The Dutch stoner doom band Heavy Lord have released three albums so far of which the last, Chained To The World, dates back to 2007. Their first record is the one I have before me now, be it a re-release through the label that they’re signed to, Solitude Productions. I’ve never heard it before, so let’s find out what these guys started out like.

On this record I hear the Heavy Lord I got to know many years ago. A damn fine stoner doom band in the vein of bands like Electric Wizard, Sleep, Eyehategod, Cathedral and many more giants of doom. But as I’ve stated before in other reviews of this band, the vocals don’t quite cut it yet, especially the clean parts. Luckily this problem is completely gone on their latest record, but on this first album it’s hard to see past it from time to time. It was the only thing holding them back, but they took care of it two records later. Musically I have absolutely nothing to complain about, I’ve always loved the tunes these guys bust out.

 

This re-release comes with the bonus track ‘Get Down There You Bitch’ which was recorded in 2008. The sound quality is slightly better than the tracks before, yet I don’t mean to imply that these are poorly recorded for they are already of a more than reasonable level. You can hear the improvements in vocal use by bassist/vocalist Steve, which makes it a nice addition to the album. Yet, I’d still rather play their latest effort Chained To The World, simply because it is way better than this one. Case closed.