Australian doom merchants OCEANLORD release their unfathomable debut album 
Kingdom Cold, on Friday, May 26.

Frontman Pete Willmott says “Kingdom Cold is almost upon us! We can hear it in the dark, close, breathing, waiting. We’re so proud of the shadows and melody we have woven, to have captured our souls so clearly is a terrifying and wonderful experience. The reviews and reactions so far have blown us away, and we can’t wait for more people to experience this album!

A video for Kingdom Cold’s monumental opening track, Kingdom was recently unleashed..

Oceanlord will be launching Kingdom Cold across three huge shows during winter

Friday, June 16: (with Deville) Stay Gold, Melbourne
Saturday, June 24: Doom in June @ Sound Systems Bar, Sunbury
Saturday, July 22: Hard Out, Canberra

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Behold! Hark! From the dark depths of the southern oceans, Australian doom trio OCEANLORD have conjured an eldritch monster of an album with their tentacled debut “Kingdom Cold”.

Frying guitars with an extra helping of thick fuzz and a crusty top deliver a tasty doom sound. Songs that range from very slow via slow to mid-tempo with occasional outbursts of energy also stand firmly on the rock solid ground of this classic metal genre. OCEANLORD display traces of the American, British and Swedish schools of thought with the clean vocals slightly tilting towards the latter.

Yet below the surface of all the time-honoured elements traditionally associated with doom, there is an extra layer of darkness lurking in these tracks. A foreboding sense of dread, madness, and unspeakable horrors is creeping in to replace the well-worn theme of melancholia usually accompanying the style. This sets OCEANLORD clearly apart from most of their peers. This is no accident, as the Australians are very openly inspired by the horror genre and the writings of New England author Howard Phillips Lovecraft in particular.

OCEANLORD came into being in Melbourne in 2019 when bass-player Jason Ker joined guitarist and singer Peter Willmott for a serious drink to ponder work, family, mortality, and the hellscape of corporate existence. When the conversation turned to music,  the connoisseur of black, death, and progressive metal, Peter, found common ground with Jason, an acolyte of alt-rock and grunge in early heavy metal and doom. Jon May, with his history of punk and rockabilly in Perth followed by country-folk and swamp-blues in Melbourne, did not appear the most obvious choice for the drum-stool, but he brought a secret passion for everything slow and heavy, not to mention a van and good gear.

In the rehearsal room, the initial sound was primal and ponderous, with a glimpse of melody under thick, sludgy riffs. Stoner doom was the answer to save their souls from the slow soul-death of the modern corporate drone. Basement writing sessions began, riffs started flowing, and in 2020, the trio released a demo that caused a stir throughout the doom-underground.

During Melbourne’s dramatic 263 days of pandemic lockdown, Peter built a home studio and in 2022, OCEANLORD tracked their debut release. So beware of this monstrous record: “Kingdom Cold” takes doom to even darker depths than ever explored before!

Tracklist
1. Kingdom
2. 2340
3. Siren
4. Isle of the Dead
5. So Cold
6. Come Home

Recording by Peter Willmott at Studio R’lyeh, Melbourne, Australia
Mix & Mastering by Esben Willems at Studio Berserk, Gothenburg, Sweden
Artwork by Gabby Willmott

Available formats
“Kingdom Cold” is available as a translucent blue vinyl LP and on blue and white marble vinyl, and as Digisleeve CD.

Kingdom Cold is available HERE

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Mark Horan Publisher/Photographer

Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.