Celesty - Vendetta 4/5

01. Prelude for Vendetta 1:26 02. Euphoric Dream 5:02 03. Greed & Vanity 4:16 04. Like Warriors 4:44 05. Autumn Leaves 4:06 06. Feared by Dawn 4:53 07. Lord (of This Kingdom) 5:00 08. New Sin 5:27 09. Dark Emotions 5:16 10. Fading Away 3:59 11. Legacy of Hate Pt.3 14:06 12. Gates of Tomorrow 5:16

It’s a tough life being the power metal guy at Ragnarok: being forced to listen to cheesy songs about dragons and waving your sword in the wind. [Glares at Manowar before feeling intimidated and running away] Fortunately, every so often I come across something which puts a big cheesy grin on my face.

Vendetta is the fourth studio album from Finnish six-piece Celesty. It kicks off with the power metal staple: the orchestral intro. This is a wonderfully dark and powerful introduction which gives me the same tingling feeling as The Ecstasy Of Gold at the beginning of Metallica’s S&M. It leads seamlessly into Euphoric Dream: a blasting track which is a statement of intent as well as a stonkingly fast tune with a crushing rhythm section, slick lead guitar and keyboard work harmonising with the orchestra and choir as well as the excellent singing of frontman and vocalist Antti Railio.

The production on the album is astounding – on top of the polished performance from the band, the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and a choir. This blend gives a really powerful sound with more depth and subtlety than many power metal releases.

This is the first Celesty album to have graced my eardrums and my first impression was that Tony Kakko (of Sonata Arctica fame) had joined Nightwish. Vocalist Antti Railio has a style very similar to that of Mr Kakko and often you could be forgiven for confusing the two, and though Railio’s voice perhaps does not have the range at the top end, his voice has power and more of an aggressive edge to it; reminiscent of Joey DeMaio of Manowar especially on Lord (of This Kingdom) which sounds like an ode to the gods of war [see what I did there?] with a slow galloping verse breaking into a wonderfully grand and overblown chorus.

Lyrically, Lord (of This Kingdom) and much of the rest of the album march over the traditional power metal stomping grounds of standing up for what you believe in and struggling through adversity.

The rest of the band; Ari Katajamäki on bass, Jere Luokkamäki on drums, Teemu Koskela on lead guitar, Juha Mäenpää on keyboards and Tapani Kangas on rhythm guitar all put in outstanding performances with each member putting in some excellent work which when combined together and with the orchestra gives a really interesting “dark” power metal feel.

Fading Away is another highlight of the album – it is probably the most accessible song [non-powermetallers: read cheesy] on the album – with a massive sounding and oft repeated chorus, it’s clear why they chose this to be their first video. It is catchy as hell while still maintaining the epic feel of the rest of the album.

The centrepiece of the album is the fourteen minute epic Legacy Of Hate Pt.3. This is a continuation from the Legacy Of Hate album [2004]. It covers the whole spectrum of light and shade; briefly featuring Railio flexing his death metal screaming muscles as well as employing the beautiful vocal talents of Suvi-Tuuli Dietrich.

This album is definitely worth a look for any power or symphonic metal fan – Vendetta has something more to offer than the traditional guitar/keyboard duels and I’ve-just-been-punched-in-the-balls vocals; the orchestra and choir really adds a lot of depth to album which is already well written with some catchy tunes and heavy riffage.

Vendetta is available to buy or download at play.com

Genre : Power metal

Article by Richard Passe