“The Calling” is the first full-length CD from the New Jersey based Operatika following their 4-track demo “Dreamworld” in 2005. The band is on the hunt for a permanent bassist, but in the meantime utilized the talents of Michael LePond from Symphony X in recording the album.

The band describe themselves as symphonic power metal; however, I would remove symphonic from that description and call it female-fronted power metal.  This album contains no backing orchestration or choirs and the singing style is not what I would classify as operatic.  With too many female-fronted bands playing in the symphonic space already, being a straight-up power metal band is a plus that may result in a larger fan base.

Expecting a formulated female-fronted symphonic metal sound, I was pleasantly surprised with this album and enjoyed most every song on the first listen.  Overall, the tracks begin with heavy, driving intros that immediately get you excited about the song.  Notable tracks “Tears Of The Sun”, “Dark Horizon” and “Ice Queen” have some killer guitar riffs and solos with pounding tempos. Male vocals/growls are sparsely thrown in on a few tracks; not overdone but just enough to leave you wanting more. “No. 3/23 In A Minor” provides the listener with a blazing 2-minutes neo-classical extravaganza reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen. The talent of the keyboardist shows through several times, along with all the great guitar riffs, makes this album very enjoyable.

Vocals should have been further up in the mix, but otherwise the production of this album is very solid and vocals were spot-on. This is definitely a very talented group that knows how to write good songs with lots of hooks. I expect we will be hearing more from this band as they continue to make a name for themselves in this genre.

http://www.operatika.com

http://www.myspace.com/operatika