Kingdom Come (1970)

In an era of simple band names, Sir Lord Baltimore stands out with one of the more memorable monikers. The group also gave us one of the more original albums from that time, a sludgy, heavy rocker that should have propelled the Brooklyn trio into same status as Black Sabbath. Instead, the band released only two records and disappeared.

"Kingdom Come" was their first release, featuring doomy Sabbath-like riffs with the energy of Led Zeppelin. In fact, Mike Saunders wrote in May '71 issue of Creem magazine,

This album is a far cry from the currently prevalent Grand Funk sludge, because Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book. Precisely, they sound like a mix between the uptempo noiseblasts of Led Zeppelin (instrumentally) and singing that’s like an unending Johnny Winter shriek: they have it all down cold, including medium or uptempo blasts a la LZ, a perfect carbon of early cataclysmic MC5 (“Hard Rain Fallin’”), and the one-soft-an-album concept originated by Jimmy Page and his gang.

While the title track is an early doom metal masterpiece, most of the tracks have the punch of songs like "Pumped Up". Deep, distorted guitars are the theme here, with bluesy, earthy vocals that bring to mind Jack Bruce. Apparently, bassist Gary Justin cited Bruce as a major influence of the band, which makes some sense. In the same way Cream took the blues with more speed and deeper riffs a few years prior, Sir Lord Baltimore followed suit, just with thicker fuzz to create a heavier product.

Spinning this record (or more accurately, playing the mp3s) shows a band before their time, and it is easy to see how stoner rock bands were heavily influenced by the gunky riffs and goopy guitar licks, plodding keyboards and ponderous rhythm. While they may not have ever been memorable on tour (unable to capitalize on touring with Sabbath and Humble Pie), Justin, John Garner (drums/vocals), and Louis Dambra (guitar) certainly put out a stunning studio product. Like the debut from Lucifer's Friend, this one is highly recommended.