Good Lord!

And so it began:
As the final nails were hammered to the coffin of Reverend Bizarre (1995-2007, R.I.P.), guitar player Peter Vicar started to follow his vision of a new True Doom Metal band. He felt forced to fulfill his need to compose and play this most arcane form of metal in the way it was meant to be, full of intensity, cruelty, heaviness, and force. Still firmly walking in the footsteps of Saint Vitus, Trouble, Witchfinder General and Pentagram, this new band will bring together an international lineup of four devoted metalheads.



Featuring Chritus (Count Raven, Saint Vitus, Terra Firma) on vocals, Jim Hunter (Revelation, WHW) on bass, Gareth Millsted (Centurions Ghost, End of Level Boss) on drums and Peter Inverted (Reverend Bizarre, Orne) on guitars, Lord Vicar released the Demon of Freedom EP on I Hate Records in 2008 (yes; these are more releases I forgot to include on my "best of 2008" list), a three song release clocking in at 15 minutes, based on a Finnish werewolf legend.

 

 Starting off with a short intro Hiiumaa (the name of the island where the legend is based) the next two songs are pearls of traditional doom, Becoming One With The Spirit Of The Forest is like NWOBHM moving at half speed, with haunting vocals from Chritus throughout, with guitars being reminiscent of early Trouble or demo-era Anathema. Running Into A Burning House is a more up-tempo (just!) song, bringing to mind the godly Saint Vitus.  This EP is ridiculously hard to get hold of now, good old Ebay seemingly the only option!

About six or seven months later, Lord Vicar released their debut full-length; Fear No Pain on The Church Within Records.  Seven Tracks long, the album weighs in at just over an hour long, and it's crushing from start to finish.Opening with "Down The Nails", with solid riffing for two minutes before the vocals come in.  the vocals on the album are clearer and less reverby than on the EP, floating above the music and bringing bands like Warning(RIP) to mind.  Pillars Under Water picks up the pace a bit, chugging along in a Witchfinder General / Angel Witch type fashion. By the time you get to the closing track The Funeral Pyre, you have been taken through all the moods that are encompassed by different doom bands, all on one album, which I feel is in no small part down to the pedigree of all the musicians on it.  It's total hetpenging heaven, a record that sounds good sat in with good quality beer, and will sound equally as good when Thee Claw are travelling down the motorway to another gig.  Lord Vicar have plans for the second part of the Fear No Pain our to start in the beginning of 2009... we'll be keeping an eye out for them!

Link: Lord Vicar Myspace