Very few bands work as hard as Portland riff rockers Lord Dying, where the touring life and playing loud rock is a way of life for these four gentlemen. Since the band started in 2010, they have come out swinging and their impact has been felt on the Northwestern US music scene, playing dirty riff rock with a dark overtone that has won over fans everywhere they have played.

Lord Dying made their first appearance at the Scion Rock Fest in Pomona, CA and also debuted a few songs off of their forthcoming album Poisoned Altars (Relapse). Much of these songs were still fairly new to the band as well, as they had not performed them live.

Lord Dying has been a staple part of the growing Northwestern rock scene that has taken the music world by storm. Not since the Seattle grunge scene of the early 1990s has the Northwestern US seen a musical revolution captivate the world and grabbed the attention of the public and the media like this.

“The music scene really. Even ten years ago, I’ve always love bands from out of there. Now the scene is getting a lot of notoriety. It’s being noticed worldwide. People are starting to understand… when we go to Europe, not always but sometimes we have to explain it’s a city between Seattle and LA…even though there are many. They definitely have heard of Seattle and LA. The West Coast!”

“Definitely in America too. I noticed we’re being noticed a lot. A lot of the bands are touring and putting out good music,” said Olson.

If rock is allegedly dead, this area definitely missed this memo. Especially Lord Dying, as Poisoned Altars is anything, but layers of distorted rock music that never lets up from pummeling listeners with riff after riff after riff.

“Not in the Northwest man!,” says lead vocalist and guitarist Erik Olson, about the thriving rock scene Lord Dying came out of. “Definitely was into that music (the grunge scene). I would say there definitely is some influence, but same thing with growing up and listening to punk and metal too. I think our sound has an influence from the Northwest like grunge and sludge scene. But a lot of the bands there do too. It’s part of it. The Melvins are a huge influence on everyone.”

 

A lot has happened since they wound down their touring cycle behind their Relapse Records debut, 2011’s Summon the Faithless. After touring with a variety of bands such as Danava, Lecherous Gaze, Black Cobra, Gaza, Witch Mountain, Black Tusk, as well as higher profile tours with Down, Red Fang and Ghost BC, they began working on newer songs and recorded their new album.

“We wanted to keep the touring going, but we’ve been touring so much on this last record, we needed to have another one out so we could keep it up,” he explained, about getting the writing portion going with Lord Dying.

The band got off the road and found time to begin exploring ideas to shape what became skeletons of songs for Poisoned Altars.

“We put some time into it at home,” said guitarist Chris Evans.

“When we have a break, we usually try to go in every day to work on stuff and see what we come up with. We don’t really do it on the road. I hear about bands doing that. I don’t see how you have the time. Maybe write a riff here and there, but we have to really dedicate time to write a song when we’re home,” added Olson.

So does the rainy environment play a role in what fuels their angst ridden tones? “It does. There’s not a lot to do there so it does have an impact on a lot of the musicians. They don’t have a lot to do so they go inside and write music and it’s depressing all the time outside, so you get depressing music out of it! You get used to it too. I’ve been there about ten years. It doesn’t have that much of an effect on me,” he said.

Olson spoke about the new album and a briefing about what to expect. “It’s going to be a little more brutal, and a little meaner. We stepped the playing up at least a few steps. The first one to feature Rob [Shaffer] over here.”

Since the last album, the band parted ways with Jon Reid, their original drummer. They hired former Dark Castle drummer Rob Shaffer to play drums on Poisoned Altars, as well as fill in for live dates.

“When our drummer decided he didn’t want to do it any more, because he had some other things that he had to pursue, he was the first person in Portland that came to mind. He used to play in Dark Castle, which we loved the drumming in that and knew he wasn’t doing a lot at the moment musically. So we thought ‘let’s give Rob a call.’ He was into it,” explained Olson.

Shaffer had literally joined prior to the Scion Fest, but was up for the challenge to play with Lord Dying. “I joined three or four weeks ago. Learned all of the songs and recorded it, learned all the old songs at practice in the last three days. This is my test!,” he said, with a chuckle.

“We wrote all the music for the new album when we had a break from touring last fall. Then we were on the road non stop until about a month ago,” added Evans.

They took their music on the road and have won over a legion of fans everywhere they played. Olson said the band’s touring has helped attract new fans and the new album will be no different. “Part of that is definitely all the touring. There’s that and Red Fang helped us a lot with exposure. Signing with Relapse didn’t hurt. It definitely opened some doors. We’re definitely out there to do as much as we can. I think people want to work with us because of that. We like to take advantage of any opportunities. We haven’t really been turning down any tours.”

So what’s next? After completing a brief West Coast tour supporting Corrosion of Conformity, they will be venturing on a North American tour supporting Anvil

Interview By Rei Nishimoto