Derdian
New Era part1

LA RECENSIONE

In my modest musical experience, I have listened to so much Power Metal that I am now completely full of it. The "Power" is very interesting; many consider it a mere "sub"genre of metal or the only part of metal that is fashionable, while others see it as the genre that allows youngsters to get into and explore the world of metal. The latter hypothesis might be true. I was a kid when I began to delve into metal after randomly hearing a song by Stratovarius. After exploring the entire "melodic" field, I moved on to heavy, then trash, black, death, prog, gothic, etc., etc., and now I love Type O Negative.
This progression is achievable when one is able to distinguish an Original Power from a Fake Power; to elaborate: I will never tire of listening to "Black Diamond" by Strato or other melodic gems like "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" by the pumpkins, who might have invented power themselves; I am seriously fed up with Rhapsody, but not because they aren't up to par with what they play. On the contrary, Lione has a great voice, and Turilli is a wizard with the strings; "Holy Thunderforce" is amazing, but after 1, 2, 3... albums, they have a predictable and monotonous character, having decided to tell medieval stories without considering that a listener might get tired of constantly hearing grand words like "Dragons" and "Warriors." And above all, enough with power that is presented through Fantasy covers.

But what do Derdian and their album: New era part 1 have to do with it? Well, we can define Derdian as the cursed followers of Rhapsody. They still owe me the money for the cost of their album. They're from Milan and have exactly the same precise style as the band of Turilli & Lione. The structure of the songs is done the same way: the overabundance of violins... there's the allegretto double pedal... there are guitar and keyboard duels in baroque style... there are calm ballads... they are there. If there's one thing missing, it's originality, because, for heaven's sake, to be good, they're good. They can excellently compete with their peers, are instrumentally gifted, capable of great solos, and have a very defined voice, not joking at the technical level, but it's disappointing to see a capable group take a path already trodden by so many.