SLAVES FOR LIFE

It's clear that Amaseffer was born under the shadow of the marvellous band Orphaned Land... They are an obvious influence for Erez Yohanan and his fellows. Some parts of this album could have been taken from the masterpiece Orphaned Land album "Mabool", although they are obviously under the quality of the Kobi Fahri's band. Kobi himself make an essential contribution in "Slaves for Life", singing all the oriental voices... We can listen to him in almost every song of the album, singing really beautiful oriental melodies, maybe even better than he did in "Mabool".

But talking about influences, Amaseffer have also a lot from other seminal metal band... Therion! It's obvious in the orchestral arrangements, and some guitars riffs and sounds, wich are very similar to the Christofer Johansson's band. And the egyptian melodies of the album, seems also have been taken from Therion's "Theli". Of course, the presence of Mats Leven, who singed in three Therion albums, is also a proof of the influence of the great swedish band!

The story of the album, like "Mabool", follows a biblical theme... In the Orphaned Land album was the Flood, and here is about the first part of Moses's tale, from his birth to the ten plagues he helped to throw over Egipt. For helping the story, the band uses a lot of sound effects, readigns and a some cinematic orchestral arrangements. Specially the beginning of Birth of Deliverance could have been taken from an adventures film soundtrack. And a very good one!

Another great fact of the album, are the invited musicians... Aparts from the orchestra and the choir, the singers are also very well chosen. Mats Leven makes a very convincent role as the narrator of the story. His cratchy and high voice can be a bit difficult at first, but after a few listenings we can see that he is an important part of the success of the album. Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow makes also a good role in Midian, although it's very short... Maya Avraham is also excellent in Zipporah, being just great hearing her voice mixed with Kobi Fahri`s one in Zipporah. And of course, this album would not have been the same without the Orphaned Land's singer and frontman... Kobi give all his soul here, although it's just a contribution. You have only to hear Return to Egypt to realise how much this man has improved, and what a great singer he is!

Best tracks: Slaves for Life (here we can notice the Therion influences...), Birth of Deliverance (I love the orchestral intro, the lyrics are beautiful, and the final part makes me have goosebumps...), Zipporah (a track very similar to Ophaned Land's Building the Ark, but still beautiful...) and Ten Plagues (good closing track, with a marvellous chorus...)

Conclusion: although Amaseffer are heavily influenced by Orphaned Land and Therion, and they are not precisely surprising if you've heard these bands, they managed to make a very convincent album, with splendid cinematic arrangements, and some great prog metal songs... The contributions are brilliant, specially the singers, and the production is spectacular. So "Slaves for Life" is a very worthy first part of a supposed biblical trilogy, that I'd like Amaseffer could end.

My rating: ****

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