IRON LAMB – A QUEST FOR ROCK & ROLL
Everybody knows rock & roll gained perfection in the late 70’s, it’s a scientific fact. Between them, bands like Thin Lizzy, Ramones, Motörhead and AC/DC found the pure essence of hard music and rolled with it. Since then, punk and metal have gradually been twisted into extreme forms, or watered down to commercial blandness. Eventually, the pure formula was lost, the rock just didn’t roll as it used to. Since its formation in 2009, Iron Lamb has made it their quest to search for that original formula and avoid all the trends of late. They emerged to rock and/or roll.
Iron Lamb was formed by guitarist Johan Wallin, drummer Tomas Daun and vocalist Gustaf Lindström in 2009, soon to be joined by bass player Daniel Ekeroth. As all these members have quite extreme musical backgrounds, in bands such as Repugnant, Insision, General Surgery and Tyrant, it all started out quite punkish. Through a slew of 7” singles and debut album The Original Sin they gravitated towards a more riff-based rock, echoing the days of old. The debut gig as openers for punk legends Poison Idea led to a row of strange concerts and tours, where the band stood out as a sore thumb as they appeared alongside bands like Vomitory, Ghost, Turbonegro, Bolt Thrower. It worked, people just seemed to long for direct rock & roll again. You see, they started to remember. Remember metal without clichés and punk without dogmas, a time when the music itself mattered.
The addition of second guitarist Jens Bäckelin opened new doors to Lizzy-esque harmonies, and when gravelly-voiced Daniel Bragman carried on the torch of original singer Gustaf the band took yet another step in the direction of solid rock. Second album Fools Gold followed a one-way track into real music in a climate where fixed genres dominated the scenes. In 2015, it was as direct as any rock & roll album out there. Some touring and festival appearances gained them further attention from the punk and metal scenes alike, both genres claiming them as their own. This was not your average retro-band trying to cash in on some traditional style, this was pure music and people recognized it. The rock was rolling again.
Their latest, third studio album ”Blue Haze” was released in 2018 and is packed with catchy riffs and grooves that are completely their own. Raw, heavy, catchy, and intense as hell without any of the stereotype patterns or uniforms normally associated with punk and metal genres.
Iron Lamb is here to bring back that pure rock & roll formula, and you are invited for the ride on the apocalypse express. Can you dig it?!
