Lord
Digital Lies

Another lord this year, this one is called simply Lord though and not lord of something. It is an Australian band who begun as a side project for Dungeon singer Lord Tim which then took the place of Dungeon in 2005, the debut was released in 2003 so they are actually celebrating ten years this year. I am not sure though that such a thing is anything to care that much about, Digital Lies is their fourth album but adding the experience from Dungeon we can say that these guys have a vary big musical experience. They are also one of the top names in Australian metal and have headlined several tours in the home country and New Zealand, often with some decent names from Europe supporting them. At least that is what the press text says, but what about this album? is it something to have or is it just digital lies?

One thing is for certain and that is that I can’t think of any band that sounds quite like Lord, many bands are fairly similar but none blends together so many influences into one pompous melting metal pot as these guys, at least not in heavy metal. They are still very familiar and their guitar works reminds me a lot of Iron Maiden’s, I think actually you can describe them as a creative Iron Maiden without the greed and cowardliness. They do have a lot of fantasy and some creative ideas in their music, all rolled into a heavy metal framework that is well produced with a great sounds. The singer is really good as well, he sings with both variation and passion in abundance.

The songs often seems to reflect on today’s world with the digital glorification, the silly fanboys and haters we see lots of in the digital world (perhaps spreading their digital lies), many such things I imagine that I hear in the songs. The album feels a bit like it has an almost dystopic view on the world, I imagine a dark undertone sneaking through the album just out of sight but ready to strike when you least expect it. But the album is also a product of the world today, not many would make an album over an hour in the days when albums sold in their millions as that would have required two vinyl discs instead of one. This band does do that however since that limitation is not there, unless of course they want to make a vinyl copy as well, but they have instead bordered on the playing time of a CD with over seventy minutes of playing time if you add the two bonus tracks I had on my review copy. But it is well clear of the hour even without the bonus tracks and that is too long for a heavy metal album, no matter how bombastic and clever it is.

I think that the song called The Last Encore suits perfectly as an ending track, it is the eighth track and up till then I can easily actively listen to this album without getting bored. Then however the band says: “lets make a few more songs”, and lo and behold we have twenty minutes more, thirty if you count the bonus tracks. Twenty minutes wait for it to end is what the equates to in my book, and why? “Because we can” might be the band’s answer, that is at least the first track following my end of the album because generally I turn it off after that track as I have had enough there. I have seen that some people complains about my resentment towards too long album and some silly guy even accused me of having ADD (which is not true, I am more towards OCD than ADD) but albums has to be seen as a whole and when you wait twenty or more minutes for it to end, do you not think that constitutes a lowering of the rating? When you tire of an album while listening, you will find it less good and that is what happens when listening to this album, the last twenty minutes of it I just wait for it to end. It works better as background noise because it is good all the way through but when I am actively listening I am done after track eight.

I wish that the band could have been more selective about what they put on the album, those of you who are Lord fans will probably not agree and say that it is brilliant and I agree with you, for eight tracks it is great. So for fans of Lord and classic heavy metal I am sure this a great piece of music, I just wish it was shorter. Maybe there is a case to advocate a return to the vinyl discs.

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