Australian melodic metallers LORD have announced their new EP details including the tracklisting, cover art and guests.

Commented mainman L.T.: "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.

Long-time 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. Keep an eye on http://www.lord.net.au for the upcoming release date of the EP."

Full track-listing for the EP:

'Return Of The Tyrant'

'Of Sins And Shadows' (Symphony X cover)

'(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight' (Cutting Crew cover)

'Against The Wind' (unplugged)

'Rain' (unplugged)

'100 Reasons' (unplugged)

'Paradise' (unplugged)

'Eternal Storm' (unplugged)

'New Horizons' (unplugged)

'Return Of The Tyrant' (orchestral version)

'Return Of The Tyrant' (radio edit)

Lord's The Tyrants Return tour will take them all around Australia and also features dates in Japan with DORO and JADED HEART. Tour dates:

August

13 - Newtown, Australia - Notes
27 - Wollongong, Australia - The Ox
28 - Canberra, Australia - The Maram

September

11 - Darwin, Australia - Brown's Mart Theatre (Lic/AA)
16 - Sydney, Australia - The Annandale Hotel
17 - Melbourne, Australia - East Brunswick Club

October

2 - Cairns, Australia - Kuranda Theatre (Lic/AA)
8 - Tokyo, Japan - Holiday (with Doro and Jaded Heart)
10 - Nagoya, Japan - Holiday (with Doro and Jaded Heart)
11 - Osaka, Japan - Holiday (with Doro and Jaded Heart)
29 - Sydney, Australia - The Gaelic
30 - Newcastle, Australia - Club Led

November

5 - Broken Hill, Australia - Theatre Royal (AA Afternoon show)
5 - Broken Hill, Australia - Royal
6 - Adelaide, Australia - Uni Bar (Lic/AA)
19 - Perth, Australia - Rocket Room
20 - Perth, Australia - The Civic Hotel
26 - Brisbane, Australia - Rosies
27 - Rockhampton, Australia - The Anchor Hotel

December

3 - Merrylands, Australia - Hyland Road Youth Centre (AA)