As this album’s eponymous opener lurches from the speakers, all kingsize bottom-end and with wah-wah pedal a-wailing, it’s clear Lord Foul don’t belong in the current millennium.
Helpfully, their press release lists the myriad influences, though the quartet from New Haven, Connecticut, are such slaves to the past that they insist upon two clarifications: Aerosmith (on drugs) and Black Sabbath (with Bill Ward). You’ve just gotta love that, right?
Groove-laden stoner rock with a side order of classic heavy metal is what Lord Fowl serve up, and they’re extremely good at it. Listen out for flashbacks to early Kiss and Mötley Crüe with songs such as Dirty Driving and the boogie-tastic Split, while the pacy Streets Of Evermore doffs its leather biker cap to Judas Priest.
It would be easy to sit here and liken each song to one ancient ancestor or another, but there’s a disarming sense of fan-fuelled joie de vivre here that allows Lord Fowl to sidestep any lazy accusations of plagiarism.
