CELLADOR – Enter Deception

It’s hard to fathom the proficiency and professionalism of the Power/Speed Metal outfit Cellador hailing from Omaha, Nebraska, USA, considering their young age. Associated with (quite) young, yet experienced, crews like DragonForce and Sonata Arctica, Power Metal is rapidly growing in popularity, making Cellador’s debut album Enter Deception a rather timely one. The crew have been playing together for no more than two years, and to have gotten so far so early proves nothing else than great potential. The trademark of youthful bands is often either extreme futurism and progressivity, or traditionalism to the fingertips, and with Power Metal, the latter is often the case.

Nothing implies otherwise as the disc takes its first spin by pumping out the energetic opening riff of “Leaving All Behind.” This piece bears all the trademark traits of Power Metal -– great virtuous musicianship on all instruments, high-pitch, semi-nasal vocals and drool-inducing guitar riffs. So far, Cellador bears promise of a band able to blend in with the mass of “talented” Power Metal bands out there today, but also as one is plummeted deeper into Enter Deception, the discoveries line up -– because there is so much more to this release.

Sure, drummer David Dahir provides a lot of trademark power bassdrum racing, but he also provides phenomenal blast beats –- not too shabby and a very interesting addition to a genre looked upon by many as especially prone to stagnation.

Vocalist and lyricist Michael Gremio has also chosen to avoid the classic fantasy lore with curvaceous scenery, extinct flying reptiles, and arcane tricksters of all shapes and sizes. The lyrics have a more personal foundation, and Gremio indeed manages to include vast amounts of emotion and passionate conviction into his vocal work, whose quality increases throughout the record. His voice is a salient presence in the band’s sound, as is often the case in this brand of Power Metal, with an impressive range and full tone.

Guitarists Chris Petersen and Bill Hudson are the ones entitled to the most acclaim, however, this genre requires an awful lot from the musical performer, both technically and musically, a challenge both performers have taken on head first. Their riffing is bound to create a massive puddle of drool (or something else; depending on the listener) in front of all wannabe guitarists out there –- many others will just shake their head in disbelief. Not only is the playing incredibly accomplished technically, it also mixes in elements from the increasingly acclaimed Modern Metal genre, with a far more Thrashy outlook than most other Power Metal bands. This is claimed by the band to be their “European Alibi” — this hybrid being the main musical message the band wishes to broadcast.

The most impressive aspect of this record is still the choruses. Michael Gremio’s great voice, clearly inspired by European Power Metal personalities like Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica) and Tobias Sammet (Edguy), really thrives in great pieces like “Wakening” and “No Chances Lost.” The choruses within these tracks are some of the most amazing pieces of music to be heard in a long, long time; such melodical catchiness is rarely found in today’s jungle of modernized Metal, where Metalcore and Trash are the cornerstones. Cellador merge bits of these styles with their own standard Power Metal (a trans-Atlantic fusion, so to speak) and end up with a groovy mix of the best of both worlds.

However, there are a couple of slight hiccups –- tracks like “Never Again” and “Releasing The Shadow” tend to blend in with each other, and the intro for “Forever Unbound” sounds so similar to DragonForce’s “Valley Of The Damned” that it’s not even funny. But, it’s not enough by a mile to lower the overall quality of this album. These lads are simply too proficient for that to happen.

Enter Deception is an album whose title is far more significant than it appears, and all Metalheads ought to take the plunge sooner or later –- and if later is the case, you will only shriek in frustration as these young Cornhuskers (incredibly enough, it stretches from a mere 17 to 23 years old) continue to grow on an international basis … because these boys are most definitely here to stay.