A New Dark Apology

The first disc of these Basque metallians shows a band seeking their place in the current metal scene. This guitar-driven, dark power metal proposal, filled with touches of extreme genres, appears well wrapped by a modern and powerful production. A New Dark Apology consists of eleven songs whose central base is powerful and rhythmic, always with a strong sense of melody, seeking the contrast between the strength of his guitars and melody of his choruses.

Keyboards provide a nice dark atmosphere to the songs, without becoming annoying or repetitive. Vocals are mainly clean, power-oriented, with some death-growls here and there. With a high technical level, all the songs show that curious mixture between dark and more cheerful melodies, which can be somehow strange at a first glance, but that are mostly linked with good taste. However, despite being a strong disc, not all songs show the same level of inspiration and freshness, and some songs lack spark.

Some of the songs flirt more with the extreme aspect of their music, as shown on Slave of the Dark or Dark Matter (one of the highlights of the album), where we can hear riffs under the influence of bands like Dark Tranquility and the great melodic choruses of late 90's power metal. Moreover, on songs like Out of the World, Eclipse or Faraway, Orion Child's music seems to be closer to power metal, without forgetting those little forays on extreme genres.

The closer Tragedy of Souls is worth a special mention, showing again the capability of this band of mixing these two different approaches to metal in one song, with a fresh and convincing sound. In recognition of their good work, the album was awarded in Spain the 'Best Album Heavy Metal' mention in the independent music awards granted by UFI.

In short, it is a very correct disk, where we can see a young band wanting to do things right. A complete album with good songs and the occasional ups and downs, but it serves mainly to see the great potential of the band in the future. Keep an eye on this band!