I saw this album with a good cover art sold as a second hand item, and after checking out the samples from Oratory website, bought it. Neo classical metal is not my thing, but Ana Lara's voice is spellbinding to say the least.

Musicwise, Oratory do not present anything new. Nightwish's dominant synths, Freedom Call's joyous feel and the symphonic elements heard so many times clash together in Oratory, after all giving them some personality. The music is powerfully performed, as the band is tight and on a party mood, but there are no mistakes in playing. The music is driving, whether it's fast double kick drum stuff or mid-paced bang-that-fist stuff. 'Story of All Times' is the only slower song, and that suits me. Saccharine level of the music is high, sometimes too high for my liking, but it suits better to a band with a female singer, than to an all-guy band. Overally, the music ranges from average to very good, including a bunch very strong songs ('Living Wisdom', 'Eternal' and 'Song of Lust'). As compositions, they simply are not very adventurous, unlike the album's cover art and lyrical theme may suggest: based on the book "Os Lusiadas" written by Luís Vas Camóes about the explorer Vasco da Gama's travels to India in 1498 mixed with some metaphysical mysteries.

Ana Lara, the band's ex-background vocalist, is a shining star. She sings with a dark normal voice, which is quite powerful and her range is wide. Her Portuguese background gives her a nice personality, in her pronunciation etc. Sometimes she is backed by a bunch of male voices, which are actually very good. Michael Seifert of Black Destiny, Rebellion and Xiron and Björn Eilen of Warhead and Rebellion created some powerful and dark backing choirs. Ex-Grave Digger/Rebellion guitarist Uwe Lulis produced the album. Guitars are surprisingly rough in sound, especially on shredding parts, and playing is lively with all the squeals reminding me of Nightwish. Instruments are all in front in the mix, which leaves the sound a bit lacking in foundation. However, I quite like it thanks to its rawness, too rarely found in this kind of music.

Musically nothing unique, if quite raw productionwise in its genre, but those vocals... I believe this album wouldn't stay in my record collection if there was no Ana Lara. Fans of neo classical metal might praise this very high, though.

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/16/2005 13:22