“I’ve always wanted to cover ‘Day Of The Lords’,” says Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe of his featured vocals spotlight on multi-cultural and genre-blending group Saudade’s new cover of the Joy Division classic. “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.”

The track is the first new release for 2021 by the band led by Chuck Doom (Crosses, Team Sleep, Palms) and drummer Gil Sharone (Team Sleep, Marilyn Manson, Dillinger Escape Plan), and featuring a rotating list of vocalists that now includes Blythe.

“This track came together in such a fun and organic way right from the first session,” explains Chuck. “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.”

As one of the most beloved and revered songs of Joy Division’s catalog, “Day Of The Lords” takes on a special resonance for the band. “When Randy mentioned it to Chuck, I thought it was a killer idea and we jumped in the studio within days of that call,” adds Gil. “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.”

The newly-released single comes with an accompanying video that also honors the Joy Division aesthetic. Deserted and desolate architecture and scenery is interspliced with equally grainy and gritty studio footage, capturing the post-punk song in stark black and white. The video's director RIZZ of the band Vowws (who also performs within the Saudade orbit) explains, “I had some notes from Randy about abandoned spaces which was great cos It’s always good to have a starting point and the rest sort of filled itself in.”

Originally envisioned as an instrumental outfit, Saudade has since incorporated vocals and has explored genres as far ranging as dub, reggae, metal and trance all cut from the same cohesive fabric. An independent musical and artistic entity, which is not to be confused as supergroup or side project, Saudade is a band whose rotating membership is held together by the nucleus of Chuck Doom and Gil Sharone. Among the frequent members are David Torn (David Bowie, Madonna), Dr. Know (Bad Brains), Mackie Jayson (Cro-Mags, Madball), John Medeski (Medeski Martin and Wood), and Robert Thomas Jr. (Weather Report) and Dominique Lenore Persi (Stolen Babies). The late Lee “Scratch” Perry has also contributed to Saudade and whose presence will be sorely missed.

“Day Of The Lords” was recorded at Station House Studio (Echo Park, CA) with additional recording at The Witches Castle (Portland, OR) and The Music Room (Los Angeles, CA). It was produced by Chuck Doom with Mark Rains and Gil Sharone and is now available here.

(Photo - Christine Solomon)