Dead Lord: Surrender to the Power of Rock and Roll!
It started and finished talking about unicorns and, in the middle, some chat about music developed. Distorted Sound finds Hakim Krim, vocalist and guitarist of Swedish rockers DEAD LORD, in a very relaxed mood and whilst it seemed a shame not to do a whole piece on magical creatures, there’s a reason this publication isn’t called Distorted Centaurs. So music it is, and there’s one big question; for a Scandinavian outfit, why do you sound so British?
“Well we have Marshall amplifiers, that’s always a start!” Laughs Hakrim. “We just basically wanted it to sound good. I think a lot of that British sound is also not being afraid of the mids in the sound though, because that’s almost an ugly guitar tone, which you need to compete with cymbals and drums to make it feel, you know, alive.”
Sounding like they’ve burst out of the 1970’s alongside the likes of THIN LIZZY and U.F.O, DEAD LORD have dedicated themselves to the art of classic rock since 2012 and, when you trawl through their back catalogue, the evolution they’ve gone on is clear to see, improving with every release. That said, Hakim wouldn’t call himself an expert in where they’ve come from.
“I try not to listen too much to the earlier albums,” he admits, “the only times I do is when I need to rehearse a song. Mind you, it would suck if our progression was going the other way! But improving is the only way it should be, right? I wasn’t really too happy with the production on the last album, it was a bit too spaced out but on this album I wrote all the songs and we were only three in the studio and, you know, it’s easier to fight with two people instead of three!”
Those other two were guitarist Martin Norden (who also recorded bass before Ryan Kemp joined the band) and drummer Adam Lindmark, and fourth record Surrender was overseen by producer Robert Pehrsson, who Hakim has a lot of praise for.
“He absolutely knows what he’s doing. He’s more like an old man – he likes his albums fairly well made and we still have this kid mentality where we just want to go in and bang on our guitars, but we managed to meet somewhere in between where it’s both his old man style of producing and yet retaining the anger within the guitars and vocals. That said, we had to ensure he kept them in because he was always cutting all the nice angry frequencies away!”
As mentioned, Hakim is the one who writes DEAD LORD’s material and his approach is very much quality over quantity. “When I write songs. I almost tend to discard them songs before they even become songs. I don’t make a gazillion songs and then pick ten good ones; if I get halfway through a song and I’m not feeling it, then it’s scrapped. I certainly think it’s frustrating for my band members because they don’t really know if I have songs at all, but as soon as we get ten songs together we’re happy.”
And they should be happy, because Surrender is worth the time of day for anyone. Forty minutes of driving, upbeat rock songs with a vintage twist and contemporary vision that will lift the mood of whoever should want to listen. As a genre, classic rock has seen a revival in recent years, but whilst it’s fairly straightforward to play, it’s incredibly difficult to do well. What does Hakim feel are the ingredients needed to create a really good classic rock band in 2020?
“I think you have to start with like a solid sort of groove within the band, because if you haven’t played for a while or don’t know each other too well, it’s hard to find that sweet spot of chemistry that you need to rely on. Also, confidence is key – even just striking a power chord and letting it ring like Malcolm Young is hard for some people because they lack vibrado, so you have to be confident with what you do and trust that it will be okay. The production is tricky because usually the ones playing the instruments just want what’s in their heads to be on the tape and finding someone can do that is key, I think so and then, of course, writing kick ass songs!”
If you like what was coming out of this island some forty years ago, then DEAD LORD are going to be your new favourite band, without question; similarly, those with a taste for RIVAL SONS and GRETA VAN FLEET should finds lots to appreciate here. They might not be a household name right now but, as the new album states, you’ll surrender to their brilliance almost instantly.
Surrender is out now via Century Media Records.
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