Theocracy: Mosaic | A Great Play That Merits The Triumph
(2023 – Atomic Fire)
There are teams that move the ball well from one side to the other, playing first touches, making a great dribble, but they never end up scoring in the opponent’s goal. That could be the case of Theocracy, which for years has been releasing more than interesting albums, but they are unable to convert the chances they generate into points. Well, in “Mosaic” we have enough reasons to consider that Theocracy’s last play is a well-done goal, it will serve for the triumph? We shall see.
Theocracy is the classic example of a band that, album by album, grows stronger and stronger, without stagnating or becoming comfortable. Each of their releases surpasses the previous one, and that logic continues in this “Mosaic” released at the end of 2023. It is not exaggerating if I say that this album is one of the best things Theocracy has done, going through an excellent production, with songs with a catch and a sound that refreshes the style without losing its own essence. This album could be the key, a before and after in Theocracy’s career.
With 10 compositions, the band’s proposal in “Mosaic” consists of a firm foundation, with strong guitars, double bass drum without abusing, without keyboards, etc, in a very intelligent re-elaboration of their progressive Power Metal, achieving songs with very pleasant melodies, with a lot of acceleration and pounding that give a very interesting air to the whole album. It is noteworthy that Theocracy composes their songs with a Thrash Metal influenced base, combined with their own classic sound. Here there are no keyboards or songs that are too epic, but bets on a strong proposal, firm but without losing the essence of what the band has been building for several years. The quintet is a classic line-up with drums, double guitars, bass and Matt Smith’s excellent vocals. No weird experiments.
Undoubtedly, what stands out the most is that “Mosaic” is never boring. It has the sound, it has the songs, it has the strength to consider it not only a good album, but maybe something more. Anyway, let’s lower the foam a little, it’s not that this album is going to change the history of Metal either, but there is no doubt that it is a great achievement of the band.
The album opens with the interesting and fast-paced “Flicker”, and when we say that the base has a certain Thrash influence, I’m not exaggerating. For that we have tracks like “Anonymous” that combines that base with choruses that stick with you at first listen. In the same vein, note down “Deified” and “Liar, Fool Or Messiah”, two tracks that go a thousand miles and are capable of blowing your wig off in a few seconds. Want more? There’s “Sinsidious (The Dogs Of War)”. The chosen tracks for this work are the title track, “Mosaic”, with a certain air to the classic Iron Maiden’s riding sound, and “Return To Dust”, with excellent and catchy choruses in a classic piece of melodic Power Metal. Both songs were released in video clips that you can find around, wherever you know.
Can we find something different in “Mosaic”? The answer is perhaps embodied in the excellent ballad “The Greatest Hope”, a climatic and soft song in which Matt Smith chooses a vocalization in accordance, proving to be an excellent singer. The grandiloquent was left for the end. In a piece that reaches 19 minutes (!?) entitled “Red Sea”, and that contains three well differentiated parts. Here Theocracy shows its musical greatness in a theme that begins riding, at half speed, telling the already known story of the “Exodus” but without falling in common places or already redundant. The guitar solos in the middle of “Red Sea” are counted as one of the best parts of the album and turn out to be the crowning of the great guitar work done by the duo Taylor Washington and Jonathan Hinds.
Regarding the production work, we can say that “Mosaic” has a great recording, mixing and mastering job, the band having used two different studios; “Theocrazided Studios” and “Full Moon Studios”, under the command of Matt Smith himself, who besides being a vocalist is a great producer. The mastering was done at The Lodge, NY by Emily Lazar and Chris Allgood, resulting in an excellent work in the sound section, with a great mix that puts Theocracy in the first leagues. The lyrical part does not bore. Theocracy escapes the classic message of Christian bands and goes a different way. That makes this work even more interesting.
Excellent is the graphic presentation of this work, conceptualized in tune with the title of the album in a Byzantine type of vibe (if someone does not know what we are talking about, I suggest researching what a mosaic is in the Byzantine and Eastern religious culture of medieval times), even in the images of the internal envelope and photographs of the band.
Maybe we’re exaggerating a bit (we tend to, for better or worse), but we have no doubt that “Mosaic” if it’s not the album of 2023 (well, at this point we’re in 2025), we hit the outer post of the goal, something Theocracy is not willing to let happen again. Will this play be the winner or will we have to wait for him to score one more goal and definitively secure the game?
This great album was not only released on CD but also on Vinyl, so you can check it out at https://www.atomicfire-records.com.
