Druid Lord – Grotesque Offerings (Slow Metal)

I remember when I first came across these guys, back in 2010 when they released their first album, and that was three years before the new future of Deaf Sparrow with this updated site you’re currently wasting your time on. Though you won’t find the old review here, as it’s stuck in FTP on the old site, I did find the original version I wrote in an email I sent to the old editor. I’ll get to that. But let me say this first. I’m getting rather sick of doom. It’s gone from a genre to a joke in so many cases. It’s a spectacular rise and fall no one wants to admit is happening, though you’re going to have the fanboys sucking on the ribs where once was a teat until they die. The rest of us, us smart ones, yeah you and me, are moving on, have moved on, rather. No more witches and weed, please. Slow was already done, there’s only so much of that I can take anymore. If you’re not funeral, which barely anyone listens to, so it’s still cool, speed it up a tad. Better yet, break away from the standards and do something new damn it. I’m still shocked by how static doom has become and how many bands don’t get they’re even standard. It’s one of those genres in metal where the typical is glaringly obvious.

  

So back to Druid Lord and their newest full-length after a bunch of splits. I can say from what I first heard, almost ten years ago, that they’re still a bit of their old selves, just updated. The art, top notch, so thanks to Daniel Corcuera, aka “Nekronicon,” for even leading me to listen to it (don’t forget, folks, good art is a selling point). So there we go, hooded skeletons, a tomb, candles, some lich king dude, yeah this is already going nowhere. Now, I love the art, but what I mean here is the theme. Druid Lord have come further with their writing, but it’s the same, slow, simplistic tomb worship craft they were working when they first started. Doom of this type can become redundant in a very short amount of time, especially with occasional, tiresome “solos” that amount to single or two maybe three or four-note note steps that drag out with sustain. But then you listen to moments like the first track around 3:50 and not only do these guys prove they can do it better, at times, they prove they’ve developed. The problem is, there are just moments of this, and it’s not mass of doldrums that is Grotesque Offerings. A song about crypts and another about Mr. Hyde? Are such things even Kosher for doom anymore? See, that’s the problem, these guys have got something there, but it’s almost as though they’re afraid to reveal it for fear of offending the greater swarm of doominions who can’t shut up about IPAs and are somehow worse than Star Wars fans about their favorite things in life. I know, I know, greatness is often not appreciated until later, but hey, do yourselves a favor, break the mold, stick to those shining moments, and forget about all this doomery. This just barely made a 4, and it’s truly for the moments where they break the chains. Especially some of those vocals, wow.

 

Druid Lord Official Facebook

Written by Stanley Stepanic

Druid Lord: Grotesque Offerings
Hells Headbangers
4 / 5