Album Review: Dopelord – Children of the Haze (Green Plague Records)

Released on January 16th 2017 via Green Plague Records. This 6 track album, Children of the Haze by Dopelord is dripping with menace & atmosphere from the very first note that’s played. 6 tracks of pure doom all wrapped up in sexy, modern sound that makes it so appealing to listen too.

The near 8 minute, Navigator crawls under your skin with its super-dark sound yet with more upbeat sounding vocals. It’s a fantastic start & the kind of thing that ensures you can relax knowing that the next 5 are likely to be just as strong.

Scum Priest quiet build of drums that leads into an echoy beat & spoken word lines is one of the best starts to a song this year. All the instruments get to flex their muscles here & even when the vocals start up they are very understated. Its arguably the best song on the album.

In fact there isn’t a bad song here, it all goes by in a *ahem* haze & it’s impossible to not love every minute. It conjures up images of dark & smokey rooms, smelling strongly of incense with candles burning in the corners. There is definitely some early Sabbath influences here.

The vocals throughout are spectacular, always sitting quietly in the background allowing the music to do the talking but lifting every note & beat. It’s subtle but demands to be noticed at the same time. Skulls & Candles is a great example of this, lifting the sombre tune into something that you’ll remember long afterwards.

At nearly 10 minutes long, Dead Inside (I & II) has the serious task of keeping interest up but manages it with ease. From the deep belly-rumbling start, it’s never brought into question. It drips into your every fibre & just when you’re beginning to relax to its sound it dials things up.

The final few minutes up the frenzy resulting in a finish that is less about swaying to the music & more about banging your head to the incredible guitar work.

The album finishes with Reptile, somehow sounding even more filthy then anything that has come before. It’s more simplistic early beat doesn’t detract from the more imaginative guitar wails & screeches that come later on. It’s a strong finish to a pretty incredible album, one that all fans of heavy metal should check out.

Overall Track Listing:

1. Navigator
2. Scum Priest
3. Children of the Haze
4. Skulls and Candles
5. Dead & Dead Inside (I-II)
6. Reptile Sun

Children of the Haze is available on streaming services now but you can pick up via Dopelord’s bandcamp page here. You can check out the bands merch here & find out more about them over on Facebook.