Listen: Saudade and Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe Cover Joy Division

Saudade, the long-running collective led by Chuck Doom (Crosses, Team Sleep, Palms) and drummer Gil Sharone (Team Sleep, Dillinger Escape Plan) — and featuring a rotating list of collaborators and vocalists — have released a cover of Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” featuring Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe.

The cover finds Blythe singing as you’ve never heard him before on the 1979 classic, summoning a deep bellow over a heavied-up version of the track. Blythe comments:

“I’ve always wanted to cover ‘Day of the Lords.’ In my opinion, it is the heaviest of Joy Division’s songs. With Saudade, we have such a widely-varied pool of musical backgrounds to draw from that I knew we could add some interesting sonic layers to the tune while honoring the original.” 

Doom adds of the process that led to the recording of the song and Blythe’s involvement:

“This track came together in such a fun and organic way right from the first session. Gil and I tracked the basics with drums, steel drums, Fender Rhodes, synths and bass. Our buddies Todd [Wilkinson of Team Sleep] and Matt [Campbell of Vowws] added guitars. When Randy came out to Los Angeles, we all spent a couple days working on the song together. It was really fun to make music with friends in the same room again.”

Originally envisioned as an instrumental outfit, Saudade has since incorporated vocals and has explored genres as far ranging as dub, reggae, metal and trance all cut from the same cohesive fabric. Among the frequent members are David Torn (David Bowie, Madonna), Dr. Know (Bad Brains), Mackie Jayson (Cro-Mags, Madball), John Medeski (Medeski Martin and Wood), Robert Thomas Jr. (Weather Report) and Dominique Lenore Persi (Stolen Babies). The late Lee “Scratch” Perry has also contributed to Saudade.

You can listen to the track below.