Time Signature Breaking the cheese...

Genre: power metal / power thrash

I had never heard about Scelerata before this album, so I really did not know what to expect. I knew that they were a power metal band, and, although I love that genre, I tend to become very cautious, because power metal does have a tendency towards cheesiness - and, although I like pizzas and cheeseburgers, I am allergic to too much cheese in metal music.

Anyway, as "The Sniper" opened up with the blistering speed metal bass drums and technically advanced lead guitar figure, I knew that I was safe. Scelerata embrace both the melody and upbeat feel atmosphere of Euro power metal and the harder edge of US power metal. And what I really like is that the music sometimes becomes so aggressive that it really enters into power thrash territory ('In My Blood' even features a short blastbeat section).

True to their inheritance from Euro metal, which the band is obviously inspired by (I definitely can sense some Helloween DNA in the music on the album - albeit early Helloween), Scelerata include neo-classicisms and epic choruses which are larger than life. This is counterbalanced by the heavy thrashy riffage and drumming. Even the potentially cheesy epic choral arrangement in the bridge of 'Breaking the Chains' comes across perfectly and fits nicely into the overall framework of the album.

The level of musicianship is impeccable, and especially the lead guitars have elements of virtuosity to them. Fabio Juan's vocals are powerful enough that it suits the music, and his singing is both consistent and varied. As a bonus, Paul Di'Anno makes a guest appearance on the album as does Andi Deris from Helloween.

Scelerata have indeed struck, I think, a perfect balance between what power metal and thrash metal have to offer. And, what's more, they inject a small dose of progressive metal into their music in the form of a couple of quirky elements every now and then and some considerably dynamic song structure in a couple of the tracks on the album.

Fans of power metal who are tired of the cheesiness that has haunted the genre can safely explore this album, which should definitely appeal to fans of Vicious Rumors, early Helloween, Iced Earth, Symphony X and more melodic thrash acts like Anthrax, Anoxia and Protoype.

adg211288 The Sniper is the third full-length studio album by Brazilian power metal act Scelerata. It was released in 2012. Scelerata haven’t released an album since 2008’s Skeletons Domination and on The Sniper the Brazilians return with a new line-up having parted ways with singer Carl Casagrande and brought in new frontman Fabio Juan. The Sniper also features a couple of notable guest vocal talents, much like their debut Darkness and Light (2006) had (now former) Angra/Almah vocalist Edu Falaschi and Shaman’s Thiago Bianchi, The Sniper has both Paul Di'Anno (ex-Iron Maiden) and Andi Deris (Helloween). The guest vocalists have also been involved in the writing process.

For the most part The Sniper will treat you to a brand of guitar driven power metal that, although power metal’s melody aspect is present and correct, also has an extra layer of aggression that eliminates much of what could be considered cheesy by the genre’s detractors. I’d say at times where there are more aggressive vocals the music even pushes towards thrash metal. But most of time a fair comparison would be to place The Sniper in the same camp as the work of guest vocalist Andi Deris’ band Helloween (power metal pioneers, on the off chance you’re reading this and didn’t know). Scelerata represent a classic power metal sound in other words.

However they do take things a little further than just following the blueprint on The Sniper. There are parts to the album which can also be considered progressive. The closing title track is the most prime example of this, as the band makes their way through an almost ten minute duration to result in the best and most creative track on the album. There’s no better way to close a great record than like that in my opinion, although overall I can’t say that The Sniper is the most impressive of power metal albums I’ve come across, but it is clearly the work of a bunch of talented guys who on The Sniper sound like they’re only just scratching the surface of what they’re capable of. The title track shows that, with its progressive nature and symphonic elements, and it only takes this one song to make it clear to me that while Scelerata are a more than competent power metal band, there’s so much potential for them to be an even better progressive power metal band, and I for one would love to hear the results of what they’d come up with if they followed that direction in the future.

With several highlights on offer, including that title track, the lead guitar dominate Unmasking Lies and naturally those collaborations with Di'Anno (Rising Sun, In My Blood) and Deris (Must Be Dreaming), The Sniper has plenty to offer the power metal fan and since the album does more than enough to set itself apart from the sea of acts out there, it’s most definitely also worth checking out by anyone with any sort of interest in metal music. A great album tier rating is deserved for The Sniper, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Scelerata somewhere down the line blow this out of the water to give bands like Angra some stiff competition for the crown of kings of Brazilian power metal.

82/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))