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Wow, I agree with pretty much every word you said, except I probably like Dragonforce more than you do This is at least a 85/100 for me, simply one hell of a debut album!

I'm no Dragonforce expert, I've only heard two or three songs, but in those three songs I really heard no similarity to Cellador.

Cellador do play fast, but I think because of that the hooks and groove kind of gets overlooked sometimes. Regardless, this is a damn good album, as was the EP. I wish there were more new songs simply because I have the EP, but I understand the decision to include them; they're great tunes.

Nice review! You forgot to mention that they sound a bit like Stratovarius too. Maybe not so much in the riffs but the singing felt somewhere between early Helloween and Stratovarius. But well this is typical speed melodic power metal. As always nothing original but that's not a general characteristic of this kind of music anyway. The band performs solidly and very well, maybe they don't play as fast as Dragonforce but the riffs and solos definetely remind them a lot!! In short, a good solid band, a nice album and a review/rating right on the mark.

The speed and blast beats are what they have in common with DragonForce. DragonForce's guitarists are more about the solos and crazy leads, whereas Cellador uses some really cool, interesting riff/melody combos to drive alot of their songs (but the solos are pretty wild sometimes too). The lack of keyboards for Cellador is obviously a big difference too, as well as the vocals.

My only real complaints about the album are in certain aspects of the production, but it's a debut, so I'm not really concerned.

"as well as the more powerful vocals"

Not sure I agree with that. I think ZP is perfect. Cellador vocalists is the part I like the least about the band and the total reason i always go back to DragonForce, but Maybe that is because I grew up in 80s rock/glam and ZPS could have fit that era just as easily. I think he has alot of passion and power, but I like the high pitch tones personally

I had gone back and removed the "more powerful" part because it's such a matter of opinion, but I just don't particularly care for ZP's goat-like rapid vibrato, and I think he sounds too thin in his upper range. I like his mid-range 80's-style vocals though. I like Mike from Cellador's forceful delivery, although I hope he develops a bit more subtlety on futue releases, something ZP does have over him. If DragonForce sngs had more depth to them, I think ZP could really unload some emotionally powerful stuff.

Good review I have listened to this cd plenty of times something I can't do with Dragonforce. I would vote this as best debut for 2006 but for me it ties with Venturia's "The New Kingdom".

Its a really solid album that I find can be a little uneven due to the quality of "Leaving All Behind, Seen Through Time, and Wakening" I absolutely love those 3 songs and they stand so far above the other songs I find I can get bored of the other songs and stick with just these 3. 82 is a good score though, I'd probably give it the same.

Four of the songs come straight from the EP. There are slight changes to them, but they're essentially the same four songs. According to NESS, the new songs were written and recorded rather quickly because Metal Blade did what labels do and demanded it. That is why there are some issues with the vocals and such here and there.

Still one of the best pure power metal albums I've heard all year despite its very few shortcomings.

That explains alot. And yes, despite it all its still a really good album, probably will be near the bottom of my top 10 this year.

Have Mike's vocals occassionally reminded anyone else of John Arch?

It's the drumming! 'specially the kick. Cellador's David Dahir and Dragonforce's Dave Mackintosh's kick patterns are identical in many places - listen for the triplet pattern. The only similarities in guitaring, IMHO, is the speed. It's good to know the reason for the problem with vocals as that is the only thing I feel is not up to scratch on this album. "Record Company F**ks up Band's Debut Album" - not really somethin new is it? Def a band I'll be watching out for in the future.

I've had this for a while, and it's definitely a very good CD. As everyone has said, "Leaving All Behind" and "Wakening" are my two favorites...I give it an 85/100. I don't find the other songs as repetitive as you guys seem to, though.

Yeah, good album. One of those few that come out these days and manage to sound interesting.
And I actually even got this by accident because the webshop didn't have a shirt that I had paid. So instead of a refund I chose this and didn't regret.

Good album. Not to sure about the vocals tho. Theres plenty of room for improvment here so thats good news for the future. 75/100

Anyone else think they sound like Power Quest with less keys rather then DF??

Yeah that's what I keep saying. Power Quest are like Diet Cellador (the taste of a new generation).

I prefered Mike's vocals on the demo to the full-length.

I don't think I've heard the demo, is it a big difference or just a slight one?

Glad someone else hears the whole PQ thing. But i totally understand the DF comparison. I think both bands will be as big as Guardian and Helloween at some point in the future if they carry on releasing strong albums. They both seem to have an apeal that a lot of PM acts lack.

"Leaving All Behind," "Seen Through Time," "Forever Unbound," and "No Chances Lost" are on both the Leaving All Behind EP and Enter Deception. They're the same tracks, only the Enter Deception versions have slight changes here and there. Lead bits, drum fills, vocal overdubs, and whatnot. The main vocals, however, are the same on each. They didn't change.

The songs not from the demo do sometimes suffer in the vocal department, but according the NESS the band didn't have time to perfect everything. They had to get in there and just nail the best performance they could in a short period of time. I expect their sophomore release to destroy both the EP and Enter Deception.

This isn't unusual, and no one can really blame the record company. I mean, they sign the band to get an album out there. A new band can't sing the contract and ask for a few months to perfect some more songs. It just doesn't work that way in the business world. Sometimes bands have 8-10 songs ready when they get the deal. Sometimes they don't. I'm sure the next album will be more consistant.

And Never Again has been my favorite song all week!