Enter Deception (CD - 2006)

Playing European-style power metal from the breadbasket of the American Midwest, Omaha, Nebraska's Cellador surprised the metal underground with their debut album, 2006's ENTER DECEPTION. From the furious riffage, courtesy of guitarists Bill Hudson and Chris Peterson, to the operatic, triple-tracked vocals of lead singer Michael Gremio, Cellador go toe to toe with their continental contemporaries in terms of both screamo punch and metallic speed. Fittingly, tracks like "A Sign Far Beyond" and "No Chances Lost" sound like the histrionic product of Bill & Ted's fictional group, Wyld Stalyns, albeit formed with utter seriousness by the virtuosos down at your local Guitar Center. ENTER DECEPTION is no joke, but it'll make you smile all the same.

In the '90s and early to mid-2000s, the power metal revival movement was a largely European phenomenon. Germany, Holland, Italy, and the Scandinavian countries were full of young Gen-X and Gen-Y bands that were caught in a stylistic time warp and modeled themselves after the old-school power metal warriors of the '70s and '80s. But largely European doesn't mean exclusively European, and Cellador is among the power metal revival outfits that has come from the United States. This Omaha, NE, outfit didn't exist until 2004 -- and even though all of the band's members were in their late teens or early twenties when they recorded their debut album, Enter Deception, in late 2005 and early 2006, their sound is right out of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Helloween. No one in Cellador was even born when Priest gave listeners Hell Bent for Leather in 1979 or when Maiden's first official full-length album came out in 1980, but their intense yet melodic approach clearly recalls power metal's heyday. Cellador do tend to be faster and thrashier than a lot of other power metal revival bands; in that sense, Enter Deception brings to mind Priest's 1990 gem, Painkiller, which was the most thrash-influenced project that Rob Halford and friends recorded during that era. But despite having a bit of thrash and speed metal appeal, there is no question that Cellador are a power metal band first and foremost. No one who knows his/her metal history will give Enter Deception the grand prize for originality; there's nothing even remotely groundbreaking on this decent but highly derivative effort. Regardless, the songs are likable and well executed, and Cellador demonstrate that a power metal revival unit doesn't have to be from Europe to be worthwhile. ~ Alex Henderson minimize