Electric Wizard's 2000 album Dopethrone, now regarded as a defining record of doom and stoner metal, emerged from a period of considerable personal turmoil for the Dorset trio. Frontman Jus Oborn has described how the album's aggressive, nihilistic tone was shaped directly by chaos surrounding the band, including arrests, injuries and heavy drug use among its three members, giving the record an authenticity that cemented its cult status and lasting influence on the genre.

Formed in 1988 and named after two Black Sabbath songs, Electric Wizard released Dopethrone as the final instalment of what Oborn called their "trilogy of terror", following their 1995 debut and 1997's Come My Fanatics. In the years before recording, Oborn was arrested for setting fire to a car outside a police station, bassist Tim Bagshaw was injured attempting to steal a crucifix from a church, and drummer Mark Greening broke his collarbone and was arrested for robbery. The band entered the studio with only three songs prepared and, fuelled by drug use and lyrics inspired by HP Lovecraft, recorded the entire hour-and-15-minute album in just three days.