EU Free Shipping on orders over 99,90€ / Spedizione gratuita per ordini superiori a 39,90€
Chained Lace – Morbid Fascination
25,00 €
2 x Vinyl, LP, Reissue
In stock
Product Details
Label: Bloodrock Records
Format: Vinyl
A flash of lightning and the story is told
Throughout the history of heavy metal in the United States there have been regions that have become well-known for their local scenes; most notably L.A. and the Bay Area, and to lesser degrees Florida and Texas. However, the Northern Virginia/ Washington D.C/ Maryland area has always been a brief footnote at best.
However as secretive as it was, it was indeed there, and
its roots were planted as far back as the early 1970s from the proto-metal beginnings of Pentagram and from those roots would grow a great doomy tree of woe that would cast a gloom over that part of the country that still looms today.Around 1985 Washington D.C. heavy metal band Hellion was over after releasing a modest amount of demo songs that saw fair circulation in the local underground scene. Guitarist Norman Lawson and bassist Tim Carrubba would put together another project called The Factory but this would merely be a brief endeavour.
The two would eventually find themselves without a band but with several songs written and ready once they found the right players.
Many times there were attempts made for Lawson and Pentagram frontman Bobby Liebling to get together in some kind of project. Sadly this would never come about. However being on the same circuit and knowing Liebling, Lawson and Carrubba would be introduced to Bobby’s then current girlfriend Cherie Bacon (aka Cheri Blade).
Blade had been interested in forming a band for some time, so this introduction to Norman and Tim would make that happen. Blade would also bring along her friend Sampson into the fold to bring up the back beat. Now CHAINED LACE was a solid band.
The band rented rehearsal space in Kensington, MD where they immediately started rehearsing some of the songs that Norman had brought over from his time with Hellion. It would not take the foursome long to get together a set’s worth of tight material to start playing out.
After opening a few shows for Pentagram Lawson would begin to write songs specifically for CHAINED LACE.
Lawson’s idea was to mix his influences from bands like Sir Lord Baltimore and Blue Cheer to Iggy and the Stooges and New York Dolls. The music fused with the raw and untamed delivery of Blade’s vocal styling created a punk-ish like outcome as if Blondie were a doomy proto-metal band.
That same year in ’85 the band would record their first demo of original songs titled ‘Morbid Fascination’ which was the title of a song recorded with Lawson and Carrubba’s previous band Hellion. Most of the songs would keep a steady mid-tempo pace that would become the band’s signature sound. While tracks like ‘Black Widow’ was just as heavy as anything offered at the time and could rival anything in the occult rock/metal trend of recent years.
Cassettes began to float throughout the local scene with reaction growing ever positive. One review commented on the “raw power” of the band.
“CHAINED LACE is an innovation on raw power, a variation from the current flooding of “thrash” metal bands today. With Cheri’s forceful, bitchy singing to Norman’s smart-aleck leads, combined with Tim’s thundering bass and Roger’s sledgehammer drumming. This band captures the true energy lacking in many of today’s metal bands”.
Without ever seeing the band one can easily paint a picture of leather jackets, switchblade knives, and Lucky Stripes. The vibe was a streetwise Fonzie coolness with a Tuscadero front lady that had a swagger that said, “I won’t take any shit”. It was tough, straight forward, heavy and unapologetic about it.
CHAINED LACE continued to gig on into ’86 playing more shows with Pentagram. They would also see the departure of Sampson who would be replaced by Jerry Orr.
With new drummer Orr in tow, the band entered the studio again to record a second demo. These tracks would show an interesting range in the band’s songwriting hidden in the simplicity of the song structures. It was all in the deep hooks and delivery. Songs like ‘Fortress’ grabs the listener immediately and the sultry vocals keep pulling you in. While other tracks like ‘Burnt Offerings’ and ‘You’re Crying Now’ are direct with a taunting edge delivered by a Riot Girl before there was even such a thing.
As with their first offering, the band’s new songs were met with positive response by “scensters”, fans, and critics alike.
But sadly CHAINED LACE’s days were numbered as gigs began to increasingly slow down until the eventually things just ended, only a few months after the recording.
The life of CHAINED LACE was brief and merely faded away becoming a footnote in the history of the area’s heavy metal scene. But over the past thirty-one years, their name has gained much respect and cult status in the doom metal underground.
Save this product for later
Chained Lace – Morbid Fascination
Display prices in:EUR
