Cellador - Enter Deception Review
Contents |
General Information
Original Author: The Uncreator
Artist: Cellador
Album: Enter Deception
Genre: Power Metal
Year Of Release: 2006 under Metal Blade Records
Location: Omaha, Nebraska USA
Track Listing
1. Leaving All Behind (03:13)
2. A Sign Far Beyond (05:17)
3. Never Again (05:13)
4. Forever Unbound (05:59)
5. Seen Through Time (07:09)
6. Wakening (05:19)
7. Releasing the Shadow (05:42)
8. No Chances Lost (06:31)
Album Review
80%
When we think of Power Metal, it has always been dominated by the European countries. Blind Guardian (Germany), Persuader (Sweden), Rhapsody (Italy), Stratovarius (Finland) etc. But why not US? Yes, United States never had a Power Metal band to represent its country. At least not anymore. Cellador is the savior of such facts, and they somehow live in Nebraska which baffles me to this day.
The music itself lacks originality though. The first track Leaving All Behind clearly has a lot of Stratovarius influence. A Sign Far Beyond, Seen Through It All and Wakening are filled with Dragonforce essence. And the most annoying fact about this band is Gremios's vocal work: he sounds a lot like Michael Kiske. Yes, the band is nothing more than a rip-off of other bands... but why you ask such a high rating? The music, although standard and overplayed, is still a very solid release. You can't help but sing a long to the lyrics and be amazed on how good the guitar work and vocal work isl. The only original thing about Cellador is its lack of Keyboardist. A Power Metal band without a keyboard is not so bad, reallly.
Now lets dive in deeper shall we? Guitar work here is pretty good. Bill Hudson is a great guitarist who was once featured in Guitar World's Betcha Can't Play This section. The album is filled with very fast riffage use and a lot of melodic style solos. Seems to work very well with Cellador's music.
Bass, Drums, Lyrics, and Singing are a weak though. For one, Bass is very inaudible. Drums are ok at best. A lot of double bass to add texture and fastness to Bill Hudson's riffing. It could be better but it leaves a lot of room to work for both aspects of the band. Gemio's singing is like I said Kiske rip-off. He needs to be more original. Its not a terrible situation since Kiske is a good singer and he captured it quite nicely. The lyrics are pretty decent as well. Nothing special but its not bad either. Its like a combination of Dragonforce, Stratovarius, Iced Earth, and Helloween all packed in.
To sum up
All in all, this is a very solid first release from the most well-known Power Metal band to come out of US, let alone Nebraska. It leaves a lot of room to be worked on better. I hope on Cellador's next release that all of the things that bothered me will be removed. If not then Cellador should just be a cover band. Bill Hudson's playing is the only thing thats keeping me from giving this album a 50% at best.
