Solitude Productions and BadMoodMan Music Blog

Review
Diabolical Conquest
8.8/10
12.11.2008

I was instantly sold by this band’s name. It’s the sort of name a five-year-old might have recommended if asked to name what was roughly described to him or her as a particularly heavy band. On the basis of their image alone, you probably know what to expect: bluesy sludge doom, the kind that worships the template of Sleep, Down, and most fundamentally/obviously, classic Black Sabbath at their most dismal.

What makes Heavy Lord so heavy is that they understand the importance of pacing and tension. They give their songs great deal of space with loooong buildups, so when the lumbering framework lunges into those uptempo elephant rampage bits, it genuinely feels as if the band is throwing their weight around. Which isn’t to say the album merely cycles between ponderous and violent; consider the song “Looking Into the Maker’s Eye”, wherein the focus is the elegant harmonic interaction between the main riff and its counterpoint. Draped in colorful blues leads, it’s quite profound in its simple beauty.

Much like the musical progression of their stoner brethren Electric Wizard, instead of still attempting choking your ears to death with gallons of tarblack sludge, a sudden sense of relative sobriety has shifted their attention from sprawling sonic headfucks to bludgeoning grooves, with even their wasted 10+ minute epics seeming more calculated and song-oriented than usual. The slow-burning melodic bridge in the first song alone is evidence enough that Heavy Lord have not forsaken hard rock in their descent into tectonic doom. Furthermore, this sudden clarity has led them away from the “go-nowhere vocal patterning’s cool cuz it sounds like we’re hiiiiighhh” standard of stoner metal and into belting out actual hooks (albeit in a harsh, snotty drawl — more on that in a bit); that this undeniable pop sensibility juxtaposes so gracefully with the band’s juggernaut riffing is irrefutable evidence of their talent.

The guitar tone’s sufficiently thick, with plenty of booming low-end. I have very little to complain about in the area of sound quality, although it is a little uninteresting. I miss the days of Dopethrone when the production of an album, if fucked up enough, could practically serve as its own instrument.

What is destined to be most controversial about this album is its rabid vocal performance, which favors a series of obnoxious, sneering howls to singing as we know it. It’s a bit off-putting at first, and hints that the band may listen to as much punk rock as doom, but I ultimately don’t consider it detrimental to the album because the singer knows exactly when to shut up or employ clean vocals. Moreover, the more I listen to Heavy Lord, the more I begin to think it suits them, as they’re not a clean band by any means.

If the vocals don’t annoy you away, this is about as good as this sort of therapeutically pummeling sludge gets. Chained to the World represents definite artistic growth from a promising band who, above all, remain true to their name. If the presentation was perfectly representational of the music within, the CD would be made of lead.

Author: Travis

Review
Kronos Mortus
8.5/10
06.03.2008

A holland sludge-doom zenekar harmadik albumához érkezett. A korábbi lemezekhez képest talán „brutálisabbá” és elrettentőbbé vált. Nagyon koszos stoner riffeket hallhatunk, mintha a mocsár aljáról jönnének azok a bizonyos őrületbe kergető refrének. A dob is szinte csak püfög, mintha valami por fedné az egészet és nem adná ki tisztán a hangokat. A vokál is teljesen gyászos összképet ad, erre a lassú hömpölygő masszára. Izgalmas és érdekes váltásokat figyelhetünk meg, jól variálják a riffeket. Úgy érzem, a zenekarnak már kialakult egy rájuk jellemző hangulati világ. Persze nem úgy kell érteni, hogy még senki nem csinált ilyet, de amit tudnak a srácok azt nagyon jól játsszák.

Hosszabb dalokat is találunk a lemezen, ami 10 percen felüli, de egyáltalán nem unalmas, sőt talán még jobbak, mint a rövidebbek, mert izgalmasak és sok minden történik bennük. A tempót is gyakran váltogatják. Helyenként szinte temetői hangulat és halálfélelem érzet uralkodik, néhol pedig egy gyorsabb témára váltanak és a dühösebb oldalukat mutatják meg. A hangzásról annyit, hogy oké, hogy valamennyire „piszkosabb” hangzást szeretnének, de én ettől egy jobb hangzást is eltudnék képzelni. Mindenesetre a nagyrészt középtempóra épülő dalokban az izgalmas stoner riffekkel egyfajta sötét hangulatot árasztva, egy pozitív összképet alakított ki bennem a ’Chained To The World’ lemez. Mindenkinek csak ajánlani tudom.

Author: Lemezismertetők

Review
Metal Wave
7.5/10

“Chained to the world” è il secondo album in studio degli olandesi Heavy Lord, che segue di un anno il precedente “From cosmos to chaos”, ed è stato da poco pubblicato anche in vinile. Questi quattro ragazzi propongono uno stoner doom ottimamente composto e suonato, che si dichiara esplicitamente come un tributo a gruppi come Cathedral, Electric Wizard, Crowbar, Eyehategod. In effetti nella musica degli olandesi si può sentire bene tanto l’influenza della scena stoner americana quanto le sonorità degli Electric Wizard. Entrambi i loro CD sono stati pubblicati per Solitude Productions, e devo dire che l’etichetta russa ha fatto un’ottima scelta a metterli sotto contratto.
I pezzi sono molto pesanti in quanto a sonorità, decisamente lenti, a volte soffocanti, e spesso basati su un unico riff, o un paio. A volte si ascoltano passaggi più “accelerati” e brani più veloci, come la quarta “Darius II”, ma di solito la musica è claustrofobica, su alcuni pezzi si supera la durata di dieci minuti rendendo il tutto decisamente “heavy” nel senso doom del termine Nei riff si sentono spesso riferimenti agli immensi Black Sabbath del primo periodo. Inoltre farei notare anche l’influenza sludge doom che negli Heavy Lord sembra molto presente. La voce è molto “grattata” oltre che disperata e la sezione ritmica fa un preciso e buon lavoro di supporto al riffing delle chitarre. Il quinto pezzo “Looking into the makers eye” a me ha ricordato addirittura gli italiani Lento per il suo incedere.
Insomma un disco che a me è piaciuto molto anche se non molto originale, ma che importa, attualmente esistono pochi gruppi stoner doom validi e tra questi la sorpresa Heavy Lord, che spero avranno più seguito possibile!!!

Author: Heresy

Review
Metalcrypt
3.75/5
01.04.2008

Here’s an album that would be much better if it weren’t for the vocals, or more specifically the occasional but frequent use of “mallcore meets metalcore” type of screamo vocals. This takes so much away from the music, it’s unbearable (unless, of course, this type of I-need-to-take-a-shit screams are OK with you.) When the singer gets into a style that fits the Stoner/Doom on display here, things are a lot better. The vocals get as slow and heavy as the music, literally pinning you to the ground, making you feel like a large tank is rolling over you back and forth (the ultimate sadomasochistic massage?) Chained to the World mixes those very slow, grinding and heavy numbers with a few more rocking ones that’ll practically send you in an headbanging frenzy — only to slam you right back to the ground with another crushing blow (and there’s that tank coming again.) A few 70ish Sabbath-esque moments are sure to bring a smile to the old schoolers out there — in fact, musically this is not all that modern overall, the old influences being almost omnipresent and the newer sound is usually kind of buried underneath all of this.

The album is filled with a dark and heavy, sometimes threatening atmosphere that quite poignant at times, and musically this is overall some pretty damn good stuff. The production is a bit thin at times, but nothing bad enough to prevent one from enjoying this. Really it’s too bad that they opted to add some crappy vocals to this rather than stick to what fits, as this makes the album a tough listen for anyone who can’t tolerate that stuff. Still, Chained to the World is a good collection of raw and heavy songs that’s worth checking out if you can stomach the parasitic screamo vocals.

Author: Michel Renaud

Review
Shapeless Zine
7.5/10
Mart 2008

La copertina di “Chained To The World” fa molto metal classico, col suo logo giallo in caratteri gotici, e la copertina apribile che ci mostra la terra avvolta tra strane “alghe”, che imprigionano al loro interno un essere femminile. Un vero libretto non c’и, ma girando dall’altra parte la copertina ormai aperta, troviamo la foto dei musicisti e le varie informazioni relative alla line-up ed alla registrazione. Apprendiamo cosм che gli Heavy Lord rispondono ai nomi di Steve (voce e basso), Jeff (chitarre), Wes Lee (chitarra e cori) e Wout (batteria). Il CD in questione и stato registrato al Void Studio di Eindhoven, agli inizi del 2007.
Ma chi sono questi Heavy Lord? Beh, si tratta di un gruppo doom formatosi nel 2002, che stranamente non ha mai avuto problemi di formazione. Il primo demo, “The Holy Grail”, и stato pubblicato nel 2004. La buona qualitа della registrazione ha permesso agli olandesi di entrare in contatto con la Solitude Prod. Nel 2006, sotto l’egida dell’etichetta russa, gli Heavy Lord hanno pubblicato il loro primo full-length: “From Cosmos To Chaos”.
Siamo giunti quindi al loro nuovo lavoro, “Chained To The World”, l’oggetto di questa recensione.
La title-track и una cavalcata doom molto pesante e arrabbiata. Ci troviamo di fronte ad una rilettura del doom tradizionale molto simile a quella dei Cathedral. Quindi un hard rock potenziato ed appesantito, con vocalizzi grezzi, ma meno marci di quelli di Lee Dorrian. E’ comunque chiaro, sin dal primo ascolto, che questi Heavy Lord ci sappiano fare: il feeling и quello giusto, cosм come la capacitа di trascinare e spingere l’ascoltatore ad un headbanging non sfrenato, ma quanto meno genuino. Ottimo il groove, e l’arrangiamento che mescola tradizione doom a heavy metal ed hard rock. Piacevole all’ascolto, sia nei momenti piщ “tirati” che in quelli piщ lenti e melodici. Eh sм, questo gruppo sа anche metterci un po’ di sana e buona melodia, oltre ai soliti riffoni accattivanti.
“Serpento” sembra non voler mai partire col suo ritmo strisciante (beh, il titolo и un programma), chea pare stritolarci a poco a poco fra le sue spire. Lo stesso cantante si lancia in urla piщ strozzate ed estreme. Molto piacevoli i riff sabbathiani, basati frequentemente su scale blueseggianti, ben sorretti da una sezione ritmica impeccabile, perfettamente calata nel suo ruolo. Certo, ci troviamo di fronte ad un brano ben diverso dalla title-track, piщ d’impatto e accattivante. Perт forse “Serpento” ci mostra un lato relativamente piщ personale del gruppo, anche se i rimandi ad altre band maggiormente famose и sempre presente. Attorno ai tre minuti, ecco che il gruppo si libera in una ritmica piщ dinamica, e la stessa canzone sempre liberarsi dalle catene che la trattenevano. Ottimo, come al solito, l’arrangiamento, comprensivo di un buon assolo melodico di chitarra.
Queste prime due canzoni hanno una durata di cinque minuti circa ciascuna. “Maelstrom” и il primo monolite del CD, invece, con i suoi dieci minuti di durata (l’altro и “Eternal Crawl”). Le coordinate stilistiche rimangono le stesse, anche se questa canzone presenta diverse sfaccettature. Una lunga parte introduttiva lentissima, bluesy, con riff molto pesanti tipicamente doom. Prima le chitarre suonano all’unisono, poi si lanciano in buone armonie, e in seguito parte un buon assolo di chitarra. Doom puro, se non fosse per i vocalizzi rozzi, vicini al gutturale, di Steven. In piщ, come spirito e impostazioni d’arrangiamento, ci sono molti richiami al hard rock. Oscura e misteriosa, a tratti psichedelica, sembra non voler partire mai: la voce interviene dopo cinque minuti dall’inizio. Steven sembra arrabbiatissimo, e nell’insieme gli Heavy Lord paiono volerci comunicare sensazioni apocalittiche. Ascoltando questa canzone, ci si sente intrappolati in un bad trip acido, dal quale non si riesca ad uscire, sebbene si sia consci della proprio coscienza alterata. Suggestivo come pochi, “Maelstrom” и un brano che trasuda spirito doom. Bello. Nella musica del gruppo, tra l’altro, si avverte una spruzzatina di sludge, e qualche eco di Crowbar, Electric Wizard, Sleep o EyeHateGod.
“Darius II” fa dimenticare la lentezza angosciante di “Maelstrom”, con una partenza incredibilmente veloce e arrembante, nei limiti del genere. La strofa rallenta un po’ il ritmo, che poi si rifа incazzato nella ripresa del riff principale. La voce di Steven и uno strillo acuto, e la sua interpretazione и sicuramente la piщ estrema dall’inizio del CD. Il doom, in questo caso, и spruzzato di heavy metal, pur restando ferme tutte le altre influenze. L’inserimento di una traccia cosм dinamica, a questo punto del CD, и una decisione saggia, perchи rende meno pesante il tutto. Sinceramente, non и il brano che mi ha preso di piщ, perт non se ne puт certo scrivere male. E’ solo strano sentire gli Heavy Lord tirare cosм.
La violenza si ferma di fronte all’arpeggio desolato ch apre “Looking Into The Makers Eye”. In realtа si sviluppa un crescendo, teso, che esplode in un pesante attacco melodico del gruppo. Qui si ritorna sui territori del doom piщ arrabbiato, con una sua vitalitа e violenza di fondo, lontano da strane influenze. Sм, il riff и sempre vagamente blues, e i richiami ai mostri sacri del genere si sprecano, ma “Looking Into The Makers Eye” presenta molti passaggi originali, non facilmente definibili, che ben si inseriscono nel contesto musicale. La naturalezza del songwriting и notevole, e questo и il punto di forza degli olandesi. Si nota la passione per un certo tipo di musica, ma anche la freschezza e l’entusiasmo compositivo. Inoltre, i musicisti sanno suonare davvero bene. Data l’ottima produzione del CD, la bellezza dell’arrangiamento si fa sentire in tutta la sua bellezza. Sarei curioso di vederli dal vivo!
Eccoci ora alla giа citata “Eternal Crawl”. La canzone parte sui medesimi binari dei brani precedenti, con un suono oscuro ma tanto groove. Molto belle la variazioni di riff e la ritmica trascinante. Le vocals perт sono quasi pulite, e quando il cantante interviene spesso il ritmo rallenta. E’ comunque vero che Steven dа prova di grande duttilitа, e il suo contributo al suono d’assieme della band и fondamentale. E’ perfettamente in grado di calarsi nel ruolo di cantante doom, anche se talvolta sembra conformarsi agli stili vocali di altri cantanti piщ famosi. A un certo punto, il ritmo si infrange contro un rallentamento soffocante ed opprimente. Si tratta di una delle sezioni piщ tenebrose e lente dell’album, ricca di fascino, che non svanisce nemmeno quando torna la voce, carica di rabbia. La traccia poi, per la prima volta in questo CD, sfuma anzichи finire di botto.
“Waiting To Die” ha una partenza inattesa: ci troviamo di fronte ad un vero e proprio assalto thrash o hardcore. Davvero inaspettata questa violenza e, soprattutto, questa velocitа. In breve perт l’illusione svanisce, e gli Heavy Lord tornano a farsi lenti e pesanti, con Steven le cui vocals fanno molto Crowbar. E la canzone prosegue poi su questa linea, non tradendo lo stile di fondo degl gruppo, e regalando all’ascoltatore molte emozioni.
“Chained To The World” и un gran bel CD di doom potente e sanguigno, privo di orpelli quali voci femminili, violini e tastiere. No, qui ci sono solo chitarre, basso, batteria e tanta, tanta energia. Anche nei momenti piщ lenti ed oscuri. Il limite maggiore degli Heavy Lord и forse la somiglianza eccessiva, in tanti frangenti, con gruppi piщ famosi, molti dei quali citati nel corso della recensione. Perт il quartetto sа suonare, eccome, e la sua capacitа di arrangiare и favolosa. Non so se il gruppo maturerа, se abbia intenzione di farlo, perт qualche passaggio particolarmente originale mi fa ben sperare su un possibile processo evolutivo. Comunque sia, “Chained To The World” и un disco pienamente godibile, e di ascolto agevole.

Author: Hellvis

Review
Metalitalia
7/10
2008

Praticamente sconosciuti nel nostro paese, gli olandesi Heavy Lord rilasciano questo secondo lavoro intitolato “Chained To The World”. Non essendo l’Olanda una terra florida per la scena stoner (chi scrive ricorda solo i discreti 7Zuma7), i ragazzi cercano i loro riferimenti al di fuori dei patri confini e cioè negli Stati Uniti ed in Gran Bretagna. Questo lavoro infatti sembra un mix di stoner di matrice statunitense unito al doom pesante degli Electric Wizard. Sin dalla prima traccia, la title track, questo binomio appare evidente e sembra quasi di ascoltare i Pantera in versione extra slow. La successiva “Serpento” non fa che confermare quanto già detto, abbassando ulteriormente i ritmi. Con “Maelstorm” gli Heavy Lord giocano a voler narcotizzare l’ascoltatore: il brano infatti dura quasi undici minuti (non sarà l’unico di tale minutaggio) ed è quasi completamente poggiato su di un riff che pare partorito dal Tony Iommi dei primi dischi dei Black Sabbath; la voce di Steven (anche bassista) giunge a risvegliare dalla catarsi quando ormai sono passati più di sei minuti! Dopo tale esperienza era quasi ovvia la scelta di un brano veloce ed infatti ecco arrivare “Darius II”, dalle ritmiche addirittura thrashy e dall’incedere particolarmente rude. Le successive “Looking Into The Maker’s Eye” e “Eternal Crawl” sono anch’esse lunghe e pesanti, seppure piuttosto semplici nel loro incedere: soprattutto la seconda traccia, introdotta dal basso pulsante di Steven, vive di buoni spunti, sempre mutuati dai seventies rivisitati in un’ottica non dissimile da quanto fatto dagli Eyehategod. Da segnalare anche il rallentamento centrale dall’incedere praticamente funeral. L’album si conclude con “Waiting To Die” che nulla aggiunge a quanto già ascoltato. Da segnalare la buona performance di Jeff e Wes Lee alle chitarre che danno prova di avere un gusto ed una sensibilità di tutto rispetto. Anche se non sarà un capolavoro, questo “Chained To The World” è un album molto godibile e può essere un utile sollazzo in attesa dell’uscita del nuovo Electric Wizard.

Author: Luca Filisetti

Review
metal.de
7/10
14.04.2008

Es ist ganz schön zäh und schleppend was mir da aus den Boxen entgegen schallt. Die Holländer HEAVY LORD haben sich den Doom-Klängen verschrieben, und sie mischen allerlei Elemente aus verwandten Stilarten. Das Grundgerüst bildet die klassische Doom-Schiene ala PENTAGRAM/ST.VITUS & Co. Es braucht auch nicht erwähnt zu werden, dass die Klänge streckenweise sabbathesk klingen. Damit ist aber bei weitem nicht alles gesagt. Stoner-Einflüsse sind ebenso zu vernehmen, des Öfteren klingt es auch ganz schön sludgie. Und irgendwie kann man sagen, dass sie es ordentlich hinbekommen haben.

“Chained To The World” ist sicherlich nicht sonderlich originell, versprüht aber einen gewissen Charme und Ehrlichkeit, was eigentlich das Wichtigste bei der anschließenden Beurteilung ist, zumindest für mich. Für Doom-Verhältnisse klingen HEAVY LORD sogar recht abwechlungsreich, und die Jungs wissen die einzelnen Komponenten ihres Sounds songgerecht zu vermischen. Jedes mal wenn man irgendwie das Gefühl bekommt, es könnte wie bei einigen anderen Genrevertretern die Langeweile aufkommen, reißen HEAVY LORD das Ruder um, und überraschen mit, zumindest für doomige Verhältnisse, schnelleren Parts. Oder sie bringen eine unerwartete Wendung in ihre Stücke. Dadurch ist songwriterisch alles soweit im grünen Bereich.

Die Produktion ist wie erwartet schön oldschoolig und transparent ausgefallen, und passt zur gespielten Musik wie der berühmte Arsch auf den Eimer. Also ist alles im Butter oder? Mir fehlen lediglich hie und da Melodien mit gewissem Etwas, die letztendlich den Unterschied zwischen einer guten Scheibe und einem Überflieger machen würden. Dennoch ist HEAVY LORD eine ziemlich gute Platte geglückt, die zwar keine Begeisterungsstürme auslösen wird, aber von Doomstern durchaus angetestet werden soll. Es würde mich nicht sonderlich überraschen, wenn “Chained To The World” bei einigen prompt auf dem Einkaufszettel landet.

Author: Gojko

Review
Burningblack

“Chained To The World” is the third and latest release of these Dutch Sludge/Doom Metal act, which following the quite successful path of the band’s previous effort “From Cosmos To Chaos”, delivers here seven new slabs of crawling and heavy Sludge/Doom Metal. This time the band seems to have left behind a little (just a little) of the Doom Metal laden obscurity to embrace a groovier/aggressive Stoner-like atmosphere, of course you can still found at this album obscure and doomish heaviness, tracks such “Maelstrom”, “Looking Into The Makers Eyes” and “Waiting To Die” maintains the obscure, still catchy, atmosphere of “From Cosmos To Chaos”… The vocal work shows at this album a varied, strong and sometimes very passionate style, just listen to “Eternal Crawl”, where the rocking and tough clean vocals reaches its highest point. The riff department still plays crawling and heavy, but slightly groovier tan before even showing some minor influences of bands such Black Label Society at some passages… A great display of heaviness and obscurity is shown at tracks such the closing one “Waiting To Die”, one of the strongest and most original tracks of the entire album, enclosing metallic and dense atmospheres mixed with some fast paced sludgy parts, resulting in an incredibly aggressive lava stream… As with the band’s previous album, the production here is not a problem; this album was recorded, mixed and produced at Contribution of The Void Studio (Celestial Season among others) so expect nothing but professionalism and quality… Although I still prefer the slightly obscurer sound of “From Cosmos To Chaos”, I think “Chained To The World” is definitely a strong release as well, that will easily catch the attention of every Sludge, Doom and even Stoner Metal diehard. This album was also released in a limited vinyl LP format (the first release of Solitude Production in this format by the way), so if also are into the vinyl fever, here’s another good reason to get this release. (AP)

Review
Live4metal

It is said by those who are not English, that those who were lucky enough to be born there have a fixation with the weather, well here goes. It is Easter, a time of Spring. So it should be dry roads, a soupcon of sunlight, young ladies in less clothing, etc. And in fact what we have had is snow, sleet, and the heating on at home. Particularly disappointing as I have 1100cc of Kawasaki in the garage which needs its throat wringing. So my demeanour was not the best as I approached my latest reviews. And as if by magic, just to match that mood, we have this CD.
The opener and title track gave me an insight into the experience that this album was to
provide, within twenty seconds I had the volume turned up and my head was banging. I then began to analyse the elements, some excellent riffs, good use of changes of key and of tempo, and low, throat-straining vocals. I looked to the counter and saw we were now three minutes in and my head was banging again, this track is five minutes of absolute pleasure. The second track, Serpento, begins with a slower pace but has the same intensity; inducing thoughts of self harm, razor blades and wrists went through my mind, before building up to a crescendo finish. The eleven minute Maelstrom is mainly instrumental with some unclear lyrics; a couple of times I actually checked my watch to check that time had not in fact stopped, but this was too long a track. And after this we have Darius II as a contrast offering, almost thrash pacing and with the vocals higher and clearer than so far experienced, what was once described by a politician as a short, sharp, shock. If the set list is to correspond to the album, then the opening of Looking Into The Makers Eye will provide a chance for a breather as the slow, clear opening accompanies the dry ice / smoke across the venue, then the drummer beginning the revival, the pace picks up and five seconds short of the two-minute mark the whole band are back, getting the head moving backwards and forwards in rapid, jerky movements and these continue when the vocals join in around three minutes forty-five. The riffs continue making this another outstanding track. At the start of Eternal Crawl the bass conducts a fillings test, if yours are not up to it then they will be out of your mouth and in your lap before you can mumble “Pneumatic Drill”, followed by a single note sustain and then the drums, which I will mention here, are great throughout. However, this track is ten and a half minutes, and I found myself answering emails and ordering CDs and had to play it four times before finally getting through to the end, and on this occasion I’m sure I caught my second hand going backwards…..
We finish with Waiting To Die, this is doom and nothing but, pacey from the opening and a good scream early on, at one point there is a sound of falling machinery and I am half expecting to hear the words “I am Iron Man” but no covers here and Heavy Lord contribute their own vocals, good closer.
The fact that this is the third album from this Dutch four-piece raises the expectations, and they match these in all but the too-long areas. Whether this is due to the fact that it was recorded at the Void Studio in Eindhoven, Holland with Pieter Kloos I do not know, but the band want this credit known. It took four days to lay down and is also being issued on a 500 run vinyl edition, so oldies can match some of the style shown with media of the same era.
Internet access at http://www.heavylord.nl/

Author: Strawb

Review
Harm.us
26.03.2008

Heavy Lord strike back with their second album only a year after the release of their debut. Doom became doomer, heavy became heavier and interesting became very good!

“Chained To The World” contains 7 great songs that combine sludge and doom metal. “Darius II” and “Eternal Crawl” are the highlights of this album. Fans of YOB, Reverend Bizarre, and why not, some sludge stuff like Unearthly Trance, should check Heavy Lord. They are not the most original band but it is very hard to find a band with that label in this style. What matters is the passion they have and this is reflected in their songs.

A great improvements since their debut album and if they keep that form then we will probably have a killer third release!

Author: Bleeding

Review
MetalFront.org
10/10
06.2008

Как-то известные мультяшные персонажи Бивис и Баттхед при описании музыки американцев Crowbar говорили подобные слова: «Слушаешь их музыку и жирнеешь». Нарисованные мультгерои очевидно намекали на медленность музыки и на, мягко говоря, крупное телосложение нескольких участников группы. Пусть ни одного участника Heavy Lord не назовешь тучным, однако именно эти слова сразу же приходят на ум при прослушивании их нового альбома. Их музыка тяжела и медленна как асфальтоукладочный каток, что обязательно возникают ассоциации с чем-то огромным, малоподвижным и действительно жирным. Как и огромный неподвижный мамонт в редком приступе ярости, музыка Heavy Lord способна смести все на своем пути своим жирным звуком.
В сравнении с прошлым альбомом у голландцев звук стал несколько почище, но ровно настолько, чтобы оставаться узнаваемым грязноватым звуком сладж-группы. Своему стилю с прошлого альбома ребята абсолютно не изменили. Голландцы играют все тот же тяжеленный и вязкий doom/sludge. При всем своем кажущимся на первый взгляд однообразии, при детальном прослушивании альбом оказывается очень разнообразным: здесь есть медленные и тягучие, как сгущенка из детства, свойственные думу, повторения одного и того же мощного рифа, есть редкие взрывы агрессии и даже мелодичные проигрыши, и, конечно же, очень качающий грув. Все инструменты вместе строят настоящую звуковую стену – банальные слова, но лучше и не скажешь.
В целом заметно, что профессионализма в написании композиций у Heavy Lord явно прибавилось. Прошлая работа все же имела свойство надоедать слушателю ближе к концу. Новый же альбом слушается на одном дыхании, слушать его хочется не один раз, и есть классные запоминающиеся моменты, которые все еще вертятся в голове уже когда в колонках только тишина. А это почерк настоящих мастеров своего дела.

Author: Bizon

Review
Lords Of Metal
9.1/10
26.06.2009

The year 2007 is closing and the wind blows in 2008, when Heavy Lord presents their ‘Chained To The World’ CD. They just become bigger and better and stronger and fatter with each release and the variation and power in the songs are amazing! This is their best work yet!

Heavy Lord has the potential to become very, very huge! Trademark of their sound is the stoner influenced doom sludge and the crunchy guitar sound. I am impressed by the mid-tempo song ‘Serpento’, in which you hear the chorus chanted by voices. It just leaves an eerie feeling. It sounds original to my ears. In the middle there’s the quicker pace, which comes to the fit in solo. The song following is ‘Maelstrom’, a dark, heavy and slow song with lots of build up. In this song vocalist Wes Lee shows he’s one helluva singer and that he has grown in this role. Speed is of the essence in ’’Darius II’ where the sludge drips from your speakers. This is a CD of which the Dutch can be proud of. Reverend Bizarre might be dead and buried, but we have an heir! Great CD

Author: Erik

Review
Dark Side
7/10
11.2007

На своем новом альбоме голландские сладж-думстеры не оставляют любому, рискнувшему включить их музыку, ни единого шанса выжить. Обрушившуюся на бедолагу стену звука не остановить никакими берушами, а если учесть, что звуковая волна из динамиков неизбежно отбросит несчастного от заветной кнопки “стоп”, то о его участи можно будет только сожалеть. Так что будьте предельно осторожны при использовании “CHAINED TO THE WORLD”. Прежде, чем включить проигрыватель, убедитесь, что значение громкости стоит на нуле и только после того, как диск завертится внутри плеера постепенно выворачивайте верньер или двигайте ползунок до приемлемого уровня. Ни в коем случайте не пользуйтесь пультом – одно неосторожное движение пальца… и даже страшно подумать, что может случиться: взрыв, обвал, тотальное разрушение. Да, уж HEAVY LORD полностью оправдывают свое название – они звучат предельно тяжело, риффы, выдаваемые этими голландцами, настолько увесисты, что создается впечатление, что ими можно пользоваться вместо гидравлического пресса, бас едва ли не переходит границу инфразвукового диапазона (а может и переходит – иначе откуда возникает чувство давящей угрозы?), ударные словно забивают в вашу голову гвозди… И вместе с этим музыка, которую все это создает, является некой производной от рок-классики 70-х. Хард-роковые квакушки, гипертрофированно “саббатовское” звучание, вокал, словно сошедший со старых пластинок, только вывернутый наизнанку… Но все это на порядок тяжелее, мрачнее, злее, что ли. Такой хард-рок, имеющий за спиной тысячи дум-, дэт-, блэк- и прочая-метал актов. Убивающий саму мысль о том, чтобы добавить в эту музыку мелодий или разбавить ее клавишной атмосферой. Гитарный рок’н’ролл, превратившийся в орудие уничтожения. И хотя музыку HEAVY LORD при всем желании нельзя назвать разнообразной, она не является скучной: даже длиннейшие инструментальные пассажи в “Maelstrom”, “Looking Into The Makers Eye” и “Eternal Crawl” нисколько не добавляют ей монотонности, даже когда темп замедляется чуть ли не до полной остановки вы продолжаете в ужасе следить за нависшей над вашей головой каменной глыбой. Да, за исключительной тяжестью гитарных риффов практически не видно индивидуальности музыкантов, зато вся работа предстает таким зверским монолитом, что отколоть от нее хоть один кусочек выглядит делом заведомо обреченным. И, кстати, уже упомянутые длиннейшие инструментальные фрагменты, которыми, на первый взгляд, голландцы излишне злоупотребляют, на самом деле являются тем камнем, на котором держится все их здание. Что же до того, на какой громкости слушать HEAVY LORD – то выбора, на самом деле, практически не существует. Даже на предельно малом ее уровне тяжесть звука ощущается буквально физическим – так что, крути – не крути, а риффы эти “прикуют вас к миру” надежнее любых цепей. А уж вашу “готовность к смерти” подтвердят на все 100 процентов.

Author: old man

Review
Dark City #44
4/5

Бойцы голландского стоунер-метал- фронта Heavy Lord на своем новом альбоме Chained То The World’ движутся вперед как в плане исполнительского мастерства, так и с наруливанием более правильного, сочного саунда. В целом же диск получился довольно традиционным по содержанию и исполнению, а наибольшее удовольствие от его восприятия (в том числе и чисто эстетическое), безусловно, принесет виниловая версия, выпущенная ограниченным тиражом в 500 экземпляров.

Author: Ан.К.