ORENDA - A TALE OF A TORTURED SOUL - 2008

ORENDA was ten years old when the first album was eventually published, on the Musea label. That concept-album, "A Tale Of Tortured Soul" (2008), is made of nine songs chained like one long piece. That French band's main influence is undoubtely DREAM THEATER. But that's not all, as some moments may recall SYMPHONY X, PAIN OF SALVATION for the dark atmospheres, and SHADOW GALLERY for worked-out vocal harmonies. And above all, there's a strong melodic sense. You'll find here complex and fst soli with quirky interplay between guitar and synthesizers, powerful riffs, and also nice acoustic sequences, lead vocals reminding James LaBRIE... ORENDA has a lot of musical ideas, a real instrumental virtuosity, and its Progressive heavy-metal is full of promises and talent.
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