Release
date: January 16th 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: DD
Children
Of The Haze – Tracklisting
1.Navigator 08:06
2.Scum Priest 06:11
3.Children of the
Haze 07:27
4.Skulls and Candles
03:50
5.Dead Inside (I&II)
09:19
6.Reptile Sun 05:58
Band
Members
Grzegorz Pawłowski - guitar
Piotr Zin - bass & vocals
Paweł Mioduchowski - guitar &
vocals
Tomasz Walczak - drums
Review
Slow,
heavy, perfectly drawn out and most importantly, completely massive
riffs dominate Children Of The Haze, the new album from Warsaw's
Dopelord and they go far into defining the band in the best way
possible but aside from the riffs, they seem to have stepped up their
knack for crafting great songs and this album is a step up from their
last album Black Arts, Riff Worship & Weed Cult (and this album
is again inspired by that particular holy trinity) and shows exactly
why this new album is their best yet.
As
soon as the first big riff rings out on the albums opening track
Navigator its a heady barge of monstrous riffs (Navigator alone has
many) throughout the album and that combined with a punishing groove,
some precise solos and commanding vocals makes for a head altering
mixture.
The
band obviously worship Sabbath as all the best bands do but there are
also elements of legends like Sleep, The Obsessed, Cathedral and
Kyuss in there too.
The
vibe varies throughout the album too from soaringly powerful doom
which is best demonstrated on songs like Skulls And Candles which
sounds like the bastard son of vintage Pentagram while tracks like
Scum Priest and the albums title track verge on the obscenely heavy
side ala Eyehategod and sound all the better for it, all attitude
that bursts out the speakers.
While
the vocals and the rhythm section on the album are all pretty much
faultless, ultimately it is the power of the riff that is running the
show here and the riffs are plentiful on Children Of The Haze.
The
crushing Dead Inside (I&II) exemplifies this more than anything
else on the album (and that is saying something!) and is a definite
highlight here, the power oozing from the speakers as it plays and
encompasses your ears and as well as the beautiful heaviness, it has
an air of melody that complements the song extremely well and when
the conclusion of the track emits an extra special 70s-esque vibe
(the emphatic nature of hard rock from that decade is directly in the
DNA of Dopelord) with a brilliant high octane solo where the energy
just explodes and ends the song on an energetic high.
As
the album draws its final breath as the notes of last track Reptile
Sun ring out (itself a fuzz laden and grooving beast of a track), you
are struck by the power of of this album.
Black
Sabbath may have recently called it quits once and for all
(probably?!) but their spirit for the riff lives on in Dopelord and
if you love the spirit of the riff then you'll love Dopelord and this
album.
Words
by Gavin Brown
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