Courtesy: Dewar PR
Independent hard rock band Lord is giving its fans a bonus from its recently released album Fallen Idols. The band is scheduled to release its new EP Chaos Raining is scheduled for release Friday. The three-song record is an intriguing record because while it is being marketed as an EP, it is technically another of those records that is in reality more single than EP. That is not to say that the record is a failure for the band. Rather, its track listing does serve as something of a negative for the record’s presentation. This will be discussed shortly. While the track listing is undoubtedly an issue for Chaos Raining, it is the record’s only negative. The EP’s musical content is very much a positive worth noting, so it will be addressed shortly. The lyrical themes that accompany the EP’s musical content is notable in its own right and is also deserving of attention. It will also be addressed later. All three noted items are important in their own way to the whole of this EP. All things considered, they make Chaos Raining a presentation that hard rock and metal fans will find worth hearing at least occasionally.
Lord’s forthcoming EP Chaos Raining is, for the most part, an enjoyable new offering from the independent hard rock band. That is due in part to the record’s musical arrangements. The arrangements in question are powerful, guitar-driven works that will appeal to fans of bands, such as Judas Priest, Dragonforce and Firewind. That is evident through the combined guitar work of the band’s front man “Lord Tim” and fellow guitarist Mark Furtner as well as through “Lord Tim’s” operatic vocal delivery style. Even the extended take of the EP’s title track deserves attention, with its keyboards and semi-industrial metal approach. That element takes precedence in this song, but the original work’s guitar and drums are there. The choral approach taken with the vocals gives the song a touch of an 80s hair metal sound. This all seems like a lot, and it is, but somehow, the band manages to balance all of those elements for a whole that despite being nearly 10 minutes long, is still wholly entertaining in its own right. Keeping that in mind along with the engagement and entertainment that ‘Chaos Raining’ and ‘A World Insane,’ the whole of the EP’s musical content offers audiences plenty of motivation to take in this record. While the arrangements do echo the style of arrangement that the band has presented in its past works, the actual sound is different from those works. In other words, the style is the same as in previous works, but the songs overall are not identical in their sound. They are original in their own right, in layman’s terms. Even set against one another, the arrangements here are original in their overall sound. That makes the EP that much more worth hearing.
For all that the arrangements do to make Chaos Raining a positive new presentation from Lord, the songs overall are somewhat problematic. As with so many other records that have been released this year, one can argue that considering the EP’s makeup, is being improperly marketed. The EP is in fact more single than EP. That is because the record’s title song is itself from another album. The one extra original is likely a b-side that did not make the final cut for Fallen Idols. The extended remix of ‘Chaos Raining’ is basically just a bonus track. So while it is original in its own right, it is still just a remix of one of the record’s two original songs. In other words, the EP is essentially a single from the band’s bigger 2019 album that also features two extra works. One of those works is likely a castaway from the original sessions for that album while the other is just a re-worked version of the single. Keeping that in mind, the record is still enjoyable to hear, but is still more single than EP. Since it is being marketed as an EP, it still deserves its own spot on any critic’s list of the year’s top new EPs even despite everything noted.
While the makeup and marketing of Lord’s new EP is questionable, it does not make Chaos Raining a failure by any means. It does impact the record’s place in any critic’s list of the year’s top new EPs, but is still a work that will appeal to hard rock and metal fans. That is due in large part to the record’s musical content, though the musical content is just one part of what makes the record worth hearing. The lyrical content that accompanies the musical content adds to that engagement. The EP’s second song, ‘A World Insane’ comes across as a social commentary of sorts. “Lord Tim” sings in the song’s chorus, “A world gone insane…we cry out in vain/And now with open arms/We carry on and try to find our way.” Now while much of the song’s lyrics are indecipherable sans lyrics, just enough is understandable to make an inference about the theme. “Lord Tim” mentions in the song’s second verse about looking around and seeing no one around, adding mention about being on the precipice. In other words, the seeming statement hints at things being in a very bad state right now. When this is considered along with the note of carrying on with arms wide open, it leads to the assumption that the song focuses not just on how bad things are, but of people’s resilience and determination to get through all of the bad. This in itself is certain to generate interest and discussion among audiences. It is just one of the ways in which the record’s lyrical content proves so important to its presentation. The EP’s title track will generate its own interest with its seemingly more personal story.
“Lord Tim” sings in the lead verse of ‘Chaos Raining,’ “You cast your gaze upon my form/Into cold eyes that once were warm/Hardened by sorrow, I still bleed/I will arise from bended knee.” He continues in the song’s second verse, “The days loom grey/Forever seem/My mind engaged in pain unseen/Suffer the past/Onward I roam/Through severed ties I walk alone.” He adds in the song’s chorus, “Say goodbye/I’m lost forever/The storm, it rages on and on/I’m stronger/For every day that dies/I’ll wonder/The chaos raining down/I’m drowning under.” As the song enters its third verse, “Lord Tim” sings, “The years estranged/Like endless waves/Our time is gone/Now swept away/Torn down/Rebuilt in iron gleam/This broken man becomes machine.” At this point, the song returns to its chorus once more with its statement about being stronger despite everything. It can be inferred between that statement and the commentary in the verses that this song focuses on someone who is pushing on even as the world seems to fall down around him; a person who has been mentally and personally “rebuilt.” As always, this is just this critic’s interpretation. Hopefully it is close to being a correct interpretation if not completely correct. That aside, it is content that is certain to generate its own share of discussion among audiences, especially when it is considered alongside the song’s musical arrangement. All things considered, the song’s thought provoking lyrical content is just one more way in which the EP’s lyrical themes prove to be just as important to its presentation as its musical arrangements. Those arrangements and the lyrical content together make Chaos Raining a record that while maybe not the purest example of an EP, still a record that heavy rock fans will appreciate.
Lord’s forthcoming EP Chaos Raining is a work that will appeal to a wide range of hard rock and metal fans. That is due to its musical arrangements and its lyrical content, as noted here. The musical arrangements are everything that audiences have come to expect from the band. The riffs liken themselves to works from the like of Judas Priest, Firewind and Dragonforce at the same time. The lyrical themes presented within the record’s two original songs will generate their own engagement among audiences as they are certainly thought provoking, as also noted here. The one downside to the whole thing is that it is being marketed as an EP. This is important to note because the “EP’s” title track is itself a single from the band’s 2019 album Fallen Idols. Other than that one track, there is only one other original and then an extended take of the record’s title track. Keeping all of this in mind, this record is really more a single with two extra tracks than an actual EP. Even with that in mind, it is not enough to prevent a person from wanting to listen to this record. It is just something to note, and taken into consideration with the record’s overall content, it proves itself to be a work that will appeal widely to hard rock and metal fans. It will be available Friday. According to a post on the band’s official Facebook page, the record’s physical copies are already sold out in pre-orders, so right now, only digital pre-orders for the record are available. More information on Chaos Raining is available along with all of Lord’s latest news and more at:
Website: http://www.lord.net.au
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lordofficial
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lordofficial
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