Illusion Dimensions

Oratory was familiar to me as I already owned their sophomore album 'Beyond Earth' (2002). The band surprised me with that album, even though not musically, but with Ana Lara's strong vocals. I knew the band once had a male vocalist, and the vocal duties on 'Illusion Dimensions' were mainly handled by Marco Alves, Ana Lara's role is much smaller, though very important.

The album opens with atmospheric intro, which presents the melody recurring during the album, and raised my expected value to heights. 'With Glory and Melody' carries the melody, but also the drawbacks are hastily clear. At first, Mr. Alves' vocals pretty much annoyed me. His voice isn't very powerful and he sounds more like a pop singer at times, but still his voice is individual and that fact won me over, because his voice fits quite well with Oratory's melodic metal meets power metal. He hits the right notes and that's one of the important issues, but lacks in his skill of English pronunciation and his sibilant letter "s" begins to annoy soon. Ana Lara's voice is powerful, but not enough heard. The biggest drawback is the drum work, which is very unsteady, limping. Plus, the drums sound machine-like, very flat. The album lacks low end, badly, but otherwise the sound is okay, if edgeless.

The music is built from various bits 'n' pieces: Melodic metal and power metal (Helloween style happy banging), with some baroque keyboard work (though only at times, because it is very varying) and symphonic elements. At better times, the music is very good indeed, but some parts are close to put me to sleep. Sometimes the music has original touch, but at times it's totally cliched. So all in all it is all very varying in quality. For example, 'Rising Land' has solid power going on in it, but power metal piece 'Choose Your Future' does sound a bit amateurish when compared to it. I gotta say, that obligatory slow song is good one this time. Instrumentalists (minus the drummer) handle their quarters well, and before all, I like the synths that feature some pretty individual touches, such as creating more ambient soundscapes. The synth solos, on the other hand, aren't that good at all. Cover artwork looks amazing, but I'm a space freak anyways. Lyrics deal with space things, along with power metal cliched ones.

I like to listen to 'Illusion Dimensions', when I want the music melodic. The songs are definitely catchy, and I found myself humming especially that melody every now and then. The follow-up is better done in many ways, but still this is a good debut, if lacking in some areas. So close, but still so far...

(originally written for ArchaicMetallurgy.com in 2008)

The year 2000 was a fairly significant time for the metal genre. A barrage of new bands exploded onto the scene and began challenging the conventional wisdom that metal was yesterday’s news and that we needed to revel in the so-called superior sounds of alternative rock. Oratory’s approach to putting this sentiment to rest is fairly unique, relying heavily on keyboard work and atmosphere in order to achieve a sound that is somewhat similar, but far from a carbon copy of the symphonic approach of Dark Moor and Rhapsody.

The obvious difference between Oratory’s intergalactic brand of Power Metal and most other bands that take the symphonic approach is that the drum beats are moderated and the band doesn’t live by speed alone. They do cook quite well during the guitar/keyboard solo section of “Kingdom’s Legacy”, parts of “Life in Another Star”, and for most of the duration of “World of Illusions”. But most of their best work on here has a strong sense of moderation, at least as far as the tempo goes.

The principle flaw of this band’s sound is that the atmosphere is extremely light, lighter in fact than anything that Freedom Call has ever put out. During the slower songs one is tempted to wonder if this is a Portuguese Pink Floyd tribute band. The keyboard work on here ranges from being heavily present to, at times, overpowering the guitar and the drums. Many of the keyboard solo sections are a bit too loud, while some of the guitar solos are quite quiet.

The principle vocalist on this album is not Ana Lara, whose voice work is now pretty much synonymous with the band’s very identity, but a male singer named Marco Alves whose entire metal career culminates in this one album. He is not a bad singer, in fact, he shines on several tracks, but he is a bit lacking in the range department and instead relies on Ana to get the necessary high notes to qualify this as Power Metal. Having owned this album before the more polished and musically mature follow-up “Beyond Earth”, I have a different perspective on this aspect of the album, and those whom are 100% in love with Lara’s singing may be a bit disappointed with this release in the vocal department.

As for highlight tracks on this album, the closing track “Galaxy” has some solid guitar work on it, in fact the guitar pretty much dominates the song for the first 2 minutes. We then get about 22 seconds of abrupt silence before Ana comes in with a beautiful sung section, followed by a lot of interesting melodic sections that change with the rapidity of a progressive band’s work. “Metal Messenger” is the most memorable track out of the bunch, containing an exceptional chorus and a catchy main guitar theme that would make Stratovarius proud.

In conclusion, this album is mostly intended for fans of Power Metal who don’t mind a lot of keyboards and absolutely no evil sounding chords or vocals. If it weren’t for the speed tracks, the well placed guitar solos, and the lyrical content this album would almost be comparable with melodic Prog. Rock outfits such as Styx and Journey. I enjoyed it, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

One of the few bands I like from Portugal (more specifically, one of the few I know), Oratory made a good first impression on me with their second album, “Beyond Earth”. It was a welcome relief from all the hackneyed female-fronted bands out there, quietly standing as one of the better modern examples of the genre while the big-names all turned to crap, provided they weren’t already such to begin with (yeah, most were). Naturally I then worked backwards in their catalog, getting a hold of this, their official debut. Unfortunately, for as much as I liked “Beyond Earth”, this one just embodies mediocrity on every front.

Primarily, the biggest problem is with the vocals. Here a male singer, the since-departed Marco Alves, handles most of the lead vocals, with Ana Lara only chiming in every now and then, normally to accent the choruses. The reduction of Lara to essential gimmick status is one thing, but Alves is just awful, folks. There’s an entire army of shower-singers out there that can’t be any worse than this guy, so it’s a mystery as to how he was allowed to sing here. His accent is atrocious, he conveys just about zero emotion, and is as commanding as an emo singer with a bad head cold.

Alves might be slightly tolerable with good music backing him up, but again, mediocrity quickly takes over. I’m not sure if it’s the production or just a bad drummer, but almost all the fast parts seem to be played at a couple notches slower than what they ought to be. A perfect example is the start of “Metal Messenger” – what could have been a nice galloping intro instead becomes an all-too-happy clickfest. Or how about “Life in Another Star”? Somewhere in there’s a solid framework of a song, but it’s buried amongst the crap. Sure, not every power metal band need further the double bass power metal cliché, but if you’re going to do, don’t do it half-assed. As for the mid-paced stuff, good luck remembering any of it. Should you somehow not be lulled to sleep you’ll likely be too busy squirming from Alves’ vocals to take note of anything. Not that there’s anything to miss, mind you.

“Illusion Dimensions” is indicative of a band not quite sure of themselves yet. The predominant feeling on here is of the symphonic Italian style that quickly wore itself out; perhaps the reason the follow-up is so strong has to do with Alves leaving and the band stepping back a little from this sort of flowery, light in the pants approach. If you’re into bands like Nightwish and (old) Dark Moor, I’d recommend the follow-up. As for this album, skip it. The combination of bad singing, awful lyrics, middling songwriting prowess, and a complete lack of any real, you know, power all add up to a disc that’s mediocre at best, and laughable at worst.