If you’re looking for some really great female fronted hard rock without operatic vocals and classical keyboards, then Orestea are just what you want! This is a band that concentrates on the basics of guitars and vocals, and they do a great job. The vocal melodies are deliciously sophisticated but very melodic and definitely rock, and Lisa wisely stays within her range. The guitars on this CD are absolutely awesome; nice and crunchy and very imaginative. I’d have to say that they are largely responsible for making this album sound as great as it does. As a guitar player I’m probably biased here, but damn those guitar parts sound good.

There are plenty of punchy rhythm attacks which give a nice metal quality to the songs, and all the instruments pounce in perfect unison. The band’s drummer is just excellent, adding a ton of energy to the music. I love the way Lisa weaves her vocals around the ever changing rhythmic progressions. This is especially evident in the track “The Last In Line”. Lisa is an exceptional vocalist to be able to pull off these complex vocal lines. Some of the melodies are quite catchy, like the main verses in the song Walls, but they never come close to sounding pop. Lyrically, the songs seem to be mostly about relationships and personal feelings, and the instrumental parts really seem to carry the emotions behind the words quite well.

Most of the tracks on the album are pure progressive rock. There are a few slower, lighter songs to balance things out, and the song “Your Own Mistake” which was used for the band’s video, falls somewhere in the middle. Overall, this album is really quite impressive. I was totally captivated the first time I heard it. There’s plenty of HQ hard rock to be had on this baby!

http://www.myspace.com/orestea

© John Davies 2011