I’ve not been able to catch D:Roid live yet during a handful of their local shows, but with a knowledge of some of the other bands the trio have been involved in over the years and the fact they happily cite the Melvins as a major influence, to a certain extent I knew what to expect upon pressing play to their “Terror from Above” CD.
First track “I wish Guillermo del Toro was my Dad” is exactly that, a homage to the film director but also in keeping with the bands love of the Melvins – vocals may be less understandable than their American counterparts frontman in Buzz Osborne but musically the raw guitar and deliberately loose rhythm section of Chris and Trudy Percival fit in nicely against the sludgy undertones of how the Melvins had helped to set the foundations for more doom ridden bands of recent years.
The big riff and fuzzy basslines continue on “Crushed Under Foot” and whilst just as heavy as the opening song it’s the instrumental of “Swelter” that’s one of my favourite tracks on this release, that’s nothing against Damo’s vocal abilities but think of when Karma to Burn lost their singer – it’s a tune that could just as easily have lyrics, only it doesn’t really need them.
B-Movie samples also crop up on a couple of occasions with “Planet of the Apes” featuring on the amusingly titled “Charlton Heston was right to be scared”, a song preceding the more disjointed and non-bluesy “Data Blues” but again it’s the vocal-less rumblings of the last track in “He’s Found a Spider” which has D:Roid at their most intriguing.
Comprising of endless feedback and subtle noises, complete with a long speech taken from the film “The Incredible Shrinking Man”, “He’s Found a Spider” provides the mini-albums farewell and with D:Roid already having recently worked on new material if they were to move in a more arty and experimental direction, then personally I would be just as happy…
For now though “Terror From Above” does well to combine big riffs and shouted vocals with an insight into a band who are just as likely to deliver a stoner rock instrumental as they are a presentation about horror films of the 1950’s.
www.d-roid.bandcamp.com
