Customer Reviews

Enter Deception

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just what the USA needed. I good swift kick in the seeds of the Metal scene brought to you by Cellador. Tired of the Nu-Metal, Death Metal and Grindcore scene? Give Cellador a listen and be prepared to be blown away. These guys are obviously weened on Maiden, Priest and Helloween, but have their own distinct style. Hyperfast musicianship ala Dragonforce. But while I enjoy Dragonforce a lot, I think that the guys in Cellador actually are better song writers. Blazing lead guitars and dual lead harmonies, great vocals somewhat like Tobias (Edguy) and Dickinson, these guys are destined for greatness. Now, here is the kicker. These guys are not from Europe but from Omaha, NE USA. Check these guys out live. I've seen them twice in the Twin Cities area and have been blown away both times. Buy this disc, crank it up and melt your ears off!

This is an excellent album, you must go get this if you are a fan of Helloween, Dragonforce, Jag Panzer, Iced Earth. The vocals are very Kiske/Deris Helloween influence, more to the Kiske. The musicianship is tight. Being out of Omaha, but members from Russia, Nebraska, and Brazil, there is worldly influence with a midwest work ethic. This album just blisters through its 8 tracks. Leaving All Behind was the demo ep which got this band signed to metal blade, and with good reason, it just rocks. Other good tracks are Forever Unbound and Releasing the Shadow. This is "Keepers" level music. Get this album, you will not be dissapointed.

I have been in Omaha for 2 years now, and I am shocked I have not heard of these guys until now. They just do not play this stuff on the radio around here enough. We have a great local scene, just need more rock stations. I'm glad the world has a chance to get this album now.

All portions of the album are amazing. Now I'm not really a fan of power metal more death metal and metal-core but this album caught my attention. I was browsing around on Metal Blade's website and saw them so I checked them out. Their lead player is absolutly amazing. The harmonies he does are great. They also include a solo on every song I believe which is cool. The singer fits very well with how the band is set to play. After a solid first release i'm looking forward to seeing what they do on their next album.

Ahhh the beauty of power metal. This is an amazing new band that I see going places. Basicly if you love power metal and bands like, DragonForce, King Diamond, Dream Evil, ect... Go out and buy this CD.

I disagree with the last review. This album pumps me up like no other!! The whole album is at blasting speed beginning to end similar to Dragonforce, but reminds me more of Helloween with blast beats or even some Stratovarius really. Could have used some keyboards and also the production is pretty dry but I love the aggressiveness and overall catchiness of the songs. Good for a debut album!

2006's Enter Deception is the debut release from American power metal band Cellador. It's odd to find an American band that chooses to play hyperfast melodic power metal in the European style, but that's where Cellador's sound is coming from.

I get the feeling Cellador was signed just so Metal Blade could have something to put up against the more popular Dragonforce. Cellador sounds a lot like what you'd get if you put Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet in Dragonforce. Ridiculously fast guitar work and double-kick drumming is balanced by soaring melodic passages and epic lyrical content. Unfortunately Cellador's vocalist - while similar to Tobias Sammet - lacks Sammet's power and range, and the production job on this album pales in comparison to the average Dragonforce disc. Still, you have to admire the band's technicality, and the songs are fairly well-written.

If you're a big fan of the European power/neoclassical metal sound, and aren't looking for anything particularly innovative, then by all means pick up a copy of Enter Deception. It's a completely solid, completely enjoyable American entry to this distinctly European style of metal.

PS - I actually caught these guys live at a ProgPower USA festival a few years back and they were about as good live as they are on this album. The talent is there, but I got the impression they weren't quite ready for "prime time." I did get a kick out of their attempt at Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" though.

There seems to just be something in the air the past couple of years. The styles of traditional metal and "Good" guitar playing that kids used to frown at as "wanky" or "too eighties" while they adjusted their backwards baseball cap and pulled up their oversized pants while blasting repetitive juvenile downtuned nu metal garbage seem to be making a comeback (wow what a sentence that was).

Now, this has not only spread to bands like 3 Inches of Blood or Dragonforce, but we have Nebraska's (!) very own Cellador to thank for more of this.

Cellador's debut, Enter Deception is a good album in its own right. But alot of its strengths could turn out to be its weaknesses.

The album basically varies between a mid period Edguy style fast power metal sound, and an even faster Dragonforce sound (but better in a way).

It has blastbeats and double kicks galore, the songs are decent but in a way they seem to be setting themselves up to not be able to progress. Nearly every song, like Dragonforce, has the same 16th note style. Now as a fan of power metal, and someone who has been criticized by drummers for playing too many 16th notes, I know what too much of a good thing is.

When contrasted with bands like Stormwarrior, Cellador seems to be missing a good songwriting basis to hang their hat on. Now, Never Again is a minor power metal classic, and Leaving all Behind is great, but there's something missing amongst the sugar coated candy that passes off for this "majestic power metal".

And also theres the fact that I've heard it all before.

Its a great debut, but something seems a bit forced. If they're able to follow up this album with more variance and progression, dare I say, I think this band can make it beyond the "sophomore slump" that's sure to follow.

See, I've been listening to this type of metal for years, and Cellador makes it very convincing. However, if the trends on this album were to continue, they may make the same mistake Dragonforce has made, i.e making the same album over and over.

A band like Stormwarrior is so cheesy and contrived (with full knowledge that they are) they seem to be able to get away with something like that (though they're only on album # 2, and album # 1 was so good I know this band is going to be doing great stuff for years to come)- But Cellador sometimes seems like bubble gum. Its sweetness lasts for awhile, but then you're left with a sour glob of gum in your mouth. Other power metal bands have done better, and will, but Cellador needs this elusive ingredient of more memorable and less forced songwriting to make their claim amongst the now somewhat "fashionable" traditional metal trend.

Update 1/17/2008:

I have realized that alot of my lack of enjoyment of this album is because of its (overly loud) mastering that seems to be the trend these days. This is a great album, don't get me wrong, but the mastering makes the drums (especially double bass) come out incessantly and the songs run together. If this were to be mastered quieter with more dynamics it would be better. Comparing it to other recent power metal albums, this is certaintly a problem with this album in paticular. Sorry guys, you are a victim of the "loudness war"!

Rumour has it that it all started in 2005 when Cellador opened a show for The Black Dahlia Murder and managed to give them their demo which eventually landed in the office of Metal Blade, and from then on it all happened very quickly. However, what's more interesting is that all these years I've been listening to US metal bands I haven't come across one single group that successfully carries on in the Euro power metal style until now. Cellador is arguably the first and only American band that plays a distinct power metal style without delving into thrash-based rhythms and throaty vocal lines.

Consisting of eight tracks, the album packs unbridled speed, driven by ultra-fast double bass drums, grooving twin guitars, and searing, high-register vocals by Michael Gremio. This guy sounds so uncannily like Kiske in his heyday or Gamma Ray's Kai Hansen when he decides to tear the stratosphere with his maniacal screams, it's totally unbelievable. The energetic, fists-in-the-air opener "Leaving All Behind" kicks the album off in grand fashion, carried by pumping rhythms and crushing twin guitar harmonies while "A Sign Far Beyond", arguably the best cut on the album, drives their music into the more aggressive territory of power metal, perfected by mid-90's Gamma Ray. Cellador's songs boast irresistible choruses, as on "Forever Unbound" and the epic "Seen Through Time", both graced by the genre's hallmarks. The tasty guitar opening of "Wakening" belies that this song was actually released in 2006 as opposed to 1987 when Helloween-style power metal was taking the entire metal community by storm. Lyrically, unlike most Euro power metallers, Cellador focuses on more personal issues rather than fantasy-based themes or tales of knights and epic battles.

That said, Euro power metal genre is a pretty limited genre to expand on. Over the past two decades, everything has been done by countless bands, so it would be wrong to claim Cellador is by any stretch of the word doing anything remotely original or unheard of. However, judging by the songs on this disc, originality must be the band's last concern; they seem more interested in having fun while playing the music they enjoy. And in that, they are more than successful.

They've made a great start. Let's see what happens when they put out their sophomore album. Check Cellador out if you're into bands like Gamma Ray, Helloween, Edguy, Stratovarius, and Sonata Arctica -- or pretty much any other Euro power metal act.

I am very much into power metal (Helloween, Viper, Jag Panzer, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, etc.) So, i gave this album a chance and i thought it was the best album so far this year. This thought still remains. The musicianship is amazing and so is the singing. I don't see what some people are tallking about how the singer is bringing the group down. I think he's good. Some of the best tracks are Wakening and Releasing the Shadow. I strongly suggest that you go out and get this CD. I cannot wait to see what this band will do with their sophomore effort.

Just found this band last week. I also am more accustomed to death or metalcore, but can definitely respect this band for being good at what they do. I think the vocals are exceptional for this genre. Homeboy sounds like Bruce Dickinson a lot of the time so I can't see how people could bash him for that. The band is amazing. Some of the songs aren't great but overall this an incredible release for a band this young and worthy of respect.