“I don’t want to reinvent the wheel: I just want to make a good wheel.” In the midst of UK tours and rampant new releases, we sat down with the eponymous Froglord for a guided tour of the amphibian depths.

2026 is turning out to be a busy year for Froglord, almost by accident! As their frontman explained, “I’m not quite sure how it happened. By summer time, we’re already doing twice as much as we did last year. I’m not complaining: it’s great!” The band kicked off the year with the release of ‘Lower & Slower- Vol.1’ back in March, which reimagines many of the group’s hits— for Froglord, this was a chance to give each track a new lease on life. “I think they just weren’t low and slow enough: we thought, ‘why don’t we take some of our pre-existing songs and make them properly doom.’ I don’t think theres a concerted effort to be the heaviest band around— certainly to be the most bizarre, is probably our goal.” The project is a celebration of the four-piece’s biggest hits, but also highlights some of their favourite underrated gems (with ‘Road Raisin’ being a notable example). “Some of the songs were picked because they’re some of the more popular songs online— you want that aspect, that familiarity. There was a good few of the tracks where we just loved playing them, but feel like they’ve been bypassed a little. Maybe if we give a bit more attention to these, we’re a bit more justified in playing them live.”

The album isn’t just another release from Froglord, but also acts as a charitable fundraiser for causes near and dear to the band. “It was for the WWT Wetlands Trust: we ended up raising just over £1200 for them, which was absolutely fantastic! We’ve got Slimbridge Wetlands Centre (which isn’t too far from Bristol) and they were so on board from the start. We’ve always been an environmental-based band: we’ve worked with a few charities.” It’s a phenomenal effort from the group, who also used the project to put together a crushing cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man.’ As far as their original material is concerned though, Froglord detailed the process of compiling ‘Lower & Slower Vol.1’ in the studio. “Some of the tracks— like ‘Green Inferno’— are already quite doomy, so it was just a case of transposing it down a couple semitones and playing it slower. Some of the tracks didn’t translate perfectly, so there was a bit of rejigging: ‘Die By The Slime’ is quite a thrashy song, and I think that one caused a bit of a back-and-forth, but we got there in the end, and we’re happy with the end result.”

The amphibians aren’t content to leave it there though, as they’re already gearing up to release a new single (entitled ‘Croak’) on June 3rd— speaking on the song, Froglord described it as “a good opportunity for swamp audience participation, to bow down in croaky reverence. I think it’s a good track: one of our best so far.” After ‘Lower & Slower Vol.1’ stepped away from the long-running lore that persists across their catalogue, ‘Croak’ brings listeners right back to the world of ‘The Mystic Toad.’

“The storyline has been planned out for about five years now: when I started Froglord, I didn’t think I’d be here six albums later, but there was always that concept storyline. It’s very integral, I think.” As for a deeper meaning behind this extensive plot, Froglord was sure to promptly shoot the idea down, saying “I’m not an overly poetic person, so I can’t write lyrics about my feelings: I just write about giant frogs with death-ray vision. The Froglord being a deity-like figure is probably just my narcissism coming through!”

Once again, ‘Croak’ is no out-of-the-blue single from the band, but is set to feature in the upcoming found-footage horror film ‘Frogman Returns.’ Discussing the group’s collaboration with director Anthony Cousins, the singer expressed his passion for the project. “In 2023, Cousins reached out to me to say he was making this film called ‘Frogman, and I said ‘whatever the next thing you’re going to ask is, the answer’s yes.’ So he got us to write the title track for that. Afterwards, there wasn’t even a discussion: we wanted to do the sequel as well. It’s been a perfect pairing— I love found-footage horror, and it does very much overlap with the vibe of the Froglord.” The film is currently touring festivals in the US, with hopes for a wider release later this year— for the band, this is clearly a labour of love. “[Cousins] sent me over the synopsis of the second one, and I was like ‘Jesus Christ, how are you going to pull this off?’ So I wrote some lyrics based on that without giving away too much of the storyline away, but he was really open to whatever we wanted to make. I’ve seen an early preview: I think it works.”

Alongside these exciting releases, the band are also touring the UK extensively in 2026— following their shows with Space Pistol earlier this year, the four-piece are set to support Bat Sabbath in July, alongside a number of festival appearances. “I’m still pinching myself: I’m still waiting for Liam [of Cancer Bats] to message me and say ‘we messaged the wrong band, we didn't mean to message you guys!’ Cancer Bats were one of the Kerrang! darling bands when I was growing up in the early 2000s, so it’s quite surreal to know we’ll be playing with them now.” Froglord may have initially worn a mask for anonymity, but nowadays, the band have put together a remarkably theatrical live show— it was no surprise, then, to hear Rob Zombie and Lordi put forward as dream support slots for the doom metal crew.

When Froglord rocked up to the interview in full costume, we just had to know what had inspired his amphibian devotion: as you might expect, it was a difficult thing to pin down. “They’ve never been an animal I’ve seen as a personal totem: I just subconsciously kept coming back. They’re an animal that’s become so meme-ified in the last 10 years, but they’ve also been seen in so many cultures historically as significant— they’re seen as good lucks charms, but also as a totem of transition, of metamorphosis and evolution.” It’s safe to say that, at this point, frogs are an indispensable part of the group’s aesthetic and identity. As Froglord humbled included, “I’m really fortunate that the word ‘frog’ rhymes with ‘bog!’ There’s stuff we’re working on at the minute where I’m like, ‘I’ve written this so many times!’ But at the end of the day, it’s doom metal, and it’s not exactly the most innovative or progressive metal out there. It’s all just playing the same four Black Sabbath riffs over and over again— we’re all just living in their wake.”

In standard Jaily Review fashion, we rounded things out by asking if the amphibian prophet has a favourite album to shout-out: this time, we’re not here to argue with either of his picks. “It’s a toss up between ‘Ænima’ by TOOL and ‘Dirt’ by Alice In Chains. I don’t listen to TOOL too much these days, but they’re a band throughout my life that has continuously been a massive influence. Alice In Chains, I still listen to all the time. ‘Dirt’ is probably one of the best albums of all time: I’ll say ‘Dirt,’ just to give a solid answer.”

Froglord’s tour supporting Bat Sabbath begins in Nottingham on July 12th.

New single ‘Croak’ is set to release on June 3rd.