No doubt about it, Dead Lord from the lovely city of Stockholm could become the next _big thing? of Scandinavian Metal. Although musically quite different, in spirit they are very much close to Ghost, In Solitude and Portrait. Dead Lord are playing it from the heart. Their sound is deeply rooted in the 1970's, with a heavy Thin Lizzy influence. Actually, the A-Side of their debut 7" single _No Prayer can help you now? for me is the best tune Thin Lizzy haven't written. Dead Lord founder Hakim Krim (guitars and vocals) is flattered: _That's a huge compliment. Although we're not after being copy cats, the Irishmen sure could rock.? In contrast to the above mentioned Ghost, In Solitude and Portrait, Dead Lord's sound is not so much influenced by the 1980's Metal movement but by 1975-1979 Hardrock. _You're right on the money there?, finds Hakim. _The records produced during that time seem to have a woodiness to them that's solid and clear. A sound that's angry yet smooth. We're into that whole thing, and the single was recorded live in the studio, the old school way, on analog tape. We'd like to stick to that.? Talking a bit more about Lizzy (and the spoken word bit on the B-Side track _Onkalo? which shows traces of _Angel of Death?) Hakim says: _Lynott was a great singer, and more so, a great song writer. I guess he has been a great influence when it comes to my vocal style. But we do have other influences as well, like Nicke Andersson from the Hellacopters, and the old giants like Zeppelin, Sabbath and Purple. I'd love to be able to sing like Glenn Hughes, Robert Plant or Ronnie Dio, but I can't. Our amps are Marshalls from the seventies, that could explain our guitar tone. There seems to always be a Lizzy vibe to the songs I write._ Dead Lord is by no means a band of total unknowns, featuring members of Enforcer, Morbus Chron, Kongh and the Scams as Hakim explains: _I left the Scams to focus fully on this, but the other guys play with other bands: Olle with Kong, Adam with Morbus Chron, and Tobbe with Enforcer.? Dead Lord might, at first glance, sound more like a name for a Death/Thrash/Black Metal band but there is a specific meaning behind it for sure: _We could go an and on about how it aims at carrying on the heritage of old dead rock gods (like Ronnie James Dio and Phil Lynott) and what not ... Or maybe preach about how it symbolizes the world order as we see it today, but in the end, it's just a really bad ass name. Also, it suits our darker lyrics quite nicely.? As you might have already guessed, Dead Lord (who have not played a single live gig at the time of writing) is more or less Hakim Krim's band. He gives us a quick rundown of the band history: _It all started with me having a thing for twin guitar harmonies and 1970's rock. I had been writing songs in this style for maybe five years, but never gotten to doing anything serious of it. I also had lots of trouble finding good singers in V?xj_ where I used to live. I played with the Scams at that time, which I had found wasn't exactly what I really wanted to do. I figured I'd go all in on this instead, hoping that I could find a singer in Stockholm. So I moved. I had talked to Adam about forming a band and he was in on the idea. I had seen Tobbe perform with Enforcer, and met him a few times. He's a nice guy and a great bass player, so we asked him to join. As for another guitar player, I was a bit more puzzled. It's really hard to come across a good relaxed guitar player who can perform with taste, rather than the urge to be seen. The first person that came to mind for us was Olle. Both Adam and I knew him, and his playing style and tone is terrifyingly similar to mine, so I liked the idea of having him play leads and harmonies alongside me. Also, he is one of the few guitar players I really trust, both when it comes to rhythm and solo playing. We tried a rehearsal and everyone was in on it right away. It sounded great right from the beginning. I ended up singing, not because I wanted to really, but because we did not really have time to wait for a singer to emerge. Besides, I don't really like singers. They always seem to be too busy looking good, and they never carry stuff when your out gigging. The other guys liked my vocals, so we went for it. _
