LORD

www.hellridemusic.com Lord - Under the Sign of the Maker's Mark CDEP (Self-Release) By Jason Snyder January 21, 2007Man, in a perfect world a band as awesome as Lord would be blasting through the speakers of every metalhead’s stereo system across the country. Sadly, we don’t live in that world, but here’s to hoping! I have been completely swept away by these guys since getting a chance to see them over the past summer. Since then I have been practically wearing out their first full-length Built Lord Tough in the passing months. That disc was a fantastic slab of rollicking stoner/sludge that wasn’t afraid to wander deeply into the metal and punk genres as well.The band has a completely unique sound, killer song writing/musicianship and a deadly secret weapon in the form of their shape shifting vocalist Andy, so it is only natural that this brand new EP of material is even leaner and meaner than their full-length. Lord truly nail a unique sound here as the entire band are tight musicians and play off each other very well, crafting a diverse collection of 5 songs for their new EP. They also benefit from another top-notch Vince Burke production job that completely seals the deal for me.They’re bringing a lot of unique twists to their sound on the 5 songs here and have dropped my jaw once again. “Breakfast of Champions” sets thing off with a mixture of crushing southern-fried metal that has aggression to spare, but still retains the kind of smoldering riffs that doom/stoner fans should certainly be able to dig on. There is a certain grungy vibe going on here too (in a good way) in the smoky singing vocals and hazy riffs that also suck me in as well, not to mention everyone in the band are giving it their all in terms of the feeling and energy of the song. The vocals are still out of this world and throw a volley of vicious death growls, pissed screams, strong melodic singing and some crazy falsetto. Yes, you heard it right, falsetto. You may not think vocals of that type belong anywhere near music like this, but Lord really has changed my mind on that. They aren’t overused and are very well done, adding extra flavor to their already white-knuckle intensity.The next track “Samson” is a real motherfucker of a song as the band rides the peaks and valleys of epic, southern groove the likes of which I will completely bow and kneel to. The rhythm section explodes on this one too and shows no restraint as crashing beats and bass overdrive steamroll your ass into the ground. The vocals are raging on this one too and never let up for a second in their sheer variety and forcefulness (not forced). This is seriously Down getting raped in a back alley by Beaten Back to Pure with amps to 11 and broken beer bottles littering the venue.“Valium 4” also nails it for me with an awesome combination of southern friend stoner metal that pits ripping vocals against smoked out riffs that will really get stuck in your head. The track also has a really cool mellow section that contains some killer melodic, southern-fried doom riffs and clean crooning that sounds similar to a mix between Down, Acid Bath and even Alice In Chains.“Master of Custodial Arts” brings the grooves and thick rhythms to the forefront once again making it impossible to deny their power. The track has a schizophrenic personality which allows some sick, speedier bursts of metallic mayhem to punctuate through the massive grooves.They end on a total curveball too with “Hell Follows Me” which will definitely hit the sweet spot of fans who like the slower, haunting songs on the first two Down albums like “Jail” and “Where I’m Going”. Lord brings their own special twists to this type of song as well. The band enlists the help of Fredericksburg singer/song writer Dorthia Cottrell for additional vocals. She brings some great melodic vocals to the table which allows for Andy to play off of her with an equally soulful performance of his own. The song ends this EP on a completely surprising and welcome note that shows that Lord is capable of creating sounds to fit every mood. I’m highly impressed by these guys. You can tell they are playing stuff that they love and they are really bringing in a lot of unique flavor into a sound that I love very much. Hopefully a label will back this one up and give it an official release! See ‘em live too, can’t emphasis that enough. Highly recommended.
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