LIEGE LORD – “Freedom’s Rise” – 1985
LIEGE LORD was formed in the early 80’s in Connecticut, they were originally a JUDAS PRIEST cover band called “Deceiver”. You can hear how they were certainly influenced by the NWOBHM, but to their credit they already had developed their own style for their 1985 debut.
The band was formed by guitarist Tony Truglio, bassist Matt Vinci and original drummer Frank Cortese. Vocalist Andy Michaud was the original singer who had a pretty diverse singing style, very charismatic too in his style, which is perfect for Classic Metal of course.
They never achieved the success of other bands from the early 80’s but you hear them they certainly were influential to some degree on the future of Power and Prog Metal. They even implemented some “Folk” Metal into the mix on tracks like “Amnesty”. “Darktale” was a classic example of early Speed Metal that was being produced mostly in Europe at the time.
The album is generally pretty fast or at least uptempo. It’s very raw and sounds like it was recorded as a live band versus part by part. It’s not going to be for everyone as it’s not really slick and the mix could use some help. Having said that, it has a certain charm that and they play with such conviction you tend to overlook some of the recording issues.
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LIEGE LORD – “Burn To My Touch” 1987
The leap LIEGE LORD made from their first album in 1985 “Freedom’s Rise” to their second album in 1987, “Burn To My Touch” is very impressive. Their debut was good enough to get them signed to Combat Records where they obviously had a bigger budget to work with, the overall sound of the album is much more consistent and better quality.
The former JUDAS PRIEST cover band has also moved into a heavier direction, they’re borderline Thrash on much of the album. The addition of guitarist Paul Nelson seemed to pay off too as the band overall seems tighter and they are playing at a more technical level. Everyone is playing better and thanks to the production you can hear what a monster bassist Matt Vinci is. Vocalist Andy Michaud has improved too as he’s using even more of his range on the album.
If I had to put the album in one category I would probably pick Speed Metal. The longest song is 4:06, not that song length is a prerequisite for Speed Metal, but the songs are clipping along without many extended breakdowns. Michaud is singing, but often in a more aggressive tone, I’ve often considered Speed Metal between Thrash and Power Metal and that’s pretty much where they lie on “Burn To My Touch”.
My main criticism is the lack of solid hooks in the songs. That’s a personal preference of course, there’s some people who hate songs that are too “sing songy”. I do like to have a chorus that sticks to some extent. They’re not really going to that on this album though, they’re doing fast, technical Metal and that can be harder to work a “Living After Midnight” chorus into, and I can respect that.
Having grown up through the 80’s I do not recall hearing about Liege Lord in the publications. I wasn’t a huge Combat or Metal Blade listener either so that’s probably more on me. However, there did seem to be a lot of other bands that got more press. It could be the fact they were on the East Coast and not the West. Musically I think they could really hang with any of the Thrash/Speed Metal bands of the era.
What’s ironic about their sound in 1987 is that the New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal that started in the 2000’s is literally going back to this style. Fast, technical, soaring vocals and guitar solos and stripped down production. I guess what comes around goes around, hopefully LIEGE LORD is getting their proper respect.
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LIEGE LORD – “Master Control” – 1988
In 1988 the East Coast Metal band LIEGE LORD would put out their final album “Master Control”. They moved from Combat Records to Metal Blade Records, which was most likely a jump in their recording budget, and you can hear it instantly. They improved dramatically on each album from their debut “Freedom’s Rise” in 1985 to “Burn To My Touch” in 1987.
Also gone was singer Andy Michaud and replaced with Joe Comeau who took the ball and ran with it. Nothing against Michaud, but Comeau is a special talent who went on to work with heavyweights OVERKILL, ANNIHILATOR and others. Guitarist Paul Nelson returned as well to join forces with original members guitarist Tony Truglio, bassist Matt Vinci and drummer Frank Cortese. Just a side note, Truglio wen on to work with Page Hamilton of Helmet and Nelson won a Grammy with Johnny Winter and other nominations on his solo material. So needless to say, there was talent in the band.
LIEGE LORD finally accomplished what I was hoping they would, the stronger and more defined chorus. “Eye Of The Storm” is an all-time Classic Speed Metal track. The title-track, “Broken Wasteland”, “Fear Itself” and several others have more memorable hooks in them.
I labeled their album “Burn To The Touch” Speed Metal, but “Master Control” is harder to define, they’re certain fast and heavy at times, but they go into different territories of Speed, Thrash, and Power and even a more traditional style with “Feel The Blade”. Bottom line, “Master Control” is a great Heavy Metal album.
I mentioned earlier the production had improved too, it’s quite noticeable that there was more effort put into the final mix. It’s still pretty raw, like many of the Metal Blade projects were. However, the band sounds more of cohesive, the levels are where they should be but you still get separation of the tracks.
It’s a shame this would be their last album as members moved on to other projects, they seemed to be just gaining steam, but which the changing landscape around the corner I guess they felt they had peaked or just didn’t have the urge to move forward. Ironically the band has still performed as they realized their cult following was pretty strong over the years. It goes to show the staying power of great Metal done with passion!
