Release Date: July 03rd 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD
Hear It Breathe - Tracklist
1.All Gone 04:49
2.Unclean 03:32
3.Boiled In Oil 05:09
4.Shadow 04:13
5.Void Uncoiled 04:09
6.Forever After 06:02
Members
Julian Cook - bass
Bobby Hufnell - drums
Tommy Hamilton - guitar, vocals
Review
Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Druglord release their first album in eight years with Hear It Breathe which is a great title with the band returning with a trippy sound that elevates slightly the grunge sound with echoes of TAD, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains being heard within the opening stages of the opening track All Gone. The record has a fast-paced addictive energy with the slightly fuzzy and sludgy guitars stirring up a muscular presence for Druglord to whip an amplified style of frenzied Stoner based energy.
The sound is quite stripped back with a lot of dirt and seedy reverb building up throughout the opening track alone. Perhaps not as refined as their previous records but still 100% DRUGLORD with a mammoth WALL OF SOUND and PSYCHEDELIC flavour being cooked up within the opening tracks of All Gone, Unclean and Boiled In. You can hear the doomed out DNA of Electric Wizard, SLEEP and Black Sabbath with Druglord adding their own grimy GRUNGE surroundings with some excellent guitar work from Tommy Hamilton bridging the gap between the Seventies Proto-Doom sounds and modern filthy doomedelic surroundings.
The lyrics have a classic WEEDIAN sound that taps into the Stoner Rock/Metal folklore with real intense precision but it’s how melodic Druglord actually are with their music even with some Ambient themes shining through on the later stages of the record. The album can be quite haunting and emotionally damaging especially on the standout track of Boiled In. There’s a destructive melody that develops with areas of Classic Hard Rock with that distorted Sludge Rock/Metal sound allowing Druglord switching to a more nightmarish delivery especially when Tommy Hamilton’s vocals veer into violent waters with a grizzled and hardcore attitude.
The second half of the album sees Druglord continue to the DEVIL’s work of delivering finely tuned and massive sounding down-tuned melodies and distorted passages. The excellent rhythm section of Julian Cook (Bass) and Bobby Hufnell (Drums) steady the ship with their epic soundscapes destroying almost everything in their wake. Tracks such as Shadow and Forever After continue with that fuzzy, distorted and down-tuned delivery with that thrilling Grunge aspect providing some of the best grooves on the record.
Hear It Breathe is quite a short and compact record running under twenty eight minutes but that’s more than enough time for DRUGLORD to announce their triumphant return to the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal underground scene. With a high amount of outstanding riffs, grooves and bombastic instrumental solos, Hear It Breathe has it all. If you want an album that fully dives into the dark underbelly of WEEDIAN MEATAL then DRUGLORD are here to SAVE THE FUCKING DAY!!!
Simply sublime. End Of.
Words by Steve Howe
Links
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