DRUID LORD

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Florida has always been known for its death metal scene. Out of the fires from within that scene comes DRUID LORD. Rising like smoke from the flames and filling the air with their insatiable sound of doomed death metal. DRUID LORD founder and one of death metal’s legendary guitarist, Pete Slate, takes the time to let me in and shed light on the ideas behind the band and the album Hymns For The Wicked.

Sioux: Greetings. Tell us how DRUID LORD came to be. Since the band involves former members of Equinox, do you feel this is picking up where Equinox left off or is it a whole different idea all together. Also, why did Equinox disband?
Pete: Greeting Sioux!! Basically DRUID LORD is made up of Equinox musicians. I actually formed Equinox back in late '92 with drummer Stephen Spillers. We were two guys back then who shared the same interests in bands and old school metal. We both were info Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Venom, Bathory... all the classic metal bands. As Equinox got more popular we added Tony Blakk on second guitar. This was around '94 I believe. I'd had played with Tony in the Acheron days. As Equinox evolved both Tony and Steve eventually departed and I kept Equinox going with different members. Now fast forward to 2009. I felt it was time for a change. The band had damn great times but we never got the respect we deserved. We had bad record contracts and shitty record deals. I needed to do something totally different and it was getting to the point where it was too much work. I started to lose interest.

I took some time off and started talking with Tony and Steve again. I told them I wanted to form a Doom Metal band with Death Metal influences. After all my past interests were bands like Winter, Candlemass, Pentagram, Witchfinder General, Asphyx, Dream Death, and Autopsy. I had already started writing songs in this style. So Steve and I started writing the first few tracks early 2010. It was amazing that the excitement of playing metal came back. I knew at this moment that DRUID LORD had to exist. I consider DRUID LORD to be complete different from Equinox. You might here some influences from our early Equinox demos but that's about it.

Sioux: DRUID LORD members were in such bands as Acheron and Incubus, which were death metal all the way. What inspired DRUID LORD to be a doom death metal band? Was it hard to make the transition from death metal to doom metal?
Pete: Not at all. I had listened to Doom Metal since I was a kid with bands like Sabbath, Cirith Ungol and styles like that. I liked playing heavy down tuned music. It was a very natural progression. It's funny really as a lot of my extreme metal friends keep asking why we play Doom Metal as they think it's boring. I tell them it's all about feeling. Playing those notes and chords brings out emotions that get lost in other types of metal...in my opinion. Doom/Death metal is all about timing as well. Playing slower requires more focus to keep everything sounding good. Everything inspires DRUID LORD. Things like Cult Horror Movies, occult topics, Doom/prog bands of the 70's. NWOBHM of the 80's, just heavy music in general.

Sioux: DRUID LORD lyrics and music seem to be inspired by cult classic horror movies. How did that idea come to mix with the music? Are there any movies or old TV shows in particular that you are basing your songs on?
Pete: Not really TV shows but more the B type horror movies. Anything that gives off a really creepy vibe. Castles, vampires, dark ages, witches, the undead. I watch a lot of old horror movies and sometimes it gives me ideas. I try not to rip off the movie totally but I add ideas that can make a new story. Castle of Count Sadist and Baron Blood for instance. When forming DRUID LORD we knew that was the lyrical angle we needed to take. I don't care to write about gore lyrics. I wanted to add some black metal type influence but so many bands do that already. I didn't want this to become any kind of trend. This is what we enjoy and we write for ourselves. You either get it or you don't.

Sioux: Your album Hymns For The Wicked came out very quickly after the band formed. Are you satisfied with the recording and the end result of the album?
Pete: Yes I am. I'm very happy with the results and sound of the album. There are a few tracks that have a different mix and that bothers me a little but you can't really tell unless you listen carefully. I wanted the guitars to come out heavy and they did. It had to fit around the horror element of the band. We did the entire recording ourselves in Tony's home studio. Great experience but very hard at the same time. I'm also very happy with the artwork, and layout of both the CD and LP. Both came out great in my opinion. HPGD and Witches' Tone did a fantastic job of making everything very doomy… hahaha. We were also pleased to get horror artist Putrid to do the cover. The black and white cover gives everything that cold feeling.

Sioux: You recently added a second guitarist to DRUID LORD. Who is he and how did you find him?
Pete: Yes we did. His name is Ben Ross. Ben had been kicking around the FL Black/Death scene for years. In fact while Tony was playing in Diabolic they met up. Ben had heard some of the DRUID LORD stuff on Myspace and really was into it. He saw we were only a three piece and mentioned to Tony that if we were looking for another guitar player, to give him a shot. So after the CD came out we did an audition with Ben and he just kicked ass. The guy learned all our music and didn't miss a step. We were totally impressed and offered him the spot. He's totally into what we are doing and gets the whole Doom/Death attitude.

Sioux: Pete, from the days of Acheron thru today, you have a very recognizable and unique sound to your guitar playing style. Is there anything that you attribute this to?
Pete: Not really, I just think that guitar players develop their style over the years. That's what makes us unique. I'll hear 100 guitar players in rock cover bands, and they all sound the same. You take guys like me or Trey from Morbid Angel who've been doing original Metal, and you'll hear the originality of our playing. I dig that. Maybe some of the metal guitar players are shredders or some have more of a basic style but it just fits. Look at Allen West from Obituary. He's not the fastest player but his leads are so damn haunting. You know it's him from the 1st note. That's how I look at my playing. Unfortunately a lot of the newer bands miss that element and lose that feeling in their music.

Sioux: What’s in the cards for DRUID LORD? Any future release or tours in the works?
Pete: We have some gigs coming up in Florida for April/May/June. We are also playing the Day Of Death Fest in Buffalo, NY on July 15th. We are finishing up our recording for a new split 7" EP with the band Skeletal Spectre for Horror Pain Gore Death productions. We are also finishing up a split CD/EP with band Kaiju. Then it's back to work on our next full length. No touring right now but we are keeping busy with gigs here and there.

Sioux: DRUID LORD also released Hymns For The Wicked on vinyl. Its great to see bands doing vinyl and cassette releases again. I myself prefer to have an album in my hands where you can read the lyrics and look at the artwork and pictures, rather than an invisible form of an album from a computer. Do you think these things are getting lost and may disappear altogether with today’s technology? Do you plan to do this again with your next release and will there be any cassette releases as well?
Pete: I totally agree with you. I'm a HUGE fan of vinyl. Our LP release on Witches' Tone Records is so damn cool. 100 die hard copies on Halloween orange/black vinyl. Gatefold with insert, patch, poster, all in a carrying bag. How cool is that??? I always dig when labels put out a special version. I've seen a big increase in vinyl sales over the years. Look at Hooded Menace or Electric Wizard. Their vinyl sells out in just days. Then you see it selling on ebay for like $100..haha... Seriously, vinyl and cassettes, and cd's still rule. I totally support the bands I like and buy their merch. SUPPORT the UNDERGROUND... This is what keeps bands like us going. The true metal fan knows that.

Sioux: Thank you for your time and any message you would like to spread to the metal masses is yours for the taking.
Pete: Sioux, thanks for taking the time for putting this interview together. You truly support the underground and get what DRUID LORD is all about. Keep an eye out for our new releases. We still have copies of the CD and Evil Black version of the LP. We also have a few copies left of our 7"split EP with Wooden Stake available. We also have pages on Myspace and Facebook. We appreciate the support. New shirts are coming... DOOM ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!