Lord Dying, a Doom/Stoner band hailing from Portland and freshly signed to Relapse, has released its debut album, Summon The Faithless. Loaded with bone-grinding riffage and powerful vocals this release is perfect for those wanting to get their stoner groove on. If you like Red Fang, Kylesa with some High on Fire, a little Mastodon for swing and a dash of thrash, this is the record for you.
The record opens with “In A Frightful State Of Gnawed Dismemberment”. It’s a great opener with cool, doomy riffage with a wall of guitars, and it sets the listener up for what Lord Dying is bringing musically. Other stand out tracks include the title track with its nice Sabbath bent, ‘Perverse Osmosis’ with its slow groove, and “Water Under A Burning Bridge” another trudger with a cool change up in the middle break. The records closes with the galloping, crunching ‘What Is Not…Is’ that fades out into a blur of noise.
E. Olson’s growls are cool as hell, but unfortunately the rest of the band, while all solid players, do not shine individually. A couple of tasty licks here and there as leads and the band can certainly grind it out as good as anyone, but it would have been great to remember the players as much as the songs. I do realize that the Stoner genre isn’t player-focused as it’s focused on the riff, but it would have been nice to hear the members stretch out and show what they can do individually. Also, the production is a little too raw for my taste. While I can appreciate the art of having a record sound more “live”, I can’t help but think that some refinement would have allowed some of the tastier musical tidbits stand out even more.
But these are minor gripes. This is a really good record; one that you can put on and leave without skipping tracks and would sound great blaring out of the car on a hot summer day. Lord Dying isn’t reinventing the wheel with their sound, but it is definitely a solid release with good performances and catchy riffs. If you are fan of this genre, you will thoroughly enjoy this record, and be sure to catch them on tour as they are hitting the road in July.
7/10
Lynn Jordan