We all have our favourite kinds of music, it could
be disco, rap, hip-hop, blues, ska, punk – the list goes on and on.
But I find it’s always great, when a new band comes along with just
the type of music you've followed for years, which takes you back –
yet brings you bang up to date.
This for me was last year when I found out that
one of my all time favourite bands, Rainbow, were doing a gig at the
Genting Arena in Birmingham and in Europe. As usual with this band
all the members would change except for one – Richie Blackmore. But
my ears pricked up when I heard the new singer, Ronnie Romero. He
sang exactly how I want a rock/metal singer to sing – powerful with
great range, good diction, and be able to do it live. And he can do
the lot!
Then I found he had his own band – Lords of
Black! Well, I had to check them out! I was not disappointed.
Listening to the new CD, Lords of Black II was like a breath
of fresh air. I was keen to find out more.
I discovered that Tony Hernando is a brilliant and
successful guitarist in his own right, producing five solo releases.
He's played with some of the finest musicians in the business and has
been guitarist for the popular Spanish Metal band, Saratoga for the
last seven years. On drums is Andy C, an accomplished musician,
producer, composer, drummer and pianist who has also been with
Saratoga for the last eight years. The newest member to the band is
Javier Garcia on bass who took over from Victor Duran earlier this
year.
There's no doubt that lead singer Chilean-born
Ronnie Romero is world class, hence the confidence of Ritchie
Blackmore to have Romero follow in the shoes of Ian Gillan, David
Coverdale and Ronnie James Dio.
Like many legendary vocalists, Ronnie began
singing in a gospel choir at the age of seven but once he discovered
rock music he knew what he wanted to be. So inspired by his favourite
artists which included Ian Gillan, Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale
and Steve Perry, he developed a powerful and melodic singing voice
with an incredible vocal range. Ronnie moved to Spain in 2011,
working and collaborating with other musicians. Then in 2013 he met
the guitarist Tony Hernando at a Dio Tribute Concert. By the
following year they had formed Lords of Black.
The band's self-titled first Album, Lords of
Black has been acclaimed as one of the very best début rock
albums of late. With great lyrics, powerful melodies, intricate and
complex elements that all combine to create songs that will become
classics of the future.
Their second album produced worldwide by Frontiers
Records, Lords of Black II has 13 new songs, including
Merciless, Everything You're Not, Insane and more. The Art of
Illusion Part III – The Wasteland, is the conclusion to the
trilogy story featured on their début album; while the song Cry
No More is inspired and dedicated to the late Phil Lynott.
Lords of Black are rock/metal and I was a fan! I
was quickly on their website to discover they were touring the UK on
their Merciless Tour. So I contacted the lads to see if they
needed a photographer for their gig in Stoke, and that was that…
They were playing at smaller venues but the fans
were loving it. From the start it was a great sound and perfect
playing. They went through both of their albums as well as playing
some Rainbow and Deep Purple songs – bands which had influenced
them. What a top gig, I feel they will go far and hope they will.
After the gig I had a chat with Tony Hernando
about how the tour was going, and what they thought of England so
far. Here's what he had to say:
Q. You've been busy touring – Japan, Europe
and now England. How has it all gone so far? Any highlights?
Tony:
Yeah, we’ve been pretty busy lately first with a great european
tour as special guest act for Axel Rudi Pell, then playing some high
profile Festivals like Loud Park Japan and Frontiers Metal Festival
in Milan, now headlining for the first time in Europe in this three
weeks tour – including our very first time in England, which is
great. We love all places we play in and audiences are great
everywhere, but sure, Japan was beyond our expectations. Such a great
Festival, great bill, great experience.
Q. What do you think of England, and its music
scene?
Tony: Well,
when it comes to speak about Rock History, this is the place man! We
really like to think we are playing on…like sacred ground, you
know? Many of our fave bands and influences came out from here, like
Purple, Rainbow, Maiden, Sabbath, you name it! You’re in London
about to play and you can’t help for a moment to think about it. Or
you’re in Birmingham and think about the whole 'Heavy Metal
birthplace' – Black Country stuff, so it’s really cool.
Q. You've produced two great albums, do you
collaborate when writing songs? Do you all have some input?
Tony: Yes, it’s pretty much a
collaboration effort. It may depend on how many ideas any of us are
putting out – in the first album I co-wrote many of the songs with
Ronnie and Andy, but for some reason, for the second album I was more
productive or more driven maybe, and at that moment it ended up with
mostly songs I had writen myself.
Q. Where do you get your inspiration for your
songs?
Tony:
You never know, it comes from everywhere. Maybe just a concept or a
title or a phrase that resonates inside you and guides you throughout
the whole writing process of a song. Lyrically, if you pay attention
you could even say we have a lot of 'love songs' but never in a
cheesy way! I mean, I love the love-hate duallism and pretty much you
can say everything that moves us, that moves the world is because of
our human nature. And there you have the most powerful and unique
side we humans have…love – or the lack of it. Some other numbers
may be more epic or classic Heavy Rock stuff. I think we cover a lot
of ground lyrically and also musically, with just some bits of
proggy, power or just Classic Metal but with our very distinctive
twist to it, due to Ronnie’s voice and my melodic approach to my
writing and playin’.
Q. Fantastic that Ronnie is the new lead singer
for Rainbow. How did he, and the band take that news?
Tony:
Well, it definitely has been a game changer, since Ritchie Blackmore
announcing Ronnie Romero as the new singer for Rainbow put all the
eyes over him and over us! It’s been so great and we were huge fans
of the “Man in Black” anyway, so it couldn’t be better.
Q. What is the next move for the band.
Tony: We’ll
be writing and recording new stuff in the next few months, so I hope
we have the follow up album before next year comes to an end. Sure
we’ll have some more gigs and summer festivals, but I don’t think
a another long tour as such. Also Ronnie will be doing a bunch of
Rainbow shows in June, which is great.
We thank Tony for chatting to Words & Images
UK and we thank the band, Lords of Black for the music – and wish
them all the best for the future, which is going to be big!
Discover more by going to: www.lordsofblack.com/
or Facebook the name.
ROB TYSALL
Words & Images UK
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