kingdom come

• Format: LP, 180-gram black vinyl
• Edition: Limited to 500 copies
• Packaging: Sturdy gatefold jacket with thick paste-on cover

Kingdom Come is the explosive 1970 debut album by Brooklyn power trio Sir Lord Baltimore and one of the most ferocious American heavy-rock records of its era. Built around Louis Dambra’s heavily distorted guitar, Gary Justin’s aggressive bass and John Garner’s thunderous drumming and high-register vocals, the album delivers a raw, fast-moving sound that anticipated much of the heavy metal that followed.

While many early heavy bands relied on slow, blues-based riffs, Sir Lord Baltimore frequently attack their material at breakneck speed. “Master Heartache” opens the record with frantic drumming, roaring guitar and an unusually intense vocal performance, while “Hard Rain Fallin’” and “Lady Of Fire” combine blues-rock foundations with the force and distortion of a later generation of metal bands.

The group also reveal a more adventurous side on “Lake Isle Of Innersfree,” where quieter passages and atmospheric textures provide contrast to the album’s relentless energy. “Pumped Up” returns to tightly wound heavy rock, driven by Garner’s unusually busy drum work and Dambra’s dense layers of guitar.

The extended title track dominates the second side with shifting tempos, powerful riffs and an almost overwhelming wall of sound. “Hell Hound” and “Helium Head (I Got A Love)” continue the album’s combination of psychedelic excess, rhythm-and-blues energy and metallic guitar distortion, before “Ain’t Got Hung On You” brings the record to a compact and forceful conclusion.

Produced and engineered by a team that included Eddie Kramer, Kingdom Come captures the trio at their most uncompromising. Its combination of speed, volume, distortion and virtuoso drumming has made it a cult favourite among collectors of early heavy metal, proto-metal and underground American hard rock.

Track listing:

Side A

1. Master Heartache – 4:35
2. Hard Rain Fallin’ – 2:55
3. Lady Of Fire – 2:50
4. Lake Isle Of Innersfree – 4:03
5. Pumped Up – 4:03

Side B

1. Kingdom Come – 6:40
2. I Got A Woman – 3:00
3. Hell Hound – 3:17
4. Helium Head (I Got A Love) – 4:00
5. Ain’t Got Hung On You – 2:20