I’ll just come right out and admit it. I discounted Lord Dying in the past. Hell, I think I was even downright dismissive of their earlier work. Sometimes that happens. When you listen to a shitload of new music, you try to sift through the sheer mass of releases and try to find the few gems. In the process, you may listen to a snippet of songs here and there and make a snap judgment on a band before giving them a fair shake. After listening to Lord Dying’s latest, I think I may have missed the boat on these guys.
This is one of the richest and most lush albums to come out this year. There are layers of originality and creativity at play here. You’ve got touches of grunge, touches of stoner, touches of sludge and it’s all just woven together expertly into this amazing amalgam of awesomeness that is truly inspiring and infectious. I especially love the combination of harsh vocals with some downright clean Beatle-esque clean harmonies. These latter vocals were really unexpected and result in a really classy touch to their sound. In addition, this album is just ordered perfectly with one song seamlessly blending into the next. The entire album just feels like a cohesive whole rather than a collection of separate ideas. It’s an “album” album rather than just a collection of songs, if you will.
Seriously. Huge props to the hairy men of Lord Dying. This is one in which you should be proud. I, for one, am now about to revisit your earlier material.
4.5 flip flops out of 5
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 