Lords of Black - Mechanics Of Predacity (2024)

Sixth album for Lords of Black who stay loyal to their studio appointment. I was very fond of their sophomore simply called II (two), but for some reason I lost them afterwards (my fault). Wanted to rectify this, and there’s no time like the present. The band plays a mix of prog/power with beefy guitars courtesy of Tony Hernando and on their ranks is the vocalist Ronnie Romero. He occupied the same position for Rainbow in the not so distant past, which is an achievement by itself and is also active both solo, as well as in the band Ferrymen. In the drums we have one of the best players of his generation, Jo Nunej, with his second entry this month following Firewind’s Stand United.

Before going on the main course, we must not judge the book by its cover. For some reason their artwork style always feels too video-gamey to me and ends up somewhat generic. But that’s not what we are here for. We are here for the music, which is much better!

I will start with the production of the album and I have my reasons, namely that it is just sooo good. You will want to play this thing loud, believe me. This is especially true in the heaviest moments like the starting For What is Owed to Us and Let the Nightmare Come. I just love it when Lords of Black play fast and if the whole record was like that, it would end up in my top positions of the year probably. Not implying that the rest are lacking, just telling how good those two are.

For the majority of the remaining time, the speed is reduced but the heaviness does not. Let it Burn is a good example, where guitars cut very deep and reminded me of Iced Earth somehow, minus the galloping riffs. The band steps into the fields of Prog as we said, so there is differentiation between each song. This diversifies the final output, creating results like Can We Be Heroes Again and Obsessions of the Mind, that move away from the dark tone the album initially expresses. We even have an eleven minute track (A World that’s Departed), before we close the way we started. With the fast Born out of Time.

Mechanics of Predacity is an album that requires significant investment from the listener, in terms of time and focus, to truly unfold. It is not catchy and it does not follow the simple structured approach of recent Power Metal, which is a good thing, but is something that gains them new fans at a slower pace than they deserve.

The whole experimentation led to some songs that I liked more than others. But one can’t deny that this experimentation is what makes things interesting. Instead of having a collection with an identical pulse, we have many moments of their own personality. I prefer for instance (with random numbers) 6 mind blowing compositions and 4 OK, instead of 10 that are just good.

The final verdict is that Mechanics of Predacity is very good. In fact, I liked it more than I believed I would. It enhances my opinion that Lords of Black are underrated. But someone must go against the flow and I am glad that there are still bands doing exactly that. Their fans will not need me suggesting this, to check it out. For the rest, I surely do.