Release Date: May 02nd 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl
Metamorphosis - Tracklisting
1.Collision 04:31
2.Follow The Star 04:00
3.Herman 03:50
4.The Swamp 03:52
5.Cryptids 04:10
6.Mutation 05:26
7.Emergence of The Toad 07:50
8.Sweet Emotion 04:18
Members
Vocals - Benjamin 'Froglord' Oak
Guitar - Jordan 'Caudata' Cross
Bass - Luke 'Bufo' Clemenger
Drums - Chris 'Anura' Seldon
Review
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal Amphibian Overlords Froglord have achieved a great deal since their inception in 2020 where they have told a very cool and highly intriguing story of The Froglord. It’s perhaps better for the band describe their overall creative story for Froglord:
SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME, MYSTICS HAVE FORETOLD THE COMING OF THE FROGLORD, AN ANCIENT AMPHIBIAN WITH DEATHRAY VISION AND ECTOPLASMIC SLIME
Five years into their entire existence, the band have released their stunning fifth album Metamorphosis and it’s inspired by the legendary DUNE saga in places and even though I’ve been a fan for a long time this is the first time I’ve featured them on the blog. Shame on me but I’ll correct that oversight by reviewing their outstanding record which is full of classic Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal grooves with influences ranging from CONAN, Mastodon, The Melvins, Black Sabbath and BONGZILLA. The aquatic theme is the main way for Froglord to tell their story of their aquatic messiah.
The music is harsh, aggressive and superbly melodic with a distorted and destructive energy that appears from within the murky swampedelic grooves that has a killer WO FAT sound developing from the early stages of the album on tracks such as Collision, Follow The Star and Herman.
Sure, everything is over the top but it’s served Froglord brilliantly well over the years but the band have the talent to back up their superbly unique creative vision. There’s a wide assortment of Prog Rock sounds and NOLA based riffs with intense production values appearing throughout. Even if you’re not fully on board with the trippy, surreal, highly psychedelic storyline then Froglord will impress with their great style of extreme vocals and abstract instrumental passages.
The record just transforms into a seedier and heavier style of Sludge/Stoner Metal where Froglord blur the creative lines of fantasy and reality with a subtle Blues Rock energy developing throughout the album which shows a wonderful sense of black comedic humour along the way.
Other standout tracks include: Cryptids, Mutation and Emergence Of The Toad which cements Froglord as a force to be reckoned with. What really seals the deal is their stunning cover of the Aerosmith classic Sweet Emotion. A great cover that pays homage to the original but also desconstructs the track and rebuilds it within Froglord’s undeniable heavy and downtuned image.
Metamorphosis allows Froglord to swap some of their underground “CULT” appeal for a well deserved shot at something bigger and better within the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal scene.
This is FROGLORD's most outrageous and brilliantly entertaining record to date. Long may that continue...
Links
LinkTree | BandCamp | BigCartel