Metal Underground.com

Calling Lord's “What Tomorrow Brings” merely an EP might be short changing the release, which clocks in around 47 minutes across six tracks. The main event is easily the opening title track, a massive 25 minute monster that runs amok across pretty much everything melodic heavy metal has to offer and more. Following the musical journey of the extended title song, the Australian outfit then offers up another (much shorter) original track followed by four surprising cover song choices.

This particular release came to my attention due to the appearance of Tim Yatras (Germ, Austere, Autumn's Dawn) on drums, but don't worry if you don't dig depressive black metal with bizarre vocals, because none of his main project's sound takes up residence here. Rather, “What Tomorrow Brings” is classic heavy metal with strong power leanings for fans of Helloween, Gamma Ray, or Iron Maiden.

The musicianship and vocals are top notch, with the clean singing soaring between high pitched and mid-ranged. With a strong mooring in power metal though, it shouldn't come as surprise that there's a good deal of over-the-top elements. The keyboard parts layered over a baby gurgling as a mother welcomes the child into the world and then wishing him a good day at school is one such instance that's not going to work for fans of more extreme music. If you can look past that aspect, the track won't disappoint from beginning to end.

Wrapping up the release are four cover tracks from The Police, A-ha, Little River Band, and even Helloween. That final one fits like a glove considering the band's orientation, while the previous three are more for amusement purposes, although they aren't nearly as jarringly hilarious as say Graveworm or Children of Bodom's covers, as Lord really plays it more straight with these tracks. “Message In A Bottle” actually sounds pretty good as a melodic metal tune, although the keyboard-heavy “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” might be a bit too cheesy for the metal crowd (that transition into heaviness at 1:01 is pretty killer though).

If you dig melodic metal, power metal, or metallic renditions of traditionally non-heavy tunes, “What Tomorrow Brings” should easily be on your must-hear list, as Lord really knows what its doing with these epic sounds.