Deer Lord - Dark Matter Pt. 2 (Album Review)

Release Date: October 31st 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Format: Cassette/Download

Dark Matter Pt. 2 - Track Listing:

1.Dark Matter 08:10

2.Faster 04:16

3.Dogma 03:11

4.Intelligent Life 07:24

5.Blade 04:37

6.Pay 03:12

Members

Sheafer McOmber - Guitar/Vocals

Jared Marill - Bass

Ryan Alderman - Drums

Review

Psych/Doom/Stoner Rockers Deer Lord new album Dark Matter Pt. 2 continues exploring the heavy cosmic themes the band set out within the acclaimed Part One. This time round Deer Lord play a fuzzier, progressive and stylish mix of Post-Stoner creative attitudes whilst matching the vibrant 1990’s classic sound heard within Part One. The sound still retains that fresh Cosmic/Space Rock sound whilst having a grounded reality within the lyrics and lead vocalist Sheafer McOmber’s distinctive vocals. 

The music takes a more Sludgier direction within the heaviest parts of the opening track of Dark Matter with echoes of King Buffalo, FU MANCHU, LOWRIDER and Monster Magnet starting to emerge but with Deer Lord keeping their own dynamic take of underground Doom/Stoner Rock. Echoes of solitary Space Rock and classic Desert Rock waves allows the listener to become directly part of the action especially within the FUZZ ROCK sounds being played from the ground up of soulful psychedelic interludes.

The next two tracks of Faster and Dogma leave the Progressive energy of the previous track with a Cosmic Boogie Rock style that reminds me of CLUTCH and GEEZER in places. The instrumental passages have a playful flow to them with an aggressive FUZZIER attitude matching the streetwise lyrics written for these two tracks that are perhaps the riffiest and catchiest parts of the album. 

Dark Matter Pt. 2 becomes more “GROOVE” orientated as time passes by especially within tracks such as Intelligent Life, Blade and Pay with Deer Lord delivering a stylish slice of modern day Psych Doom/Stoner Rock which also sees the band taking more outlandish risks with their music. The other standout tracks include Intelligent Life and Blade which shows a slightly more aggressive side to Deer Lord without them compromising their highly addictive blend of COSMIC GROOVES that are THICK, HEAVY and BUILT TO LAST throughout the whole album.

Dark Matter Pt. 2 is another superbly entertaining album from DEER LORD and one that delivers the goods on all fronts. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

Links:

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Linktree

Exclusive Album Premiere Of Doom/Stoner Metallers DEER LORD New Album DARK MATTER PT. 2

Deer Lord have set thrusters to warp speed, and return from the outer reaches to deliver their long-awaited sophomore LP, “Dark Matter Pt. 2”, this Halloween.

Expanding on their fuzzy, acid-laced mix of doom and psych, the California trio are upping the ante on their second go-round to deliver an album of harder-hitting, groovier, and fully spaced-out jams. The riffs are bigger, the boogie is undeniable, and the threesome sound tighter than ever.

Across six mind-expanding tracks, Deer Lord take a journey to the farthest, raddest reaches of psychedelic doom. Grab your spacesuit and get in the van, man.

IN THE BAND'S OWN WORDS:

“Dark Matter Pt. 2 is the anticipated follow up to Pt. 1, comprised of songs we’ve been working on since the beginning of the band in 2020. Sheafer McOmber, Ryan Alderman, and Jared Marill make up our trio in Sonoma County California, playing our own brand of doom n’ roll, inspired by sci-fi fantasies, high speed gasoline folklore, and towering stacks of amps echoing through redwood forests. Dark Matter Pt. 2 has been a long time coming, and we can’t wait for people to enjoy it.”

And you can hear this brilliantly heavy new album which showcases their musical evolution into HEAVY RIFF MONSTERS thanks to the cool folks over at Good Boy PR:

WHAT'S NEXT:

“We’ve had the album sitting ready to go for over a year now, and are stoked to get it out there. We also have a show coming up in Santa Rosa on November 16 at Arlene Francis Center. In the meantime we’ve been focusing on these recordings, continuing to play local shows, and we’ve got more recordings coming in the near future to be announced. We are primarily based in the Bay Area, California, and frequently play venues throughout the regional scene.”

Deer Lord - Dark Matter Pt. 2

Album out Oct 31st, 2024 (Digital) - Self-released
Santa Rosa, California
FFO: Kadabra, Asteroid, Hawkwind, Turbonegro, Astroqueen, Howling Giant

Deer Lord is:

Sheafer McOmber - Guitar/Vocals
Jared Marill - Bass
Ryan Alderman - Drums

Tracklist:

1. Dark Matter (8:08)
2. Faster (4:13)
3. Dogma (3:12)
4. Intelligent Life (7:23)
5. Blade (4:35)
6. Pay (3:09)

Links:

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Linktree

Thanks to Good Boy PR for all of the info.

Doom/Stoner Rockers Deer Lord Announce New Album DARK MATTER PT. 2 And Release New Song INTELLIGENT LIFE

Deer Lord have set thrusters to warp speed, and return from the outer reaches to deliver their long-awaited sophomore LP, “Dark Matter Pt. 2”, this Halloween.

Expanding on their fuzzy, acid-laced mix of doom and psych, the California trio are upping the ante on their second go-round to deliver an album of harder-hitting, groovier, and fully spaced-out jams. The riffs are bigger, the boogie is undeniable, and the threesome sound tighter than ever.

Across six mind-expanding tracks, Deer Lord take a journey to the farthest, raddest reaches of psychedelic doom. Grab your spacesuit and get in the van, man.

IN THE BAND'S OWN WORDS:

“Dark Matter Pt. 2 is the anticipated follow up to Pt. 1, comprised of songs we’ve been working on since the beginning of the band in 2020. Sheafer McOmber, Ryan Alderman, and Jared Marill make up our trio in Sonoma County California, playing our own brand of doom n’ roll, inspired by sci-fi fantasies, high speed gasoline folklore, and towering stacks of amps echoing through redwood forests. Dark Matter Pt. 2 has been a long time coming, and we can’t wait for people to enjoy it.”

WHAT'S NEXT:

“We’ve had the album sitting ready to go for over a year now, and are stoked to get it out there. We also have a show coming up in Santa Rosa on November 16 at Arlene Francis Center. In the meantime we’ve been focusing on these recordings, continuing to play local shows, and we’ve got more recordings coming in the near future to be announced. We are primarily based in the Bay Area, California, and frequently play venues throughout the regional scene.”

Deer Lord - Dark Matter Pt. 2

Album out Oct 31st, 2024 (Digital) - Self-released
Santa Rosa, California
FFO: Kadabra, Asteroid, Hawkwind, Turbonegro, Astroqueen, Howling Giant

Deer Lord is:

Sheafer McOmber - Guitar/Vocals
Jared Marill - Bass
Ryan Alderman - Drums

Tracklist:

1. Dark Matter (8:08)
2. Faster (4:13)
3. Dogma (3:12)
4. Intelligent Life (7:23)
5. Blade (4:35)
6. Pay (3:09)

Links:

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | Linktree

Thanks to Good Boy PR for all of the info.

An Interview With DEER LORD

Psychedelic Fuzz/Doom/Stoner Rockers DEER LORD have recently released their debut album Dark Matter Pt. 1 and it's a whirlwind of heavy different styles of the WEEDIAN Underground Scene. 

The band have made a mighty impression with both fans and critics of the Stoner Rock Underground with their recent success on the Doom Charts Monthly Charts as a true indicator to go by.

I caught up with the guys recently to discuss their formation, their sound and their plans for the future and this is what went down.....

Hi guys. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you today?

Doing good man, just been very busy with getting this new album into as many ears as possible.

For folks not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today.

So we’re Deer Lord from Sonoma County, CA; and we’ve been jamming heavy psychedelic rock n roll style riffs since 2019. Our first EP came out shortly before COVID-19 hit, which caused a lot of mayhem in everyone’s life; as well as in the music world obviously. 

We’ve had a few lineup changes but we’re a 3 piece, with Sheafer McOmber on guitar and vocals, Ryan Alderman on drums, and our friend who recently joined on bass; Jared Marill. We’ve played a lot in the Bay Area and are looking forward to playing further soon. 

Most recently, we have a new album out that’s part 1 of a 2 part album series; and we’re honoured to say “Dark Matter Pt. 1” took #10 in the Doom Charts February of this year! So things are in a great place right now for our tribe!

Can you advise if you’ve played or currently playing in other bands so folks can check out your other musical projects?.

Yeah, so Sheafer has 2 solo projects; “Bloodshot Buffalo” and “REDWOOD”; both in the same genre type as Deer Lord. Ryan has more of rock n roll/punk rock background, and played in “Over the Falls” as well as sitting in for other punk rock style projects over the years. And Jared has played in numerous metal bands, including “Bog Oak” and “Water Into Blood”.

How would you describe your own sound. As you guys feature a stunning array of different heavy sounds?

As it sounds cliche; and we don’t mean for it to, but, it’s kinda hard to define our sound in one genre, honestly. The first EP was a steady flow of Kyuss inspired desert rock mixed with rolling rhythms of Motörhead attitude riffs. This new album “Dark Matter Pt. 1” is packed with stoner doom, psychedelic groove rock, punk rock, desert rock, and whatever else you’d like to throw in there. 

It seems a bit futile to pigeon hole yourself as a band these days; because you’ll seem to only appeal to an elitist crowd of fans. But if you try to tastefully cover all the bases or genres you hold near and dear to your heart; you’ll have a much more genuine and enjoyable outcome. But that just seems like the smartest and funnest approach to today's music climate.

Congrats on your debut album. Loved it from the very first listen. What can people expect to hear from this album?

Thank you! This new Dark Matter album series was really fun to create. It’s been years in the making; which I think reflects in the songs we chose to release. We’d suggest putting this album on for a drive in the mountains, desert, or speeding freeway drives. 

The vibes we tried to give off were, like we said before; a wide variety of genres encompassing psychedelic doom rock n roll, and everything in between.

Was your debut album a hard experience to write and record for?

Absolutely not, Ryan and Sheafer wrote these songs together a few years back, based on riffs Sheafer had conjured up, and it’s been a great experience from start to now. Also proud to say it’s all been self made from the ground up; written, rehearsed, and recorded all DIY from our own home studio setup.

What bands and artists influenced you when recording this album?

it’s a no brainer that Kyuss and Motörhead were heavy hitters in inspiration for this album, but other bands like Fu Manchu, Lowrider, Truckfighters, Asteroid, Dopethrone, and Kadavar had a lot to do with our inspiration as well.

The artwork is freaking awesome. Who designed the artwork and how much input did you have into the overall design of this?

The man, the myth, the legend @mirkowgastow from Germany did our circle design, logo, and CD layout; and, like all of his work; did a killer job encompassing that worn, old school retro aesthetic we all appreciate so much in this scene. He had the preliminary design up for grabs on his page, and we thought it looked perfect to build off of; so that’s exactly what we did! We suggest any band to work with him.

What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you all write the music together or do certain people within the band do that?

It’s a group effort in bringing everything together, but Sheafer writes everything in the early stages, and as a band, we are all free to improv or change anything we see fit in any of the songs. Nothing has to be concrete and nothing is right or wrong. We all trust each other as musicians, and we all know that the guy next to us knows what’s best for each song and riff. So it’s a fun, reliable, enjoyable team effort.

How did you get involved with music? Was it a particular album, group or artist that made you want to write and play your own music?

I think we’ve all been playing in bands for so long it might be a bit hard to pin point what got the ball rolling for each of us, but we’ve always been in love with the roots of rock n roll, metal, and punk. Just playing in local bands growing up, and having a supportive scene to build and grow with, always made it worth making our own music.

What is the current state of the Santa Rosa, California Rock/Metal scene? Do you perform gigs on a regular basis and do you have a local scene that you're actively involved with?

The Sonoma County scene has always been an up and down, as a lot of local scenes are. But we’re in a pretty exciting place right now with a local booking group called “Bitter End Booking” who’s gaining momentum with bigger bands and tours each month. 

We have a few great venues they book at, as well as a local dive bar we all love called “The Dirty” which is where we shot our “Psychedelic Roadkill” music video; and we played with Twin Wizard there a few weeks back. But all in all, the local scene is on a good uprise; which is all thanks to local bookers and bars that have been doing a great job creating engaging lineups and tours through our local venues. We’d love to have any bands come through the Northern California area with us!

Will you be performing any gigs to promote this album locally or further afield!

We don’t have tour plans as of now, but we’re playing San Francisco on 3/15 at The Knockout, as well as a show at Raindog Records in Petaluma on 4/14. Should both be fun loud times!

So when is Dark Matter Pt 2 being released upon the world. I had to ask. As I want to hear the next exciting chapter with your fantastic music?

We have a few things to release between part 1 and 2, actually! But those things are still in the works. And as for part 2, we don’t have a release date yet! But we have some exciting long term plans in the works for the Dark Matter album series that we’re hoping to bring to fruition in the coming months.

Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your new and potential fans out there?

No words of wisdom, but just words of an appreciation. We really do, from the bottom of our hearts appreciate your support and enjoyment. Seeing all of you at shows, online, engaging with our music, with us, with our content; it all means the world to us and we just hope to provide an awesome sound that resonates with lovers of psychedelic sounds, supercharged heavy grooves, and rolling doom beats. 

Thank you all for your time, we all hope to see you or reach you in the cosmic void very soon.

Words by Steve Howe and DEER LORD

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Deer Lord - Dark Matter Pt. 1 (Album Review)

Release Date: February 3rd 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Dark Matter Pt. 1: Tracklisting

Witches Brew

Psychedelic Roadkill

Hippie Girl

Ride Away

Ego

Planet Earth

Members

Sheafer McOmber - Strings/Vocals

Jared Merill - Bass

Ryan Alderman - Drums

Review

Heavy Psych/Doom/Stoner Rockers Deer Lord new release Dark Matter Pt. 1 is quite a different release than I initially expected. As I was expecting a normal Psychedelic WEEDIAN based outfit but what I got was so much more with Deer Lord playing a Cosmic style of Streetwise Doom Metal and Psych Stoner Metal that's drenched in a FUZZY ACID based ATMOSPHERE. There's a pounding FUZZ ROCK environment for Deer Lord to rule their creative playground with.

There's also a sense of Classic Hard Rock heard with the AMPLIFIER based grooves which is showed off superbly within the sublime opening track Witches Brew.Expect heavy avenues of FUZZED UP SOUNDS with a Cosmic Flavour to them that could feel inspired by Black Sabbath, SLEEP and Monolord in all places. Though, there's a sense of realism to Deer Lord's music hear especially with their use of Hard Rock themes with an air of rebellious attitude within this. However, it's th swirling ambient noises and Cosmic/Spaced Out vibes that rule the roost for the rest of the album to build upon.

Second song Psychedelic Roadkill is another great song to impress folks with as Deer Lord take a slight depressing turn with their choice of soundclip to open the song with. The song is quite funky in places with a ZZ Top approach with their great use of Boogie based riffs and sounds. There's still a heavy Psychedelic/Acid based presence with the superb instrumental work throughout the track. The song does offer a great balance of Classic Hard Rock grit and modern day melodic based Stoner grooves that sees Deer Lord close the song within Boogie Rock fashion.

Third song Hippie Girl transports all the action to the heyday of 70's Blues Rock as Deer Lord become an aggressive  Psych Rock band with heavy sludgy overtones dictating the action. There's some KICK-ASS free-flowing guitar solos that propel Deer Lord to the DOOM METAL arena. Though, the vocals allow Sheafer to display a 50's Rock And Roll persona with the choice of lyrics the band have written here. Deer Lord works wonders with their Psychedelic sounds yet again though sadly they disappear as quickly as they appeared. However, there's still ends up becoming one of the standout tracks on the album.

Deer Lord went for a more Punk Rock sound on the next couple of songs Ride Away and Ego but still allowed their Doom/Stoner Metal sound to be ever more present. There's also some more stylish Boogie Rock parts being added with even a LOW & SLOW approach allowing the music to become even heavier before the album's final moments.

The final song Planet Earth allows Deer Lord one final opportunity to impress yet again with their "Blues Rock", "Streetwise" and "Drug Induced" blend of Cosmic Psychedelics with a thunderous WEEDIAN sound leaving you wanting to hear more. The distorted and revved up guitars dictate the action with Ryan's drumming changing the whole dynamics of the song. 

Dark Matters Pt 1 is a wonderfully exciting release from Deer Lord. I admire how they incorporate different sounds of the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal fields for a refreshing change of pace that listeners will not expect. 

The song has quite a dynamically powerful sound that has a vibrant "DIY" approach that could only ever be released from the Doom/Stoner Rock underground scene. Add this record to your collections now. 

Roll on Dark Matter Pt. 2

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp