ROTPIT AND DRUID LORD JOIN FORCES IN ROT-FILLED SPLIT EP

 Album Reviews, Metal News, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Feb 072025
 

(Here, our contributor Zoltar shines a light on the recently released split Doomed To Rot by two death metal devastators — Druid Lord from the U.S. and the German/Swedish group Rotpit.)

Split releases may appear like a thing of the past but, Satan be thanked, some cool bands and underground labels out there carry on that long tradition, let it be by pure opportunity or, in today’s case, simply to show each other some good old respect. And why the hell not? Especially when the two bands in question aren’t exactly playing what you would call, well, half-ass death metal.

Here in the US, you’re probably more familiar with DRUID LORD: Formed over fifteen years ago by former EQUINOX and ACHERON veterans Peter Slate (guitar) and Tony Blakk (bass & vocals), completed since 20016 by KILLING ADDICTION’s Chris Wicklein (guitar) and MASSACRE’s Elden Santos (drums), they’ve been growing in strength over the course of three albums and a whole bunch of splits, showcasing their heavy-as-fuck doom/death take on the classic Floridian style.

On the flipside, you’ll find the Swedish/German supergroup ROTPIT, spearheaded by Ralf Hauber from REVEL IN FLESH, assisted by his partner-in-crime in HEADS FOR THE DEAD Jonny Pettersson (the man of a thousand bands/projects like WOMBBATH, HUMAN HARVEST and so on) and, on drums since last year, Erik Barthold from LEFT HAND SOLUTION. Last November, the lads released Long Live The Rot, a downtuned delicacy of epic proportions that would make BLOODBATH barf and run for cover. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DRUID LORD

 Interviews  1 Response »
May 132022
 

(With a new album and a new split under their belts for 2022 so far, Druid Lord have made a strong start for the year, and the time was right for Comrade Aleks to reach out to Druid Lord guitarist Pete Slate for a new conversation — and you’ll find the results below.)

I love Druid Lord, and I bet that you love them. Their debut album Hymns for the Wicked (2010), which represented wicked death-doom metal, offered a few absolutely thrilling tracks and a sweet old-school attitude which was propelled ahead through a series of splits and EPs until the sophomore full-length Grotesque Offerings (2018) appeared.

Druid Lord introduced me to a few old horror movies that I didn’t know, as well as their death-doom colleagues Wooden Stake, another great band with a similar concept behind it. I couldn’t skip their new album Relics of the Dead, released by Hells Headbangers Records earlier in 2022, and now – in addition – Me Saco Un Ojo Records has announced Druid Lord’s split with Anatomia which is scheduled for release on May 15th. Another good reason to get in touch with mister Pete Slate (guitars), who’s always ready to talk about “doom/death metal with horror themes and overtones”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DRUID LORD — “RELICS OF THE DEAD”

 Premieres  1 Response »
Dec 312021
 

 

We can only guess at why Druid Lord and their label chose the last day of 2021 to reveal the title track from their new album, Relics of the Dead. But contemplating that title and marinating in the horrors of the music (which are both crushing and spellbinding, both chillingly ghastly and brazenly exhilarating) confirms the wisdom of the decision. This rotten year must be buried, though something equally ghoulish may rise from its grave, still plagued by the terrible relics of what is now nearly dead.

Through two previous albums and a sequence of intervening short releases these Floridians have proven their mastery of a particularly supernatural and titanically heavy variant of death-doom. The new album confirms their diabolical talents, but if anything delves even more deeply into the contrasting sensations of their music, harnessing sounds and moods that are unearthly and uncanny with the kind of earth-shaking force that threatens a listener’s skeletal integrity. Witness the song we’re presenting today. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DRUID LORD — “NIGHT GALLERY”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Jan 032018
 

 

From their inception in Orlando more than seven years ago, Druid Lord had a firm grasp on what they wanted to do. As described by guitarist Pete Slate in our recent interview of him, the vision was: “Four guys playing Doom/Death Metal. Nothing pretty or overproduced. Just nasty music taking from the influences I grew up with, like Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Cirth Ungol, Necrovore“. And as a huge fan of B-type horror movies from the ’60s and ’70s, Slate also wanted the music, lyrics, and artwork all flowing together “to make one horrid package”.

The band released their debut album Hymns For the Wicked in 2010 and followed that with a series of splits and EPs, but now their second full-length is approaching its international release date of January 19th via Hells Headbangers. Appropriately entitled Grotesque Offerings, it features hideously colorful artwork by Daniel Corcuera. A couple of grisly new tunes have surfaced already, and today it’s our ghoulish pleasure to present a third one: “Night Gallery“. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: DRUID LORD (PETE SLATE)

 Interviews  No Responses »
Nov 282017
 

 

(We are very happy to greet Comrade Aleks, who returns to NCS with an interview of guitarist Pete Slate of the doom/death band Druid Lord, whose new album Grotesque Offerings will be released by Hells Headbangers on January 18, 2018.)

 

Druid Lord from Orlando, Florida have nothing in common with elves, Celtic myths, or forest fairies. Their blood-soaked death/doom metal took form in their LP Hymns For The Wicked seven years ago when two ex-members of Acheron and Equinox – Pete Slate (guitars) and Tony Blakk (vocals, bass) – gathered their energy with Ben Ross (guitars) and Steve Splillers (ex-Equinox drummer).

Three years after Hymns For The Wicked, Druid Lord continued their ominous work recording split-albums and two EPs. But their latest effort Baron Blood saw the light of day in 2013, so I was wondering if we would ever hear new stories of horror and blood from Druid Lord. Here’s a fresh interview with Pete Slate, who’ll tell us not only about a new forthcoming full-length, Grotesque Offering, but also about his obsession with horror movies and about the band’s inner machinery. Continue reading »

DEATH PSYCHEDELIC: JOHN FRUM, ARKHAMIN KIRJASTO, HEAVYDEATH, DRUID LORD, ABSTRACTER, TRIBULATION

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  17 Responses »
Feb 172017
 

 

A couple of nights ago NCS contributor Grant Skelton asked if I knew of any “psychedelic death metal”. He said he’d been hunting for that and was finding the search to be a difficult one. One song in particular leaped to my mind immediately, but I decided to do some further thinking and word-searching through previous posts at NCS. And by coincidence, I also came across an announcement about a new band that seemed relevant.

What I’ve compiled below is the playlist of songs I sent Grant later that night. I’m probably stretching the boundaries of the term “psychedelic death metal”, though it’s not exactly a recognized genre label. But I had fun putting this together and thought I’d share it. But I’d also like to ask you to chime in with ideas of your own in the Comment section.

JOHN FRUM

So I thought I’d start with that announcement about a new band (pictured above), the name of which is John Frum. The announcement caught my eye both because of who’s in the band and because of the source of the band’s name, which is quite interesting. Here’s the explanation: Continue reading »

AN UPDATE AND A ROUND-UP (WITH ORIGIN, DIOCLETIAN, HOWLS OF EBB, AND DRUID LORD)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jan 072014
 

Your humble editor is behind (or is A behind, depending on who you talk to). Behind on reviews, behind on news and new song premieres, behind on the vaunted list of 2013’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs, and behind in posting things that our staff and guests have written for publication. There are many reasons for this tardiness, but I’d rather not dwell on them. Instead, let’s look ahead to the future.

As far as NCS is concerned, we do have a few late-breaking year-end lists to post. Honestly, I’m somewhat amazed that these lists continue to draw as much interest as they have, given how many we’ve posted during this year’s LISTMANIA extravaganza, but even our most recent ones have attracted strong interest. So, we’re not calling a halt to them just yet. And just as that series is finally winding down, another one will begin: Finally, I’m going to start rolling out the Most Infectious Songs list later today, with the first three picks.

I also expect to resume our usual features now that the holiday season is over, beginning with the following round-up of news and new music. And we begin with…

ORIGIN

Two and a half years have passed since Origin released Entity, and yesterday brought the welcome news that the band are about to begin recording their next album, which will be entitled Omnipresent. Continue reading »

UNDERGROUND METAL FOR THE TRVE CURMUDGEON (DEATH AND DOOM)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 202012
 

(NCS reader, commenter, and occasional contributor SurgicalBrute volunteered to help educate me about death/doom.)

It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these . . . sorry about that. Unlike some of the other guys here, I’m not a writer by profession. So when you combine that with my natural laziness . . . you end up with long periods of inactivity.

I actually requested the chance to write this post though. While I don’t really enjoy Traditional Doom (there are some exceptions), and I really have to be in the right mood for Funeral Doom. Death/Doom hits a sweet spot for me. Never so slow that I start to lose interest, it still manages to establish the crushing atmosphere that’s so important for this style of metal.

Now, I know Death/Doom can be a rather ambiguous term . . . I’ve seen it applied (and not incorrectly) to everything from the mid-paced death metal of Asphyx and Autopsy to the slow moving riffs of Ahab. For the sake of simplicity I’m going to limit this article to my own personal definition . . . where, more often than not, the pace is kept slower than the average Old School Death Metal band, but still quicker than any kind of Funeral Doom.

As usual, I’ll do my best to provide links for distros/labels that may still have merchandise available (and if anyone’s curious as to what Ive been spinning, you can find me on http://www.last.fm/user/Surgical_Brute)

Enjoy the music \m/ Continue reading »