Druid Lord — Grotesque Offerings

After some lineup changes in 2015, Orlando's Druid Lord follows up their 2010 debut with their second full length, Grotesque Offerings. Slow, dirgy, and dark, Druid Lord's newest is a doom laden slab of metal that takes its time pummeling the listener. Reveling in its grimness, Grotesque Offerings makes no bones about its message, and shows that its current line up is built to brutalize.

Chugging slowly forward like a doom juggernaut, Grotesque Offerings rumbles forth with 50+ of heavy riffs, deep vocals, and grim lyrical content. Looking at the track lengths of the non-interlude songs, one gets a sense of the pacing of this album. Outside of "Black Candle Seance" and it's 5:11 run time, all the tracks are over six and a half minutes, with most sitting comfortably in the seven minute realm. While death metal tends to get stale at extended clips, this length works well for Druid Lord's brand of lethargic and lugubrious doom. Starting the dirge with "House of Dripping Gore" and not relenting until the cinematic closer, "Final Resting Place," Grotesque Offerings brings forth bleak, unforgiving doom centered around thick, heavy riffs. The dual guitar attack allows Druid Lord to lay down a level of gloom while still offering up an elegy for the metal gods. Although distancing itself from the pack with its slow, brooding, Druid Lord falls right back into line with its open call to classic horror. Citing influences like Fulci, Bava, Argento, and Carpenter, Druid Lord adds a horror aesthetic that has become far too ubiquitous in the scene these days.

Brooding and grim, Grotesque Offerings is a slow chunk of doom from old school Orlando metal heads. While there isn't anything groundbreaking on display, the musicianship is excellent and one gets a good sense of passion for the craft. Guitar driven and heavy, Druid Lord's second full length is an enjoyable chunk of metal that is a great soundtrack to the cold winter ahead.