Tragedian - Decimation

Tragedian

Decimation

by Lior "Steinmetal" Stein at 29 August 2013, 9:58 PM

Hail the majestic enrichments of the keyboards, a royal welcome into a glowing dreamscape yet only to witness the next decimation coming forth. Granting the fact that I haven’t listened to anything of this act’s past, I noticed how grandiose it tries to be. On the other hand, it is always fun stepping further into the belly of the beast, getting to know things unheard of before. Through IceWarrior Records I came to know TRAGEDIAN, a German band mixing merits of Heavy, Euro Power and Speed Metal, led by guitarist Gabriele Palermo (ex-STORMWARRIOR), can be easily compared to the Italian LABYRINTH, SECRET SPHERE or the local DIONYSUS. With the presentation of the band’s new “Decimation”, TRAGEDIAN marks the official demonstration of their new lineup, other than Palermo, including members of MASTERCASTLE, ATHLANTIS and SYNTHPHONIA SUPREMA.

In a broad overlook, “Decimation” is like a comeback to the early 00s or late 90s of this kind of Euro Power Metal producing a solid affair. Not too melodic in comparison to the majority of German Power Metal scene, nor it is intense or heavier in comparison to some of the local titans. Frankly, as you probably noticed from the similarities I cited in the last paragraph, it would seem that TRAGEDIAN have more in common with the qualities of Italian bands rather than the ferocity of most German bands. “Decimation” has its share of elegance in its songwriting with a few catchy lines, yet at times sounding a bit cheap. Furthermore, the music accompanies speedy tempo and an abundant drumming, decent guitar riffery with a lean lead guitar fretwork, solid vocal line and a wonderful halo of keyboards. Here and there I was able to detect a few glitches and sloppy playing, and there are the production values of the release that made it to sound highly too digitalized.

Within my journey through “Decimation” I seemed to like better the speedy Power Metal memorable showcases rather than what can be reckoned as open chord driven Heavy Metal examples spread on the tracklist. “Reach For The Sky”, closing the album is nothing different, nor a renewal, of anything done nearly fifteen years ago, however, listening to this kind of Power Metal implementation makes you wonder, looking far beyond. The guitar riffs of Palermo and keyboards of Dany All appeared masterful and top notch, enhancing the feeling I just described. Also it is Val Shieldon’s most impressive performance as this band’s frontman, resembling IRON FIRE’s Martin Steene. “United” being yet another outstanding mesmerizer with a catchy chorus and a bombastic type of speedy drumming, All’s Keyboards are formidable, yet Palermo’s chords could have been a little bit constructive. “Shadows Of The Past” seemed to be a continuance of “United” yet with a just a little spike of class to it with a dose of vocal feistiness and lead guitar peak performance. “Cryng In The Rain” might be that one example for a dramatic, ballad like, track that proclaimed another solid matter out of this band. At first I thought it would be a WHITESNAKE cover, yet for a minute there I was glad that it wasn’t, TRAGEDIAN put up an emotive moment with nice music.

So as you can see, “Decimation” is a rather rock-solid effort, nothing extraordinary, but respectfully good enough to make the cut as sufficient memorable Metal.