Electric Wizard - Warhorse
Thee Plague of Gentlemen

Scheld'apen, Antwerp (Belgium)
(08/05/2002)

It doesn't happen very often that one metal show is entirely dedicated to doom metal. This was one of the rare exceptions. On their tour through Europe, Electric Wizard and Warhorse are playing several countries, with the support act changing from venue to venue, so mostly they are local bands. On their first show of the tour, they played Antwerp, and support act was the Belgian sludge doom band Thee Plague of Gentlemen, originating from Ghent.

Thee Plague of Gentlemen kicked off around 9 pm, with already quite some crowd there. Very much to my surprise, as most gigs in Belgium seem to suffer from small crowds and a lot of support bands are playing just for the PA people mainly. But none of that here. The venue wasn't very big, but by the time TPoG started their act, there were about 40-50 people watching.

TPoG played a very energetic, groovy and driven kind of sludge doom. At times they made me think of Cathedral, Warhorse, even some Winter references were present. The four-piece turned out to be a major bonus, as they were not really a support act, but rather proved to be a worthy addition to the bill. They had a massive, crushing guitar sound, and really way too cool songs. They were basically all you need for a great opening of such an evening. And most of the crowd seemed to think so, evidence of which were the many headbanging or just generally moving people in the room.

Five songs and a lot of lost sweat later, the guys thanked the crowd and started packing. Time for the next band, Warhorse. Only three members, but with around ten, fifteen effect pedals and a big SUNN amp, they managed to produce a sound that can be called massive, crushing, impressive, and a lot of other things that wouldn't do honour to what it really was. I was floored. Really floored. I had never expected to hear anything close to this live. Respect, guys!

Their setlist consisted of the following track: Lysergic Communion, Doom's Bride, Scrape, I Am Dying (from their new 7" on Southernlord Records), Priestess, Wither and Black Acid Prophecies. Most of those songs are off the 'As Heaven Turns to Ash' cd.

This gig was so overwhelming and mind numbing that I can only advise you not to miss Warhorse if they come somewhere near you!

After this demonstration of pure heaviness, Electric Wizard had the task to give the audience a doomy climax before they went home. They didn't have an easy job, if you ask me. Their sound was much lighter, up the stoner alley, which is not really my style, yet they managed to pull off a quite satisfying set. But it was quite obvious that this was their first show of the tour, because they weren't fully played in on each other yet. At times, the members were staring at each other with a questionmark saying 'what are you playing there?' in their eyes. After an hour of steaming stoner doom, they played an encore, then left the exhausted audience behind in the room that had turned into a sauna. The more or less 80 people there, went home happily and satisfied. One doomy show it was! Let us please have more of those!

Electric Wizard - Warhorse

013, Tilburg (The Netherlands)
(10/05/2002)

Warhorse and the Wizard in Holland. I couldn't let the chance slip to see an American doom band in Holland, as that's a pretty rare thing. Team Warhorse up with Electric Wizard, and you have a recipe for a nice three hours of heavy shit. The hall of the small stage was moderately filled, but the atmosphere was OK. Warhorse sounded like a concrete tower collapsing on your eardrums, again and again. That is a positive thing, of course. They sounded just like a doom band is supposed to sound. Very heavy, yet with a clear tone. The instruments sounded very distinguishable, so my compliments to the sound technician. The trio played four songs, with room for some experiments at some places in the compositions. All three of the guys seemed to enjoy the show, as they played like madmen.

Setlist Warhorse

Lysergic Communion
Black Acid Prophecy
Every Flower Dies No Matter The Thorns (Wither)
Scrape
Too bad they left out Doom's Bride, one of the better songs of their great debut album, 'As Heaven Turns To Ash.

Next up was Electric Wizard. At this point the amazing video show kicked in, displaying obscure and occult images behind the band. Combined with the band's nice songs, ecstatic playing, beer and Mary Jane, this made for a very nice and trippy evening. I'm not very familiar with Electric Wizard's work so the setlist is lacking and in a random order.

Setlist Electric Wizard

Master Of Alchemy
Dopethrone
A Chosen Few
Conan the Barbarian (?)
Priestess of Mars
Supercoven

- Heiko Isselee (belgium)
- Oscar Strik (The Netherlands)
(29 May 2002)


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