electric Wizard – Black Masses|url=http://www.stereokiller.com/newsreviews/article.cfm?intarticleid=10238|publisher=Stereokiller.com|access-date=25 April 2013|archive-date=1 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201185147/http://www.stereokiller.com/newsreviews/article.cfm?intarticleid=10238|url-status=dead}}</ref>

}}

David Schalek with About.com wrote that "''Black Masses'' has the right amount of accessible, catchy stoner laden riffs to go along with the generally heavy assault of Electric Wizard's form of [Black Sabbath](/source/Black_Sabbath)-descended doom metal."<ref name="about" />

Doomantia largely celebrated the album, proclaiming "if you thought ''Witchcult Today'' was too polished, then you will love ''Black Masses''. It's an more ugly, sleazy and dirty album than ''Witchcult Today'' but it hasn't got the sickness that gets spewed at you during ''Dopethrone''. In a way it takes all the elements from all their albums, melts them down and turns them into something different again. It's a nasty, angry beast of a recording that oozes sleaze and reeks of satanic nightmares and drug induced apocalyptic visions."<ref name=Doomantia>{{cite web|title=Electric Wizard – Black Masses|url=http://www.doommantia.com/2010/10/electric-wizard-black-masses.html|publisher=Doomantia|access-date=24 April 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130410181058/http://www.doommantia.com/2010/10/electric-wizard-black-masses.html|archive-date=10 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The album received some criticism, with Onemetal.com describing the album as "scattered and unfocused," with performances that are "loose to the point of bordering on sloppy," and a murky production. However, the author did concede that the album was a "grower" that improved with subsequent exposure.<ref name=Onemetal />

==Track listing==
All music by Oborn, except where noted. All lyrics by Jus Oborn
{{Track list
|title1 = Black Mass 
|music1 = [Jus Oborn](/source/Jus_Oborn), Liz Buckingham
|length1 = 6:06
|title2 = Venus in Furs 
|length2 = 6:22
|title3 = The Nightchild 
|music3 = Oborn, Buckingham
|length3 = 8:02
|title4 = Patterns of Evil 
|length4 = 6:30
|title5 = Satyr IX 
|length5 = 9:58
|title6 = Turn Off Your Mind 
|music6 = Oborn, Buckingham
|length6 = 5:51
|title7 = Scorpio Curse 
|length7 = 7:31
|title8 = Crypt of Drugula 
|length8 = 8:49
|total_length = 59:09
}}

==Personnel==
===Electric Wizard===
* [Jus Oborn](/source/Jus_Oborn) – guitar, vocals
* Liz Buckingham – guitar
* Tas Danazoglou – bass
* Shaun Rutter – drums

===Guest musicians===
* Edryd Turner – [Mellotron](/source/Mellotron) on "The Nightchild"

===Production and art===
* Liam Watson – produced, mixed and engineered
* Justin Oborn – art, layout and design
* Ester Segarra – band photo

==Release history==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Label
! Format
! Country
! Out of Print?
! Notes
|-
| 2010
| [Rise Above](/source/Rise_Above_Records)
| CD
| UK
| No
| limited edition with sleeve and alt artwork version<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/225 |title=Rise Above Records |publisher=Rise Above Records |access-date=16 January 2012 |archive-date=11 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211233119/http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/225 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| 2010
| [Rise Above](/source/Rise_Above_Records)
| CD
| UK
| No
| Standard jewel case edition<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/250 |title=Rise Above Records |publisher=Rise Above Records |access-date=16 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412062142/http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/250 |archive-date=12 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
| 2010
| [Rise Above](/source/Rise_Above_Records)
| LP
| UK
| Yes
| Die Hard Edition – Deluxe boxed edition x 400 copies. Contains; Spot gloss box, Crypt of Drugula 16-page comic, embroidered patch,<br>A1 Poster and double gatefold album on 180&nbsp;gm black vinyl with full colour printed inners.
|-
| 2010
| [Rise Above](/source/Rise_Above_Records)
| LP
| UK
| Yes
| X 400 Solid white,<br>
X 400 Transparent Green,<br>
X 400 Transparent Blue, <br>
X 400 Transparent Red,<br>
|-
| 2010
| [Rise Above](/source/Rise_Above_Records)
| LP
| UK
| No
| X 400 Solid Grey,<br>
X 500 White/Black two colour split.<br>
|}

<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/226 |title=Rise Above Records |publisher=Rise Above Records |access-date=16 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412010750/http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/226 |archive-date=12 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Electric Wizard}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2010 albums
Category:Electric Wizard albums
Category:Rise Above Records albums

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Black Masses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Masses) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Masses?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.