Album Review: Lords Of Black - Alchemy Of Souls

Speculation is just that; an attempt to infer from the facts we know something we don't. It is an exercise in trying to make sense of things that don't, because we have trouble dealing with black holes of information. Se here we have Lords Of Black, who on the surface are no different than the last time we heard them. However, in that time Ronnie Romero left the band, was replaced, and then came back. I find this curious, and have my own ideas of how and why all of this happened. I find it hard to believe it was coincidence that Ronnie's departure coincided with him having the gig singing for Rainbow, as well as three or four other bands, while he return coincides with none of those projects getting any more attention than Lords Of Black ever had. I'm speculating, of course, but that's what makes the most sense to me.

The album gets off to a great start with "Dying To Live Again", where the guitars give us heavy riffs and neoclassical solos, while the hook Romero sings is metal at its best. The song blends heaviness and melody beautifully, and showcases the best aspects of Lords Of Black. Unfortunately, it only lasts the one song, as the following "Into The Black" is a number built on the generic riff and almost no melody at all being sung. It's one of those songs Primal Fear has made a career out of, which I have complained about all along. The shift in style, and quality, between these opening two songs is massive.

Romero continues to use his raspier delivery for most of these songs, which you might think is fitting because this is metal we're talking about, but it actually serves to hinder the songs. When the choruses hit, that rasp doesn't play as well with backing vocals, so he is left mostly alone, and the songs sound smaller for that choice. We don't get many of the massive choruses you expect from an epic scale metal album, for the simple reason that you can't track a choir of rasps and have it sound good.

The band's explanation is that Romero returned when he heard the songs that were being written, and they were too good to pass up the chance to sing. I don't hear those songs when I'm listening to this record. There are a couple of good ones, but more of this record is generic metal than even the last time I heard Lords Of Black. I wasn't bowled over by it, but even the second album from The Ferrymen had more consistent quality than this record does. This album is just... flat.

For as heavy as they try to make the guitars, and for as hard as Romero pushes his rasp, the album doesn't doesn't come across as a metallic beast. The guitars have a hair too much gain to hit with a real chunky sound, and Romero has always sounded like he's trying way too hard, and what that does (at least for me) is leave everything sounding like a facade. The fact that Tony Hernando made an album of melodic rock songs last year further leads me to question whether this is actually the kind of music they really want to be making. Maybe it is, but I'm not hearing the passion in it.

Lords Of Black have always been one of those bands people praise, and I don't hear what all the fuss is about. That trend continues here, as this album continues to do a few good things to go along with a few on the other side of the ledger. It's a decent record, and it isn't a bad listen, but I've heard enough from them to think they're never going to make a truly great record.