DRUID LORD – Relics Of The Dead review

 

DRUID LORD – Relics Of The Dead 

Hells Headbangers

I first learned about this Orlando, Florida four piece death doom act back in 2011. They did a split release with WOODEN STAKE. Now I liked the WOODEN STAKE song on that 7"er, obviously. DRUID LORD's contribution was decent. So here we are around a decade later and this is the band's third full length release. 

Musically DRUID LORD are the pungent stench of a rotted corpse. Listening to this reminds me of an Italian horror flick called Zombie from 1979. Not a great flick at all but the zombies who climbed out of the grave were sick looking decomposed pieces of shit. 

This album does come across as a sick fuckin piece of rotting filth. Most of the time the rhythms are at a snail's pace which a few variations. Once in a while a guitar solo will dive in like a bolt of lightning. The vocals by Tony Blakk are typical death doom deep harsh style with some growls. Not too different from what you remember from a few Peaceville Records' vets. In the end it's decent.

https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://druid-lord.bandcamp.com/

GRANDIOSE MALICE - The Eternal Infernal review

GRANDIOSE MALICE -  The Eternal Infernal

Hells Headbangers




If you want to talk about USBM then hey before the one man BURZUM copy-cats, symphonic DIMMU BORGER clones and hipsters there were a few ground breaking acts here in the states which were total rule-breakers. One of those acts was BLACK WITCHERY. Their 2001 debut, Desecration of the Holy Kingdom, in my not so humble opinion is mandatory to have. Of all the acts in USBM's first res-ponders I consider BLACK WITCHERY to the best of the bunch.


Much of the band's greatness is credited to the guitar mastery of founding member Steve Childers, otherwise known in the USBM scene as Tregenda. Unfortunately in 2016 Childers was killed in a car accident. A few years prior to his death he had left BLACK WITCHERY to work on other projects. One of which was PUBLIC ASSASSIN, a death/thrash project he originally started back in 1989, which in 2015 finally saw a full length released. This release here by GRANDIOSE MALICE was his latest project before his death.


The Eternal Infernal was originally a demo which Childers sent out to friends as a gesture of "hey check this out". When he passed away, a couple of his friends decided to not let his final recordings go into obscurity. When I listen to this it's as if Childers put his whole musical essence into the output. It's a combined blackened extreme metal genre extravaganza. The recording was done as a two piece act with Childers handling guitars and bass with close friend Matt Glaser on drums and vocals.


Even though this has gone through the mastering process the raw and savage demo sound smacks you in the face. Soundwise it's a very brutal style of blackened death displayed with touches of thrash, straight up metal as well as that experimental vibe that he explored on his final album with BLACK WITCHERY, aka: Inferno of Sacred Destruction. Yeah it's crude, filthy and totally unexceptionable to the modern hipster tastes of today. That's why it's so fuckin good. At certain times it really delves into early BATHORY territory or even NECROPHOBIC which I have no problem with. 


In the end I'm left wondering whether this would be received as well now if Childers were still alive. No one speaks ill of the dead, even hipsters respect that publicly in print that is. Personally I think it's a fantastic release. One of the kickers for me is listening to the man's soloing which is somewhere between chaotic and psychotic. The guy played by his own rules to the end. He walked his own path. Today there's plenty of similar styled bands that play things safe. Thankfully we have this last will and testament.


http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/

https://grandiosemalice.bandcamp.com/

MIDNIGHT - Sweet Death and Ecstasy review

MIDNIGHT - Sweet Death and Ecstasy

Hells Headbangers



This might be MIDNIGHT's best album to date. Now before all of you crybabies and noobs start to whine let me explain. The first album was a compilation OK so lets get that out of the way. Satanic Royalty and No Mercy for Mayhem were great albums but they both had something in common. Both releases had a few great songs and a bunch of average cuts. It was those great songs which carried those releases.

Sweet Death and Ecstasy doesn't have a handful of cool songs. Fuckin every song on here is exciting and I'm talking about the first eight cuts on the first CD. Songs like "Crushed By Demons", "Here Comes Sweet Death" and "Before My Time in Hell" are full on true metal. Sure there's plenty of typical MIDNIGHT speedy stuff but seriously it's gotta be taken as a whole. This is pure fuckin greatness from MIDNIGHT.  

https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/

https://midnight-ohio.bandcamp.com/