Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe has teamed up with Saudade for a cover of Joy Division‘s “Day of the Lords.”
Billed as a “creepy” rendition of an already haunting song, Saudade heavy it up with a smattering of instruments (guitars, steel drums, organ, synths, etc). Meanwhile, Blythe lays down his vocals with reverence to the song’s original singer, the late Ian Curtis.
“I’ve always wanted to cover ‘Day of the Lords,’” remarked Blythe in a press release. “In my opinion, it is the heaviest of Joy Division’s songs. With Saudade, we have such a widely-varied pool of musical backgrounds to draw from that I knew we could add some interesting sonic layers to the tune while honoring the original.”
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Saudade are led by Chuck Doom (Crosses, Team Sleep) and drummer Gil Sharone (Team Sleep, The Dillinger Escape Plan), who often enlist fellow artists in the heavy music scene to carve out their sonic creations.
“This track came together in such a fun and organic way right from the first session,” Doom said in a press release. “Gil and I tracked the basics with drums, steel drums, Fender Rhodes, synths, and bass. Our buddies Todd [Wilkinson of Team Sleep] and Matt [Campbell of Vowws] added guitars. When Randy came out to Los Angeles, we all spent a couple days working on the song together. It was really fun to make music with friends in the same room again.”
Added Sharone: “When Randy mentioned it to Chuck, I thought it was a killer idea and we jumped in the studio within days of that call. The track feels like a journey. Every section has its own dynamic and keeps growing until the final climax. Randy’s vocal performance really captured what we were doing musically, and I’m very proud of the track. I feel like we accomplished our goal of paying tribute to Joy Division but also making the song our own.”
Accompanying the one-off single is stark, black-and-white studio footage, directed by RIZZ (also of the band Vowws and a Saudade collaborator).
“I had some notes from Randy about abandoned spaces,” RIZZ said, “which was great ‘cause it’s always good to have a starting point and the rest sort of filled itself in.”
Stream Saudade’s cover of Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” below. It’s also available on digital platforms via THolyGhost Recordings.
