RBOTD #190: Dorylus
They seem nice
https://www.metal-archives.com/band/view/id/3540427740
Country: United Kingdom
Location: Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England
Genre: melodic groove/death/thrash metal
Formed in: 2015
Status: Active
By the Numbers
Dorylus is the:
55th band formed in the 2000s
12th band from the United Kingdom
101th band that is active at the time of querying
Its genre tags have been seen:
Melodic: 25 times
Groove: 8 times
Death: 55 times
Thrash: 36 times
Member Connections
No Metallum connections. Dorylus is a bandalone.
Know 'Em?
Nope. I am now 10/190.
Sketch Check
Pass.
RateYourMusic Scores
Dorylus has not been rated on RYM.
Adjusted scores are calculated similarly to the Trad Belt scoring system. Please read that column for more information.
Trifecta Tracker
Dorylus has not achieve the trifecta.
A band can achieve the trifecta by titling a song after itself on a self-titled release. Iron Maiden's "Iron Maiden" on 1980's Iron Maiden is an example of the trifecta.
If you're new to RBOTD, expect a lot of these kinds of bands. That is to say, in the realm of RBOTD, monotonous is the norm. Finding anything redeemable is rare. Hell, even listenable stuff is a diamond. The floor of metal is littered with forgettables, wilted leaves rotting away for a moment and then mercifully covered by the next generation's detritus. It's boring all the way down. Monotonous mulch.
Is that too harsh? I'm sure the lads that make up this English quartet are nice people. I bet they're good friends. I bet they ask if they can pet your dog. I bet they'll give you a ride to the airport. But the music Dorylus has released thus far is blah, a fifth-wave take on what was tired in the third. It displays a potential technical proficiency that will serve it well in the future (if it's still a band) but lacks any sort of spark. It doesn't reach beyond tropes. It's perfunctocore. It sounds like metal, which is an achievement, I guess, in that it comes within driving distance of its intended marks. But, a few snazzy solo tricks aside, it doesn't offer anything to experienced listeners. At the very least, it's not something you should buy unless you want to pay a member back for housesitting during a bank holiday.
2016's Mirrors E.P., Dorylus's second and so far last release, chugs around in an NWOAHM way that bands the world over have tinkered with since Overcast. With its leads and penchant for grooves, Dorylus reminds me a bit of Himsa, the Seattle melo metalcore band that has frustrated fans of Undertow. Himsa had hooks, though. Dorylus sounds like someone fed an AI hours of All That Remains. It's a slog, especially to me because I've already lived through, like, The Judas Cradle and Sinai Beach.1 20 years later, I can say with all confidence, this still ain't it.
I don't want to be this harsh on a band that probably has no plans for world domination. Based on now-dormant socials, I get the feeling that Dorylus just wanted to play shows and have fun. That's fine. I approve of that very metal lifecycle. Weekend warriordom should be encouraged. You can maintain a rewarding, artistically fulfilling existence playing for friends. I don't want to knock that. That's all I ever wanted. If I were kicking down the garage doors of weekend warriors and telling them that they sucked, I would expect to be sent to whatever space jail holds Pitchfork's first editorial staff. Keep metal fun.
That said, Dorylus has a Bandcamp. Its pretty rough debut, 2015's The Rapture, is set at a starting price of £5. Now, it's a product. In other words, Dorylus is wide open to criticism.2 I wish the members well if they're still doing it, and, by all means, establish your worth! But, speaking consumer to consumer, there's no reason to give five quid to Dorylus over any of the hundreds, or even thousands, of bands that did this decades earlier with more panache. Like, go poke around bargain bins until you find a Locked In a Vacancy CD. I don't know. Live your life.
Got a question? Email us! plagueragespod at gmail
Follow Wolf on Twitter @WRambatz
Our logo and branding is by Mike Teal. Find Mike at www.storylightmarketing.com and www.miketealdesign.com
Like what we’re doing? Drop us a donation on Ko-fi
I'll refer to this span as the HXCMP3 era. That MP3 depot continues to take up too much real estate in my brain, burdening me with esoteric references to Uncle Bob Drives a Combine that only, like, 20 people on this planet understand.
This seems to be a hot take. While I concur that "everything is subjective" and "artists owe you nothing" and other Aesthetics 101 concepts that have made the post-poptimism critical establishment allergic to hatchet jobs, I still think charging money for your music changes the calculus. Oh, I believe that artists should be paid and fairly compensated. But this belief in equity and parity within a capitalistic structure that devalues fringe art doesn't insulate fringe artists from criticism. Like, if you make music that sucks, and you're charging for that music…I should be able to tell other consumers that I think the music sucks! And it's not like I'm some neophyte handling an unformed opinion like a Sea World sea lion given a bazooka. I've done my time in the trenches. I can roll my chair over to my auxiliary auxiliary auxiliary CD rack in my office and fish out an Undying album if you want. *takes the longest drag of a carrot in place of a cigarette* Undying? Now there was a band…