Time once again for the monthly new doom rundown! There’s no other way to put it, this episode will make your ears bleed with one punishing track after another. I’ve selected 20 of my favorite tracks for 20 bands, many of them fresh faces that you’ll be glad you met. This two-hour trip ‘round the world takes us to Australia, England, France, Madrid, Poland, Russia, Scotland, and Sweden, touching down in The States for visits to Chicago, Fargo, Indianapolis, Iowa, Madison, Portland, and San Jose.

Featured:

1. Fange - “Agapes" 
   
2. OHHMS - "The Magician”
   
3. Altar Of Betelgeuze - “New Dawn”
   
4. Two Headed Beast - “Valley of Skulls”
   
5. Montezuma’s Revenge - “Day of Saturn”
   
6. O.D.R.A - “Motłoch”
   
7. Without God - “Bad Seeds”
   
8. Egypt - “Cracks And Lines”
   
9. Wolf Snake Sun - “A Vision In White”
   
10. Alastor - “Enemy”
    
11. Telekinetic Yeti - “Stoned and Feathered”
    
12. REZN - “Wake”
    
13. Forge - “Drifter”
    
14. Drude - “Barbelo”
    
15. Archarus - “Erebor" 
    
16. Thorr-Axe - "Battle of Five Armies”
    
17. MotherSloth - “Shadow Witch”
    
18. Psychotic Depression - “Screams of the Demented”
    
19. IRON WIZARD - “Drunk In Space”
    
20. Bereft - “We Wept”
    
21. Wölflaut - “Parallel”
    

*Also streaming on Mixcloud, where you’ll find a three years of past shows.

Art from Iron Wizard’s new album, 'Eschatonaut’ (2017)

Listen to The Doomed & Stoned Show live every Sunday at 3 pm PST / 6 pm EST / 11 pm GMT on Grip of Delusion Radio.

Hungry for more? Check out our quarterly compilation series on Bandcamp!

~By Melissa Collins~

Originally called Burn The Army, progressive sludge band DRUDE has created some huge local and even otherwise momentum in the heavy underground.   For good reason, too.   In 2014 the Indianapolis trio released a four track EP called The Tide to Sink the Summit.   Combining math-rock tendencies with post metal and proggy atmospheres, Burn The Army proved to be a well-oiled machine with each member heavily focused on being the best musician he could.   I’m sure a huge highlight of theirs while Burn The Army was opening for mainstream metal acts Battlecross and Gwar.   A year or so after the release of their 2014 EP, they decided to draw their harvest from more doom-laden land and were renamed Drude.   While maintaining an identity heavily rooted progressive post metal, they didn’t become a different band, they simply became a better band.

On the first Friday in March, Drude will deliver a five-track, self-titled EP.   Nice and easy starts it out with the first track, also called “Drude.”   Many readers may be familiar with this song if you’ve seen them live. This track was also featured on ‘Doomed & Stoned in Indiana’ (2016) and premiered at New Noise Magazine.   Drude show a high caliber of musicianship, while being as unpredictable as possible.   Full of textures, but also twists and turns, constantly shifting whether in volume or overall mood, they’ve ensured the listener will stick around, even if the song is nine minutes or longer. The destination is not what matters, but the journey.   Drude might take a little while to get there, so enjoy the ride.

Today, we’re giving you another taste of the forthcoming record, with the world-premiere of second track, “Barbelo.”

“Barbelo” follows much in the same fashion as the one before and is the longest track on the record.   Arguably the highlight of the entire EP, “Barbelo” shows Drude in their most natural space.   Brilliantly executed, Drude takes us on a pilgrimage through textural skies as they keep us guessing with enchanting guitar expressions that lead into crashing walls of distortion and beastly vocals.   “Barbelo” is a never-ending, rocking sea, tossing us from inviting, magnificent post-metal into overwhelming slabs of doom, only to return back to where they began.   Other surprises lurk beneath the surface, such as the hypersonic tremolo picking near the four-and-a-half minute mark.   Nearly clearing as instrumental-only track, the guys finally let their voices be heard just few minutes from the end.   The combined vocal effort is grandiose and makes the moments of sludge even more colossal.

“Oasu” and “Demure” follow, respectively, with more of Drude’s contoured style.   At this point, I fear Drude may lose some listeners, especially those that aren’t so dedicated to songs that break through the seven minute boundary.   Those who stick around will be rewarded, though.   Between moments of proggy metal and crushing distortion you’ll find some really incredible, even refreshing, riffing carried out by Jordan Smith and Corey Clark.   One of my favorite things about Drude is drummer Dyllen Nance, who continues to blow me away live.   His robust rhythm keeps the pace going so it doesn’t become repetitive.

Drude close out their debut with “Eidolon.”   This seven minute closer is quite dominant and we experience Drude take up a vigorous, frosty, even blackened climate with distinct vocals.   Still wading in doom-sludge territory, Corey, Jordan, and Dyllen assert their place in today’s metal underground by demonstrating the ability to blend a variety elements and techniques.   This may well be one of the best debuts 2017 might ever see.   By maintaining a sense of melody in the harsh closer, create something that is full of both heaviness and emotion.

The expansion of Burn The Army to Drude is one that has been an honor to watch unfold.   The band has created a more stimulating sound with stronger vocals and a larger, all-consuming aura, which was evident for those who attending last years Doomed & Stoned Festival in Indianapolis. This is actually the path that a band should take that is not only renaming, but redefining itself.   One cannot deny the amount of admirable musical intelligence this recording took.   However, with five tracks totaling almost forty minutes some listeners may find themselves unable to hold on for the ride.   The way I see it, that’s entirely their loss.   This is a band and record that will stick with fans for many years to come and Drude was even listed in the “Nine Bands You Need To Know In Indiana” by Invisible Oranges last year.   The EP releases on March 3rd, 2017.