I’ve spent a lot of time these days thinking about how I’ve gotten into stoner/doom music so badly. It has been going on for about two years now. The concert that hooked me was definitely Stoned Jesus in Belgrade, but the music has been around in my life for much longer. I don’t know, it seems like this disease is spreading very fast in this area, and this greasy genre is getting more and more fans and recognition every day. In my case, I don’t listen to a large number of foreign bands (I still put my faith in the local scene, haha), and the vast majority of those foreign bands are stoner, doom, or some related genre. Simply, this dark tide engulfed me and dragged me back with it.

Dopelord @ Elektropionir, Beograd | Photo: Jovan Ristić
Now, let’s talk DOPELORD. If you are at least vaguely familiar with the European stoner/doom scene, you must have heard of Dopelord I discover the majority of new music through Deezer. I find the band that I want to listen to at the moment and hit artist mix. This way, Deezer starts mixing similar bands, and I suppose this is how I got into these amazing Polish guys. I just know that one listening was enough to fall in love with their third album “Children of the Haze”. Enough not to miss the concert in Belgrade.

Dopelord @ Elektropionir, Beograd | Photo: Jovan Ristić
Elektropionir was fairly empty when I got there, although the reason was probably that I got there very early, an hour before the start. For a moment, I was drooling in front of the merch area, when I realized it was probably best that I move away, fast, since my wallet was pretty thin. As I was getting closer to the stage, Orange amps instantly caught my eye. Simply put, if a band is using Orange amps, you should know what to expect by default. In translation – fat, massive music time. The band didn’t even finish their first song, and I felt my internal organs were misplaced. That bass simply scattered them everywhere. From amps, and down the walls you could almost see leaking lard. So thick, so fat, so white, coming out so slowly, like it is the main reason why are all those riffs so heavy. Every song looks like meat coming out slowly through a meat grinder. Everything is so fucking fat and greasy. And the audience with constantly headbanging to the rhythm that filled the atmosphere as if this were an occult gathering. And coldness of Elektropionir definitely made everything even darker. Although some of the band members warmed up after a while, so a while after playing in jackets and hats on, they ended up wearing T-shirts. I know I didn’t. Name of their second album perfectly describes everything you need to know about them – “Black Arts, Riff Worship & Weed Cult”.

Dopelord @ Elektropionir, Beograd | Photo: Jovan Ristić
The funniest moment of the show happened when some guy in the first row was staring at his phone and has been for some time, and guitarist leaned over the stage, in the middle of the song, just to see what is going on there. The only flaw of the concert was that it was over in an hour and fifteen minutes. I understand that band is on tour during which they perform almost every day, so I assume that must be the reason. Maybe a supporting band would have done the thing, but also, maybe the band asked to finish earlier, probably because of that tight schedule. Or maybe promoter couldn’t find a proper supporting band. But really, that doesn’t matter at all, because no matter how long the concert was, I would still complain that it wasn’t enough. So, the only important thing about last night is that Dopelord ran over Elektropionir and Belgrade and that I am already dying for some more of that sludge music.
By: Uroš Matović; Photos: Jovan Ristić

Dopelord @ Elektropionir, Beograd | Photo: Jovan Ristić