Druids’ third album, Cycles of Mobeum,
tells the tale of Warpia and her home planet Mobeum
(so named as a nod to the French comic book artist Moebius,
whose work is a major influence on the sound of the record). The doom/sludge
metal trio from Des Moines that Band Bombshell
calls “thrilling” are preparing to release the 8-song full length
on June 3rd
from Sump Pump Records, with cover artwork by Mark
Facey.
Druids, who have opened for Baroness, Toxic Holocaust,
Kylesa and Skeletonwitch, began as a couple of
friends in Pella, Iowa absorbing the output of metal
behemoths like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Mastodon,
eventually forming Druids in 2008 as the duo of Luke Rauch
(guitar, vocals) and Keith Rich (drums, vocals). The pair
added Rauch’s younger brother Drew (bass, vocals)
following the release of their first album, Pray For Water,
in 2009.
Druids’ debut was released first as a limited edition CD on Ruleogy
Records and later that year on cassette by Ea, Lord of
the Tapes, before the album was re-released on CD by
Austrian label PsychDOOMelic Records with a reissue on LP
by Don’t Shoot Records. Druids put out their follow-up
album, The Sound of Meditation, in their present
form of a trio in 2013.
“There was a strong reaction to The Sound of Meditation
that we didn't expect,” recalls Drew Rauch. “So that response
really drove us. Right after we released it, we started writing
the new album.” The beginnings of the writing process involved the
Rauch brothers getting together every weekend and hashing out
ideas while bingeing on sci-fi movies. Once the album began taking
shape, they headed to Wabi Sound in Des Moines. “We went
into the studio knowing that we were going to take our time with
it and that we didn't have a strict deadline. We tried a lot of
new things for this album.”
Cycles of Mobeum, recorded and mixed by Phil Young
at Wabi Sound and mastered by Carl Saff (Earthless,
Coliseum, Urge Overkill), will be out on June 3rd on CD and
vinyl formats on Sump Pump Records. Druids’ first appearance
on a Sump Pump Records release came in 2014 when they were
included on a compilation, detailed at
Diffuser.fm. Druids will be hitting the road for a July
tour, including sets at
80/35 festival and QC Metal Fest.
Cycles of Mobeum Track Listing:
01 The Grand Sleeve of Time
02 Firemares
03 Dreams of a Surface
04 Trial by Stone
05 Moon Systems
06 Halo
07 Oscillator
08 Warpia
01 The Grand Sleeve of Time
02 Firemares
03 Dreams of a Surface
04 Trial by Stone
05 Moon Systems
06 Halo
07 Oscillator
08 Warpia
Listen and share: Druids - Cycles
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