Orion Riders - "A New Dawn" Review

Artist: Orion Riders

Title: A New Dawn

Produced by: Orion Riders

Label/ Date: Lion Music/ 2003

official Orion Riders website

Tracks:

1. In Memory

2. Whispers

3. A New Dawn

4. Leave The Shades Behind

5. Lacrimae Angeli

6. Light And Dark

7. Life's Best Days

8. Nocturne

9. Old Symphony

The Review:

Orion Riders combines many styles from the metal genre to produce a very good debut. Although this isn’t the style of music I normally listen to I really enjoyed it. So if you like neo-classical metal fused with progressive metal than Orion Riders is the band for you! Bands that come to mind, for comparison sake are Helloween, Stratovarious and early Queensryche. And for you orchestral lovers, there are some wonderful piano passages played over cellos. Throughout A New Dawn, there’s rich, varied sounds, orchestral passages, choirs, tight progressive metal arrangements ,plus a vocalist with a range and power that is so fitting for this brand of metal. Much to my surprise, there are trumpets and violins too, along with some excellent dual guitar work, sweeping keyboards, blistering guitar solos, and lyrics that are actually not on the cheese factor usually found in this genre.

Everything on A New Dawn. Has been heard all before but it is a beautifully produced body of work. Kudos to Orion Riders and double kudos to Lion Music for releasing this. So if this sounds good to you, then go to your favorite vendor and pick up a copy today. Hey even if it’s not, try it. It is surprisingly good. Take it from one that isn’t a fan of this genre. It is good!

~Ron for ProgNaut.com [March 17th, 2004]

Band Members:

Joe Lombardo - Vocals

Antonello Condorelli, Riccardo Failla - Guitars

Carmelo Sircausa - Bass

Tony Zappa - Drums, Synthesizers