DERDIAN
“DNA”
Album Review By Iron Mathew

9/10

Derdian are a symphonic power metal band from Italy formed in 1998, releasing demos in 2001 and 2003 before their first album emerged in 2005. ‘New Era Pt.1’ was the first offering in a trilogy, completed by ‘New Era Pt.2 – War Of The Gods’ in 2007 and ‘New Era Pt.3 – The Apocalypse’ in 2010, helping to establish Derdian as a force in the power metal genre. The band parted ways with their singer in 2013, recruiting Ivan Giannini and releasing ‘Limbo’, a much heavier sounding album than anything the band had previously released, and reinforced the bands position in the worldwide power metal scene. ‘Human Reset’ was released in 2014 and was nominated as Album Of The Year by many magazines and webzines, with the band performing at a number of festivals across Europe. The greatest hits compilation ‘Revolution Era’ was released in 2016, and in 2017 the band toured Japan, as support to power metal giants Freedom Call. The bands sixth studio album ‘DNA’, will be released in the summer of 2018.

Derdian are not just another heavy metal band, they are a unique mix of power, speed, thrash and symphonic elements, and as such cross genre boundaries with ease, and appeal to a very wide audience. Thirteen songs across a sixty six minute play time is a huge offering and one that is worth every single minute of your listening time. ‘Abduction’ is a glorious two minute crescendo building, effects laden and atmospheric lead in to the album opener, the furiously fast paced ‘DNA’. Elements of the symphonic, power and speed metal genres all come together beautifully as ‘DNA’ mercilessly moves on. The keyboards compliment the traditional speed metal sound, giving it a cinematic feel as it flies by. A blistering opening shot, followed by the much heavier ‘False Flag Operation’. The difference between the opening double shot is wide, and displays the variety and diversity on offer from the Italian metallers. The European style of power metal has always been adrenalin pumping and pulse racing, and with a symphonic injection, the sound becomes bigger and more emphatic. ‘Never Born’ is a classic example, as it also crosses the borders of the epic and glory genres, delivering a high tempo, highly infectious speed metal romp. The speed at which Derdian deliver some of their songs, is at a speed comparable to bands such as DragonForce and Cellador.

Majestic and glorious, ‘Hail To The Masters’ is a heavy foot stomp, with a guitar sound that could easily have come out of the NWOBHM era. Anthemic and epic, ‘Hail To The Masters’ sounds like the offspring from a Powerwolf and Grave Digger tryst. Stunningly atmospheric and fast paced, ‘Red And White’ is a savage barrage of blisteringly quick power metal, similar in style to the ‘Keeper Of The Seven Keys’ era Helloween. The cinematic feel of every song Derdian offer is spine chillingly arousing, and an absolute delight to listen to, with ‘Red And White’ a definite highlight the album has on offer. And boy, there are so many highlights… ‘Elohim’ is another mighty anthemic stomp of majesticness. The climactic nature of ‘Elohim’ is overwhelming and the feeling of immense magnitude that it projects is just awesome. Mid song, there is a brief wander away from metal music, but I’m not gonna tell you to where, you’re just gonna have to listen for yourself! The keyboard intro to ‘Nothing Will Remain’ is a subtle build up for what is to come, a thunderous and quite frankly ferocious flurry of power metal. The bands singer has a great voice, suited for metal and the symphonic style that Derdian deliver.

Many of the songs on offer are smile inducing, and sound like Derdian were having an absolute ball while recording them. Yes, there is professionalism in there too, but the album is fun and full of surprises. ‘Fire From The Dust’ is the first song on the album to offer up a thrash metal style guitar riff, making it sound heavier than anything else on offer. Thundering along at a thrash metal pace, there is just the right balance of keyboards and symphonic traits to keep ‘Fire From The Dust’ one step away from falling headlong into the thrash metal genre. Keyboards feature heavily as ‘Destiny Never Awaits’ gets underway, a mid tempo thunderous stomp ensuing as the song dynamically builds towards a speed metal pace. Moving the album towards a much heavier vibe, ‘Frame Of The End’ is a more aggressive and in your face offering than anything else on the album. An epic intro sets alight the magnificent ‘Part Of This World’. Cruising along at high tempo and full of energy, ‘Part Of This World’ is actually the most “heavy metal” song on the album. The final song, ‘Ya Nada Cambiara’ is an Italian sung version of ‘Nothing Will Remain’.

Overall, a majestic journey of fast paced heavy metal, catchy and infectious, with just the right balance of power, speed, thrash and symphonic elements.

TRACKLIST

Abduction
DNA
False Flag Operation
Never Born
Hail To The Masters
Red And White
Elohim
Nothing Will Remain
Fire From The Dust
Destiny Never Waits
Frame Of The End
Part Of This World
Ya Nada Cambiara

http://www.derdian.com/site/
https://www.facebook.com/Derdian/

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