Biography
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Years Active
2015 – present (9 years)
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Founded In
Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Elder Druid are a 5-piece sludge/doom band formed in early 2015 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Five lovers of heavy riffs and molten fuzz came together to add their stamp to the world of stoner rock and doom metal and with heavy influences from Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Kyuss and Sleep, the riffs began to take shape and all the elements started to fuse.
With two guitarists, Jake Wallace on lead and Mikey Scott on rhythm, a wall of sound is generated from the slow, rhythmic riffs. The coarse vocals of Gregg McDowell are gutteral warcries with enchanting, occult lyrics to tell the stories of warlocks and wizards. The low end is also ferocious with Dale Hughes providing a deep level of twang which lays the foundations to the riffs, complementing the reserved sense of calm from Brien 'Grizz' Gillen delivering a very soft but heavy canvas to the songs.
In August 2015, Elder Druid released two songs recorded live in the Loft, Belfast. 'Otherworld' and 'The Ides of March' kicked off their song writing process. In late 2015, after a lot more time writing music, Elder Druid recorded a live EP at Attic Studios in Belfast comprising of 3 tracks: 'Sellsword', 'The Warlock' and 'Reigning Hell' and released them as live music videos as well as on Bandcamp. The band chose a live performance to try and capture the raw energy.
After gigging through the summer of 2016 across Northern Ireland, the band went into the studio with Andy Shields (Hornets) and recorded a 5-track EP entitled ‘Magicka’. After being picked up by Jon Davis from Conan, it was released digitally on all major platforms on October 15th 2016 on Black Bow Records.
The band played their first show outside the country in Whelan's (Dublin) at the end of September as part of The Mother Fuzzers Ball at Canalaphonic Festival 2016. They supported acclaimed Irish legends Ten Ton Slug & Two Tales of Woe and received a stunning reception for their debut gig in the south.
Towards the end of 2016 the band continued gigging around Northern Ireland and in early 2017 announced more shows across Ireland and the UK. They were finalists in the Bulleit Bourbon Battle of the Bands in Belfast, as well as finalists in the Bloodstock Metal 2 The Masses competition. In May 2017 they played the album launch for Hornets' 'Witch Hunt' alongside doom legends Slomatics and 7.5 Tonnes of Beard.
They announced a 3-day mini UK tour including shows in Sheffield, Mansfield and Camden with bands such as The Riven, Ten Ton Slug, Witch Tripper & Voodoo Blood in July.
The band went into the studio in late August with Niall Doran of Start Together Studios, Belfast and recorded their debut full-length album 'Carmina Satanae' consisting of 8 of their heaviest tracks to date. Following the recording, the band opened the inaugural Emerald Haze Festival in Dublin, playing on The Obelisk stage as well as supporting Zlatanera & King Witch in Belfast that same weekend.
Their debut album was launched on October 6th in Bar Sub, Mandela Hall with support from Nomadic Rituals, Molarbear & Voodoo Blood.
The band played a number of shows in the remainder of 2017 including supporting Clonmel's zhOra on their album tour on Sat 28th October and playing the Siege of Limerick on Sunday 29th October with acts such as zhOra, Kurokuma & Orange Goblin.
They also played United in Fuzz Fest II on December 2nd in Mansfield with Morass of Molasses, Spaztik Munkey, Witch Tripper etc. Next up is a gig down in Galway with Between the Lines followed by two English dates in March in Manchester & London. Playing the Star and Garter in Manchester with Ten Ton Slug, Mage and Master Charger followed by The Dev in Camden, London with Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, Ten Ton Slug and Mount Soma.
Their debut album was re-released digitally on Black Bow Records on 19th January 2018.
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