Band:	Celestial Decay
Album:	Contradictum
Style:	Symphonic power metal
Release date:	December 2009

01. In Remembrance
02. Eye of the Storm
03. Silent Embrace
04. Child Of The Night
05. Unfaithful [Rihanna cover]
06. Gates of Heaven
07. No Need For A Hero
08. C.R.O.D.
09. The Ascension
10. Reaper's Goodbye
11. Void Within II
12. Contradictum
13. Final Night: Prologue
14. Final Night: The Beginning...
15. Final Night: Exodus Of Mankind
16. Final Night: ...Of The End

Style: Power Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: The Music Alliance
Length: 71 mins

Line-up:
Angelo Mayer - vocals
Robert Bjärmyr - guitars
Hobbe Houshmand - guitars
Mattias Ryderman - bass
Henrik Hedman - drums
Håkan Olsson - keyboards


Those who remember a three track demo review I did some time ago for a band called Last Kingdom, might prick up their ears at this new Power Metal band. Celestial Decay is their name and this is their first album - Contradictum. I'm probably over exaggerating the connection between the two bands though. Celestial Decay is basically the band that Hobbe Houshmand started after he left Last Kingdom for greener pastures. Let's see though what this new material is like and whether Hobbe made a good choice in changing bands.

For starters, Contradictum is a lot longer than the Last Kingdom demo; about 7-8 times longer at that. The new album is somewhat of an epic with its almost 80 minute length and a series of concept songs called "Final Night". While the album's length might be daunting, most of it is able to be "split up" and listened to at different times. The tracks aren't one huge song when put together so perhaps the listener could treat Contradictum as a double disc album.

Music-wise, Contradictum is as could be expected with a full-length-plus Power Metal album. You'll find fast melodies, extra layers of keyboard notes and some symphonies. With an album this long, the artists can definitely throw a bit of everything in. From the first proper song "Eye Of The Storm" Celestial Decay tries to put its best foot forward with this catchy opener. For some reason during the chorus I want to launch into singing Edguy's "The Piper Never Dies" then moments later Black Majesty's "Guardian" but all three are good songs. Maybe those kind of catchy Power Metal songs all have things in common. At any rate, it was a promising start to the album.

A couple of decent-enough songs later and we come to the most odd track on the album. It's actually a cover of the pop music singer Rihanna's "Unfaithful" song. I thought "wait, this is going to be a bloke singing about how he's happy with another bloke and not his current one". The lyrics are modified I soon discovered to keep the heterosexuality of the track.

I could keep going on about the various songs on Contradictum, but I'd be running out of words. Some of them are half-minute interludes, some are ballads that slowly build up, others are heavier and faster melody-laden Power Metal songs. Overall though Contradictum is a pretty good Power Metal album without being a fantastic masterpiece. For those that look for bang for their buck, then they will find it with Celestial Decay's debut. Others might find it a bit overwhelming but there is at least some variety going on here. Worth keeping an eye on if you're running out of CD purchasing ideas.