Driving back tonight through dark country roads with the clouds gliding spookily across the big bright moon was the perfect setting for a Halloween jaunt! Yes, Samhain is indeed a glorious festival!
I’ve been working hard today, ploughing through so many weird and wonderful Halloween-themed tracks and never appreciated just how much was out there! I had so many songs to choose from, but this one kept lingering in the back of my mind like a hovering spirit and I just had to exorcise it!
Today’s spooky song choice comes from the underground UK psych-rockers Sam Gopal (also known as Sam Gopal’s Dream), a band who were named after its Malaysian founding member, Sam Gopal. Raised on the tabla from the age of seven, Gopal replaced the use of a full drum kit with this percussive alternative, giving his band a really distinct sound.
Another distinguishable feature was band member Ian Fraser Kilmister, aka Lemmy, who joined the band after playing in The Rockin’ Vickers. On Sam Gopal’s one and only album Escalator, which was released in 1969, Lemmy appears as Ian Willis on the credits because (random fact) he was considering changing his surname to that of his stepfather George Willis at the time!
Dark Lord begins with nothing but the desolate and eerie howl of a ghostly wind, a lull which is quickly severed by a surge of fuzz-guitars and cutting percussion, further contrasted by swirling vocals opening with the line, Black rains across the sky bring the nightfall, Winds wide around the stars black riders call…… Dark Lord awaits your attention above..play it if you dare! Happy Halloween…
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