All Reviews
Cellador - Enter Deception
Release: 2006Label: Metal Blade
By: Anders
Posted: Jul 10, 2006
A new force of melodic power metal has entered the world and is not content of leaving many prisoners behind. Cellador hails from Nebraska and are now ready with their debut full length album "Enter Deception", an album consisting of 8 powerful tunes, displaying all the good elements of power metal and more.
The band hits it off with majestic and bombastic metal, huge compositions painted with great and hooking guitar riffs, sweeping and enchanting melodies, the guitar work on this CD is awesome and over the top. The 2 quite unwritten pages Chris Petersen and Bill Hudson do deliver some amazing work, we get all from classical heavy metal deeds to neoclassical solos, slaying double harmonies and duel leads. The compositions are clever and breathtaking, the listener is caught in the web from the first notes of the opener 'A Sign Far Beyond', a track that captures one with its catchy melodies and tapping solos and brilliant vocal lines and choirs en masse. All the mentioned deeds are followed up through all the songs, and it all continues until the last track 'No Change Lost', which is just as great and powerful as the opener, something seldom experienced.
The rhythm section of the band, is as mean as the guitars. The rhythms are kept in a hard grip by the bass and the drums. The bass is audible just below the incredible wall of guitars most of the time, and once in a while it surfaces to deliver a small lead or 2, beautiful. The drumming is quite insane when thinking of the style delivered here. The paces are often insanely high speeded, a blasting snare drum, thundering kick drums and crashing cymbals all over the line, though we are also getting more calm and atmospheric play here and there, the drumming is always suited to the overall atmosphere and works very well together with the wicked guitars.
The vocal effort is also top notch, a melodic and powerful voice, captivating the listeners, while delivering fierce vocals straight in your face. Backed up by bombastic choirs, the choirs are a much used feature on "Enter Deception", something that doesn't bother me at all, as I am a sucker for such, and on here they work well, and lifts the overall atmosphere a notch. The vocal harmonies and melodies do also follow the guitars very well at times, and are often used as an instrument, adding to the wholesome, lifting the overall impression a bar.
Cellador has utilized the producer-talents of Erik Rutan on the album, and he has given the music a good and powerful sound. Especially the guitars sound well and they have a lot of space to play in and are well placed in the mix. The bass does also come to its rights, together with the drums, even though it sounds like the cymbals are being kept in awe and doesn't seem as "alive" as they usually do. The vocals are also blazing through as the icing on the top.
I have to admit that "Enter Deception" is one of the best debuts in a while, Cellador seems like a band that have hit the head of the nail, on the exactly right time with this album. The whole of the album is highly enjoyable and damn addictive, the album craves more and more plays as time passes. It is easy to get into, and offers much more than easy-listening power metal, when one digs deep into it. Cellador has more or less delivered the perfect blend of melodic power metal, furious and blazing speed metal and neo-classical heavy metal, hail the new gods.
The band hits it off with majestic and bombastic metal, huge compositions painted with great and hooking guitar riffs, sweeping and enchanting melodies, the guitar work on this CD is awesome and over the top. The 2 quite unwritten pages Chris Petersen and Bill Hudson do deliver some amazing work, we get all from classical heavy metal deeds to neoclassical solos, slaying double harmonies and duel leads. The compositions are clever and breathtaking, the listener is caught in the web from the first notes of the opener 'A Sign Far Beyond', a track that captures one with its catchy melodies and tapping solos and brilliant vocal lines and choirs en masse. All the mentioned deeds are followed up through all the songs, and it all continues until the last track 'No Change Lost', which is just as great and powerful as the opener, something seldom experienced.
The rhythm section of the band, is as mean as the guitars. The rhythms are kept in a hard grip by the bass and the drums. The bass is audible just below the incredible wall of guitars most of the time, and once in a while it surfaces to deliver a small lead or 2, beautiful. The drumming is quite insane when thinking of the style delivered here. The paces are often insanely high speeded, a blasting snare drum, thundering kick drums and crashing cymbals all over the line, though we are also getting more calm and atmospheric play here and there, the drumming is always suited to the overall atmosphere and works very well together with the wicked guitars.
The vocal effort is also top notch, a melodic and powerful voice, captivating the listeners, while delivering fierce vocals straight in your face. Backed up by bombastic choirs, the choirs are a much used feature on "Enter Deception", something that doesn't bother me at all, as I am a sucker for such, and on here they work well, and lifts the overall atmosphere a notch. The vocal harmonies and melodies do also follow the guitars very well at times, and are often used as an instrument, adding to the wholesome, lifting the overall impression a bar.
Cellador has utilized the producer-talents of Erik Rutan on the album, and he has given the music a good and powerful sound. Especially the guitars sound well and they have a lot of space to play in and are well placed in the mix. The bass does also come to its rights, together with the drums, even though it sounds like the cymbals are being kept in awe and doesn't seem as "alive" as they usually do. The vocals are also blazing through as the icing on the top.
I have to admit that "Enter Deception" is one of the best debuts in a while, Cellador seems like a band that have hit the head of the nail, on the exactly right time with this album. The whole of the album is highly enjoyable and damn addictive, the album craves more and more plays as time passes. It is easy to get into, and offers much more than easy-listening power metal, when one digs deep into it. Cellador has more or less delivered the perfect blend of melodic power metal, furious and blazing speed metal and neo-classical heavy metal, hail the new gods.
Rating: 9/10
Cellador website
Distributed in Denmark and kindly supplied by Target
Distributed in Denmark and kindly supplied by Target
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