Sir Lord Baltimore-3 Raw

JG Records

The early 1970’s saw a fairly large outpouring of early metal bands. Some had immediate impact on the scene like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple while others never quite got their due. I think Sir Lord Baltimore managed to really establish their own style on just their two albums. Those being Kingdom Come from 1970 and the self-titled release from 1972. The band did begin work on a third album in the mid-1970’s, but it fell through. However in 2006 original members vocalist/drummer John Garner and guitarist Louis Dambra got together and finished recording six tracks to make their third album. The bass duties were handled by Sam Powell on two tracks and Tony Franklin (The Firm/Blue Murder) on the other four. The opener "(Gonna) Fill the world with fire" rips on with some big thick drums and it is somewhat of a cross between the 70's and maybe even some 80's influences as well . Garner's voice is a little less deep, but a perhaps far more in control. Obviously the band’s lyrics have developed a christian leaning that was not present in their other albums. Next up is “Love Slave” which is kind of a medium/slow with vocals that remind me a little of ZZ top and then it takes off and the vocals and music just carry it along. “Wild white horses” is the first song here that really sounds like it could have come from 1970’s. It’s slow and steady with and accoustic beginning and again it's another solidly crafted track. Track four “Rising Son” reminds me a little of perhaps mid-70’s Led Zeppelin with the way drums are arranged. However the vocals go up really high and kind of stay there. It felt like a rock band trying to do disco and it just really didn’t work for me. However they tear back into it with “Cosmic Voice” which has a simple, but huge riff plunging forward. It’s probably as based in the 70’s as “Wild white horses”, but it’s perhaps the song on this album that is closest in style to their other two albums. Yet, it still has a confidence and even a sense of patience that they never had before. Again Garner reaches out with range and it's really hard to believe that he is still this good thirty plus years after their last release. The final cut is “Mission” which wastes little time in getting started and it's a strong, plowing rocker. The album is certainly different from their other releases and that’s expected as other veteran acts that are still going like Deep Purple, Blue Cheer and Budgie all sound different than they once did. I liked that SLB took their time with the songs and displayed a real confidence in what they were doing. I would prefer a band do what they are confident in rather trying to imitate the past just because that’s what they think should do. I think this album shows that they still had a lot to give. Definitely one I will be playing over the next few weeks.



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