While the insularities of indie songcraft are enjoying an increased presence on the FM dial lately, the isolated feel of the new music video for metal outfit Lords and Liars’ “Killdozer” is different from any other I’ve encountered this year. We’re trapped inside a dark, dismal environment reinforced by the backdrop and implied evils on screen, and when accompanied by the crushing soundtrack, the video for “Killdozer” feels like a suffocating visual experiment designed for the metal aficionado in all of us. It’s unforgiving and throttling where similar content has been openly campy and intentionally disjointed, recalling a time of more meticulous heavy metal thunder than a younger generation has been able to experience.
The guitars are the star of “Killdozer” from a musical perspective, and they double-up with the vocal to create a wall of brutality that scarcely overwhelms but constantly pushes the audience into a corner. There’s a lot of chugging intensity in this groove, but without the swing of the guitar parts as we come into the second half of the track, I don’t think that Lords and Liars would sound as provocatively complex in their performance here as they undeniably are. Details matter and this is a band that has them down to a science.
Watch the video for “Killdozer” below
This arrangement doesn’t put the strings at center stage but instead lends a lot of the spotlight over to the percussion and the vocal, which leaves the bassline and guitar parts a lot of room to swell and take over the narrative by the midway point in the song. No one can accuse Lords and Liars of circumventing intricacy in the name of creating something catchy in this piece, and coming off of an absurdly rough couple of years for the metal underground, their crunchy, fat-free blend of stony distortion and thuggish rhythm could be just the thing this genre needs the most.
Metalheads have a lot to celebrate in “Killdozer” this September, and if you haven’t already given it a spin on your stereo, this might be the right time to check it out. The music video solidifies the vibe that the song sports just fine on its own, but with one caveat – its imagery suggests an ambition to go even darker than one might have originally assumed just in listening to the single by itself. Lords and Liars are poised to go places as the pandemic gives way to a live music comeback, and I’m looking forward to seeing them on stage as soon as possible.