Relapse Records has been signing some very, very interesting bands lately in case you have not noticed. Doomsters WINDAND, Japanese cult Doom / Death band COFFINS, Drone / Doom heroes WOLVSERPENT and blackened Sludge giants INTER ARMA are some of them. LORD DYING is the last puzzle piece to complete this perfect picture. The band from Portland with their debut album, "Summon The Faithless" shows to the world how actual heavy Doom Metal should be played.

LORD DYING find themselves to be quite close to acts such as HIGH ON FIRE and RED FANG, while due to some of their thrashier moments they remind a bit of LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR in some instances. Even though their overall sound is quite heavy and sludgy, the structures of the songs are filled with Heavy Metal ideas. Seriously the riffs and solos on this album are so fucking inspired! Their mostly mid tempo groove is used as a powerful foundation on top of which they are able to unfold their breathtaking ideas on the guitars. With other words: there is no way you will not find yourself headbanging while playing air guitar to these songs.

The groove leads the charge and it kicks straight in from the very start with "In a Frightful State of Gnawed Dismemberment", something that is also quite prevalent on one of the strongest tracks of the album "Dreams Of Mercy". If you need to check the band out, just listen to that track and before you know it you will be listening to the whole album.
The heavy metal leads make an appearance quite soon in the record as well, with "Summoning the Faithless" and especially with the Heavy-Metal-to-the-bone "Greed Is Your Horse". They are even incorporating some thrash influences to vary their sound a bit more, as is the case with "Descend Into External". Also, the distortion on the vocals works quite well in the album overall, gives it a more revolting vibe, that suits the music of LORD DYING perfectly.

Of course you still get the stomach-turning Doom / Sludge that you would expect in such an album. The sickening ideas of "Perverse Osmosis" are sadistically mean, horrible (in a good way) to behold and yet you cannot stop listening to them. But that is not all for LORD DYING; the poisonous riffs are present for the whole duration of the record, with the most impressive moment being "Water Under a Burning Bridge". A truly unique track, it gives the promise of unloading all its fury. The ambiance remains menacing and it finally erupts in the last minute of the track with its doom riffs and heavy drumming. The closing track of the album, "What Is Not...Is" summarizes "Summon The Faithless" perfectly with its towering rhythm section on top of which a storm of leads is unleashed.

This is a great beginning for LORD DYING. The full potential of the band is revealed in the forty minutes of "Summon The Faithless", which are filled with Doom / Sludge / Heavy music. This album is one you simply have to listen to multiple times, the tracks stick to your head... so what else would you want then?