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Overlorde > Overlorde > Reviews
Overlorde - Overlorde

Overlorde - Overlorde - 100%

metalcrypt, May 9th, 2010

Most often referred to as the "1987 EP", this vinyl EP has become a sought-after item, with rare copies often selling for US$150-200. The major difference with the 2000 demo is vocalist Pat O'Donnell who does quite a decent job delivering these five "in your face" songs. While I personally think that current vocalist Bobby Lucas is much better on every angle, Pat is still by all means a good singer. He has a thinner tone of voice, not as deep a voice as Bobby's. Other than that, the line-up is the same as on their recent demo.

The EP consists of three studio songs and two live ones, recorded at The Showplace in Dover, New Jersey. The opener "Snow Giant" kicks off the EP in an all-hell-breaks-loose take-no-prisoners-attitude, a fast-paced rocker that'll just kick you off your seat - one of my favourite Overlorde songs. Don't look for some wimpy ballad here, you won't find one. The closest thing is "The Masque of the Red Death", an aggressive but slow-paced number where the vocals take over the song. The song "Overlorde" is next, back to a faster pace, this one has some discreet yet noticeable Maiden overtones in the guitars - some excellent guitar melodies on this one.

Side B has two live songs, kicking off with "The Longest Day" in reference to June 6, 1944 (the invasion of Normandy by the Allies.) The sound quality understandably drops a little bit due to the live recording environment but every comes out pretty much crystal-clear anyway. Very devilish beat on this one and the bass and drums are more noticeable than on the studio stuff, giving the song a little "boom boom" beat that simply sets off the head in headbanging mode. :) The last song is "Time Machine" is more mid-paced than its predecessor with some faster parts where Pat also speeds up the delivery. Throw in a couple of cool guitar solos and you have a damn good album... er.. EP closer. ;)

There are two things that suck with this EP and it's its short length and the fact that it is so rare. Well, I have a copy so I guess I can only bitch about the length. :) Nit-picking aside, this EP is a piece of mid-80s heavy metal history well worth having, or at least hearing - you can hear these songs if you catch Overlorde live one of these days.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

e, no e - did any of them make a dent? - 76%

Gutterscream, November 2nd, 2005

With the ‘e’, without the ‘e’, it’s a common mistake to add it where it doesn’t belong and to leave it off when it should be there. Hell, it can be confusing for anyone, but in the end it’s not really that big a deal. NJ’s Overlorde weren’t the first and probably won’t be the last, and up until 2004 were one of the deluge of bands touting a mere ep as their claim to fame. Self-produced and on their private label that never went beyond SZR101, these five tracks aren’t favorites of the hourglass gods. Though this batch was written during a timeline stretching two years prior to its release, it still sounds very ’83 to me; drawn out, long winded lead/backing vocal passages resembling three/four part harmonies that make “Snow Giant” and “The Masque of the Red Death” more daintily melodic than masculine, power metal’s underscore moaning that succeeds at being epic and foreboding only in stints as heard in “Overlorde”, a few Motorhead-lite rhythms, medium-high vocals of Pat O’Donnell that are using too unsharpened a tool to carve a distinct niche, and a pretty passable drive that is weighed down by its dated musical mindset. By ‘87’s standards this already had moths swooping in for the kill.

For as much as live stuff doesn’t blow my hair back, the pair of tracks making up side two and recorded at The Showplace in Dover, NJ way back when seem to be the disk’s high points. “The Longest Day” forks over more momentum and aggressive energy to stimulate the chorus while the live sloppiness of “Time Machine” is almost endearing to a point, but both are still wandering about four years out of sync.

Lyrically, no boundaries are leapt; war banners fly in darkness, armies roam, invasions are routed, and all save “Time Machine” share a geographic foundation of some sort of land mass whether it be coastal, plains, countryside, or plain ‘ol flatlands.

Overall, I was expecting more from Overlorde’s debut, but the moths are fed.