(Power Metal / Heavy Metal) Lord - Return Of The Tyrant - 2010, FLAC (image+.cue+scans) lossless

“If variety is the spice of life, then LORD must surely be the hot chilli.”

LORD was born from the ashes of Dungeon, one of Australia’s most high-profile and long-running heavy metal bands. Dungeon began in late 1989, in the Australian outback town of Broken Hill and took their music to the world, releasing a string of albums and DVDs, and touring both nationally and internationally with bands such as Megadeth, Nightwish, Opeth, Nevermore, Edguy, Doro, Destruction, Angra, Metal Church and many more, as well as major festival appearances and their own headlining tours.

In 2003, Dungeon main-man “Lord Tim” (L.T.) released an album of solo material under the moniker of LORD, comprised of music that he felt was too personal or inappropriate for Dungeon. The album, “A Personal Journey”, and LORD in general, was purely a side project at the time.

Fast forward to late 2005 and Dungeon had returned from a world tour with Megadeth. Internal tensions once again flared up within the ranks of the band, so much that it finally prompted L.T. to put an end to Dungeon and reinvent LORD as a legitimate band with fresh and hungry players.

Hitting the ground running in early 2006, LORD immediately embarked on a national headlining tour and then went on to share the stage with Queensryche, Nightwish, Nevermore, Saxon, Gamma Ray, Leaves Eyes and more, as well billing on festivals such as Metal For The Brain, Overcranked and Festival Of The Dead, and several more Australian and New Zealand headlining tours.

LORD expands upon the diversity that was established by Dungeon. Whilst Dungeon was very much grounded in the power / traditional / thrash metal genres, the band’s style often flirted with hard rock and melodic death metal. LORD takes Dungeon’s open-minded approach and pushes the envelope even further, venturing into areas as diverse as AOR, mainstream rock/pop, and all the way up to the most extreme metal styles, all the while keeping one foot firmly planted in the solid stylistic base that Dungeon was renowned for.

These diverse influences culminated in the first “true” LORD album, “Ascendence”, released in 2007, featuring the lineup of L.T. (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Tim “T.Y.” Yatras (drums, vocals), Andy Dowling (bass, vocals) and Mark Furtner (guitars, vocals). This album was received enthusiastically by both fans and music critics alike. LORD followed up this album with 2008’s “Hear No Evil” EP, which was limited to 500 hand-numbered discs and included a cover of Kylie Minogue’s hit “On A Night Like This” that received extensive national mainstream airplay.

LORD is a band that just doesn’t sit still, both musically and on the road. Always searching for new ways to create the perfect song or reach out to the audience in their high energy, charismatic shows.

2009 promises to be the biggest year for the band yet. More national and international touring is planned, along with a new album entitled “Set In Stone” which takes the LORD sound in yet even more directions than ever before. A new young prodigy of a drummer, Damian Costas, also joins the ranks in time for the second leg of touring for the year that finally sees LORD setting foot on Japanese soil.

Australian melodic metallers LORD will release a new EP, "Return Of The Tyrant", later in the year.

Commented LORD mainmain Lord Tim: "Finally we can release all of the details about our forthcoming EP, 'Return Of The Tyrant', that will be out in the next few weeks. For something that started out as a quick, fun project to give everyone something to listen to while they wait for us to release our next album, it turned into a major undertaking in the end but it was all worth the extra effort.

"As far as EPs go, this is a long one; close to an album length of music, with eleven songs, including the title track, which clocks in around the ten-minute mark.

"As for the songs themselves, we have 'Return Of The Tyrant', which is essentially part two of the old DUNGEON song 'Tarranno Del Mar'. We'd always felt that the original story was unfinished and the intention was to revisit it at some point, but then DUNGEON broke up in 2005 and we continued on as LORD instead, and the idea was shelved. The original riffs that were floating around for that sequel have now finally made it to a recording.

"Unlike 'Tarranno Del Mar', which suffered all manner of budget and technical issues, we were able to go all out on 'Return Of The Tyrant' and fully orchestrate it, bring in actors, dozens of guitar parts and literally hundreds of voices in the choirs. It truly is an epic! It was also great to have our good friends and ex-band mates Tim Yatras and Mav Stevens come in to be a part of the choir.

"Longtime fans of the band will know we love playing cover songs and we have a massive list of songs we want to record, ranging from BON JOVI to BATHORY and beyond. This time we've recorded a cover of SYMPHONY X's classic 'Of Sins And Shadows' and the '80s pop hit by CUTTING CREW '(I Just) Died In Your Arms', which features lead vocals by [bassist] Andy Dowling.

"During our last Australian tour, we did some unplugged shows. That sparked the idea of recording some unplugged versions of LORD and DUNGEON songs one day, so we decided to include some on this EP: 'Against The Wind', '100 Reasons', 'Rain', 'New Horizons', 'Paradise' and 'Eternal Storm'. And if all of that wasn't enough, we've also put on two extra mixes of 'Return Of The Tyrant' — an orchestral version and a shorter radio edit.

"As usual, we've had our friend Felipe Machado Franco [BLIND GUARDIAN, RHAPSODY, ICED EARTH, GAMMA RAY] handle the cover art, which will also be featured on shirts that we'll be selling on our current tour.

"We're still hard at work writing the next LORD album, but we hope you enjoy the new EP until it's done."

"Return Of The Tyrant" track listing:

01. Return Of The Tyrant
02. Of Sins And Shadows (SYMPHONY X cover)
03. (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight (CUTTING CREW cover)
04. Against The Wind (unplugged)
05. Rain (unplugged)
06. 100 Reasons (unplugged)
07. Paradise (unplugged)
08. Eternal Storm (unplugged)
09. New Horizons (unplugged)
10. Return Of The Tyrant (orchestral version)
11. Return Of The Tyrant (radio edit)

LORD's "The Tyrants Return" tour will take the band all around Australia and will include dates in Japan with DORO and JADED HEART.

LORD's latest album, "Set In Stone", was released in the band's home country in late August 2009 via Riot! Entertainment.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=144827

LT - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Andy Dowling - Bass, Backing Vocals (+ one lead vocal)
Mark Furtner - Guitars, Backing Vocals
Damian Costas - Drums, Backing Vocals

Special Guests:
Gabrielle De Giorgio - keyboard solo
Byron Farrugia - pirate voiceover
Tim Yatras - additional backing vocals
Mav Stevens - additional backing vocals