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Epic heavy metal meets grounded power metal - A review of Lords of Black's Icons of the New Days
I was introduced to this band by my father who described Lords of Black as a mixture of Helloween and Iron Maiden with long song structures and a talented singer. I couldn't have said it better myself.
The Spanish quartet offers traditional melodic mid-paced heavy metal with occasional uplifting power metal melodies and rhythms without ever getting saccharine.
The songs are at times very long and also slightly repetitive but the band surprisingly convinces most in its longest tunes. Clocking in at eight minutes, ''King's Return'' is a heavy metal epic that could also come from a band like Dio and impresses with stunning melodies and diversified vocals. ''All I Have Left'' is a power ballad evolving into a mid-paced heavy rock stomper with a length of almost twelve minutes that reminds of bands like Rainbow without ever sounding old-fashioned or tiring.
Despite these great references, Lords of Black has its own style thanks to fantastic singer Ronnie Romero whose style is almost incomparable. The singer I know who comes closest to his style would be Jorn Lande who seems to have similar musical influences as this band. Ronnie Romero manages to find the perfect balance between a melodic approach and a slightly rough undertone. He sounds like a classic hard rock singer with the technical capacities of a heavy metal lead singer which makes him incredibly versatile.
A special shout out goes to the fact that Lords of Black offer twelve songs with a running time of almost seventy-three minutes on the regular edition of this release alone. The limited edition includes two more original tracks as well as four cover songs, including a skilled rendition of Queen's ''Innuendo'' and a tight interpretation of Anthrax's hit single ''Only''. The Japanese version includes an excellent acoustic version of the band's own ''Forevermore'', shortening the song by almost half its length and transforming it into a playful folk rock ballad. This is how alternative versions should sound: creative, different and distinctive.
Despite a few fillers in here and there, Icons of the New Days is a record that should please both fans of epic hard rock and heavy metal from the late seventies to the mid-eighties and those who like the more grounded and mid-paced aspects of the European power metal genre brought forward from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties. Lords of Black certainly is one of my greatest discoveries of the year and I would recommend to keep an eye on this creative and productive Spanish quartet.
Final rating: 80%
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