Druglord Premiere “Unclean”; New Album Hear it Breathe Out Tomorrow
Richmond, Virginia, sludge rockers Druglord release their new album, Hear it Breathe, tomorrow, July 3. It’s been eight years since the three-piece of bassist Julian Cook, drummer Bobby Hufnell and guitarist/vocalist Tommy Hamilton (the latter now also in Windhand) issued their second album, 2018’s New Day Dying (review here), through Sludgelord Records, and the new six-song/sub-half-hour collection shows the time in its procession. By that I mean Hear it Breathe takes a turn from New Day Dying, and for that matter the prior 2014 debut, Enter Venus (discussed here, review here), but still feels like it’s walking the path of the band’s established progression. Beginning with “All Gone,” they get underway with a low, noisy and distorted roll. A lead line of guitar emphasizes the downer direction they’re headed, but before the first minute is up, they shift suddenly into a faster, almost trad-metal chug. It’s not manic enough to be thrash, but if you played Overkill at three-quarters speed, you might be somewhere close. It’s not the first time Druglord have varied in terms of tempo, and Hamilton‘s cleaner vocal style was of course present on New Day Dying as well, but with how solidly these elements are presented, it’s enough to make the listener realize that a lot can happen in eight years.
Four of the six songs on Hear it Breathe are under five minutes long; New Day Dying had one. What that tells you is the approach has tightened up, and it’s true. With Hufnell‘s quick drum intro, “Unclean” (premiering below) is launched at a slower clip, but maintains its metallic feel in terms of tone, and the verse becomes almost like a taunt in following that melody, loosely horror-feeling, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. The 3:32 song encapsulates the strangeness of atmosphere that pervades throughout, and if you haven’t heard the rest of the record, the way it finishes with the solo should give a hint as to the sharpness with which the songs are executed throughout. The nod is still there, as “Boiled in Oil” assures with its massive, rolling, death-stench procession, but when they take off into a crunched take on ’80s hardcore with a harsher, throaty vocal sneer to accompany — and not only that, but then bring back the slower part to finish — it’s clear the context for these elements has shifted. That’s not a negative at all. Druglord have never been less classifiable in sound than they are on Hear it Breathe, and yet they remain true to from whence they come in terms of influence.
They’ve always been on the dirtier end of tonality, and that’s still the case as well, but they find a balance as they proceed, and if “Boiled in Oil” sets the two sides against each other to close side A, “Shadow” at the start of side B claims a middle-ground between them. A midtempo riff at its foundation, “Shadow” even goes so far as to dare some vocal harmonies, and its movement is grooved without slogging and boasts plenty of bite in the solo. The penultimate “Void Uncoiled” has a more gradual-feeling intro, but also a more angular rhythm that shortly before three minutes the trio smooth out to a roll ahead of the solo there before they turn back to the chug and let go into residual distortion ahead of closer “Forever After,” also the longest cut at 6:02 and a mirror to “Boiled in Oil” for being the longest inclusion on its respective side. It’s slower going into the finish, at least for most of it, but Hear it Breathe holds tension amid its moment of lurch and surgent wash of noise, capping with a ceremony of shred as several of the songs before it have done. Eight years later, it would seem Druglord have no time to waste.
About that: I had talked with the band about premiering “Unclean” like a month ago and we had rescheduled a couple times, as will happen, to get to this point. I’m stoked to host the song, even just a day before the album’s out. In the meantime, you’ll find the empty player for the record below, taken from their Bandcamp page. Well, it’s empty for now, but on the offchance that you’re reading this at some later point than, like, maybe 24 hours from when this post goes live, it will be/is there for your streaming enjoyment. Unless it’s already there, which it might be. And unless you’re far enough in the future that Bandcamp has collapsed like all on-the-internet music anythings eventually do. Can’t help you in that case. But the visualizer for “Unclean” follows here (unless it doesn’t; all things ephemeral, etc.), if you’d like to get yourself acclimated before you jump into the whole thing.
As always, I hope you enjoy:
Druglord, “Unclean” track premiere
Druglord is pleased to announce the release of our latest recording, ‘Hear It Breathe’. This album is the result of the past year and a half: a time where we found solidity and inspiration with a new practice space and a slight change in approach to songwriting which breathed new life into the band.
Hear It Breathe
1. All Gone
2. Unclean
3. Boiled In Oil
4. Shadow
5. Void Uncoiled
6. Forever After
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Tommy Hamilton at Room 13
Druglord:
Tommy Hamilton: guitar/vocals/effects
Julian Cook: bass
Bobby Hufnell: drums
