SCELERATA – Darkness And Light

Brazilian Power Metalers Scelerata is German label MTM-Music’s latest signed band. They released their debut album Darkness And Light, and this is quite a strong record, featuring pompous and majestic songs. A very interesting album, actually. Not very original, but still it’s a nice piece of work.

The intro could easily remind you of German Power Metalers Blind Guardian. It’s very medieval based and sounds pretty cool. The follow up track is “Holy Fire.” It starts out very intense and energetic; a lot of double bass drums and pounding guitars. On top of all of this there’s a weird keyboard lick. The vocals come in and the first thing that hits you is that his voice is very similar to Tobias Sammet’s (Edguy, Avantasia). Anyway, this is a very catchy song, especially the refrain, and catchy refrains aren’t actually an unfamiliar part of Power Metal. The guitar solo is awesome and the two guitarists really get to show their playing abilities. The lyrics seem to be related to Christianity.

“Eminence” is the hit song from this record, and Scelerata sounds very Edguy-inspired, apart from the keyboards. Vocalist Carl Casagrande does a fine job overall on this record, and, of course, this song is no exception. Next song, “The Spell Of Time,” starts out very mysterious with harpsichords mixed in a very weird sound. Then the band enters with some nice laidback piano parts, followed up by heavy guitars and a church organ. The guitar solo is once again awesome and the song itself sounds very Neoclassical inspired at times.

“Ethereal Places” is maybe the most interesting song on the entire record. The riff is very unique and the band shows incredible energy. Once again, the guitar solo sounds very Neoclassical inspired, which is extremely cool. “Endless” is the most original track on this record, and actually features a harmonica riff! It is very, very strange, but also extremely cool. And, the musical foundation the band makes for the riff is nothing less than delightful to listen to. In the middle of the song, the harmonica comes back again and lays down a nice solo. Quite interesting, actually! A guitar solo follows with a lot of arpeggios and sweepings.

The title track, “Darkness And Light,” starts out with a keyboard/piano thing before the band enters. There’s nothing unusual about this song, and it can sound a little similar to the previous songs as well. A mysterious keyboard intro starts the song “Spirits Looking For …” It’s followed by a heavy, more progressive-like riff. It’s really good listening!

“Wings To Fly” is a very typical Power Metal song. It’s extremely fast and features a more Hammerfall-type refrain. The guitarists play a whole lot of Classical-inspired licks and solos on this one too. The keyboards are also very central on this one, featuring mostly harpsichord.

Ending song, “Adonai (Sacred Melodies),” is another fine track. Not a standout song, but very good. Unfortunately, you may feel that you’ve heard this one in the 9 earlier songs. In the middle of this song comes an unexpected piano bridge, featuring a more Pop-music based piano lick. Then the band comes in and the guitarists play some awesome solos over it. Very standard chord progressions, but it sounds cool and that’s the important thing.

The production is not good and it’s not bad, rather somewhere in between. Scelerata is overall a very common Power Metal band, but their music is mostly quite interesting. Darkness And Light is a quite good album, but has a tendency of becoming a little too long due to the very similar song material. Anyway, this album must be recommended to every Power Metal enthusiast, a very strong release indeed.