13/06/2004
Face the Storm
Did you say you love me?
King of Pain
Unchain the Beast
The Lion
Mirrorland
Chained to the Dark
Aliens in Spain
Wings of Angel
Oliver Oppermann - vocals , keys, drum programming, string arrangements, acoustic guitar
Kai Reuter - guitars, sound effects
Philippe Candas - drums & percussion, key programming
Cyborg Haines - bass
produced and mixed by Herman Frank - mastered by Tommy Newton at Area 51 Studios
review by Matthew
"Newbreed99" Haumschild___
At first glance, I have to say without listening to the band, I like the
name. “The Ordeal” could represent a very many things. But not to
judge the music by the name of the band I hand you my synopsis.
“King of Pain”
The song has in eerie beginning as it’s trying to whisk you away to a
mystical place, which doesn’t make much sense and I can explain this.
After the 29 second intro, the song goes into an almost Dream Theater
sounding slow heavy riff, then the vocals hit. Then it hits me, this is
a Power-Metal band. Aside from sounding like a mixture of Iron Maiden
and Iced Earth, the rest song isn’t actually that bad. It has a slower
speed heaviness to it with demanding vocals that seem that it has an
interesting mixture of Bruce Dickinson and Brian Berry (One Minute
Silence).
“The Lion”
Almost like a machine like beginning, it starts out heavy as all hell
then takes goes an entirely different direction, the song then sounds a
lot like something Iron Maiden would have made up. The bad thing about
this song is that it sounds like a filler song. Meaning it sounds like
they made it on the fly, it has a typical format of intro, verse,
chorus, verse, chorus, post chorus, verse, outro and some sort of solo
in the middle. It is rather boring track that tends to drag on.
“Chained To The Dark”
This song a has a peculiar intro, it starts with what sounds like a
vinyl scratch that you find in an R&B album. The track also has a
lot of electronics in it and I fear with out them, this would be another
uneventful track, but this song isn’t too bad. When i listen to this
song I think early 90’s summer day outside that anything is possible,
which is funny because of the title of the song. I would say this is my
favorite track, it’s heavy but not in a metal way but more of a Dream
Theater-Power Metal way.
“ALIENS IN SPAIN”
Now here’s something you don’t hear everyday, Spanish/classical
guitar in t he first 37 seconds. I like this, I could get used to this,
all the people reading this review...get a hold of this song and learn
from it! After this intro guitars kick in and to my surprise again, they
are actually sounding like Pantera pulling off harmonics! Towards the
middle of the song I am also noticing Megadeth type guitar playing.
Chugging guitars with the occasional fill going at a steady medium
pace around (I would like to emphasize this) 90bpm. It would be nice if
this song got on the radio, the vocals are done quite nicely holding
notes for long periods and actually changing up his vocal patterns. this
song also heralds a very nice guitar solo that is clear as day and that
actually fits in this song. I can’t believe this song lasts for almost
six minutes!
“Wings of Angel”
This is a song that if they play it live you can’t help to get out
your lighter. This is a slower song that you could make it to the radio.
The singer is telling a sort of story that is very much like the metal
bands of old. Kind of a depressing song to come to think of it. This is
the perfect track to put at an end of a CD, it has that down tempo that
you come to expect from a Hard-Rock/ Metal act. This song also has a
solo that really reminds me of Zack Wylde solo from his early days with
Ozzy during the “No More Tears” Album. Well done.
All in all, if you like Power-Metal, this band is
for you. The songs are a bit long and all the songs have an unique intro
that sparks interest. If your a fan of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest,
or any real metal act of the 1980’s, you will like this band very
much. However if you are into more extreme bands, you might
not like this band. It wasn’t a bad CD by
any means it just wasn’t spectacular.
rating: 6.5/10
Niederrohrdorf
- Switzerland