Label: Frontiers Music

Genre: Melodic Metal

Release Date: May 11th, 2018

Line Up:

Ronnie Romero
Tony Hernando
Andy C.
Dani Criado

Tracklist:

World Gone Mad
Icons of the New Days
Not in a Place Like This
When a Hero Takes a Fall
Forevermore
The Day I’ll Remember
Fallin’
King’s Reborn
Long Way to Go
The Edge of Darkness
Wait No Prayers for the Dying
All I Have Left

Lords Of Black still belong to the group of bands that are rather new. The beginning of this Spanish metal outfit dates back to 2014, the year when the quartet premiered with a self-titled album.

This first album led to some attention; also of Frontiers Music. The band inked a deal with the Italian label and it was the sophomore release ‘II’ that brought Lords Of Black a lot of new fans. Next to well-crafted songs it was and is the voice of singer Ronnie Romero that fascinated fans of modern melodic metal. In the meantime the frontman is more known than the band, esp., since Romero was chosen to be the singer of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, shows in 2016 and 2018. All of a sudden the Spanish frontman stood in line with singers such as the legendary Ronnie James Dio and Joe Lynn Turner. Romero grew with the challenge and used the opportunity for getting even better by adding extra experience to his vita.

The new Lords Of Black album benefits of Romero’s evolvement although ‘Icons of the New Days’ is more than a Romero album with three additional musicians. ‘Icons of the New Days’ is the result of strong teamwork that includes everybody in the band.

“World Gone Mad” is the opener of a strong power metal release. Lords Of Black picks up where they ended with “II”. There are parallels with German genre icons like Brainstorm although Lords Of Black adds more melody to their songs.

The new album includes excellent tracks that in no way sound dusted or oldfashioned. The quartet interprets melodic metal in a way that catches fans attention. As mentioned earlier, the four-piece powerhouse acts as a team and it‘s the individual class of everybody involved that makes songs like the uptempo “When a Hero Takes a Fall” to genre highlights.

The album relinquishes a typical ballad. “King‘s Reborn” starts a bit calmer but also this track evolves in no time to an excellent power anthem that breathes the spirit of Rainbow‘s “Long Live Rock‘n‘Roll”.

If the third album is a decisive factor for a band’s career I must conclude that we will hear much more of Lords Of Black over the coming years. This album is highly entertaining, includes strong metal songs and benefits of a well-crafted sound. Lords Of Black is a key asset in Frontiers Music powerful portfolio. Great stuff that you shouldn’t miss.

Written by: Markus Wiedenmann