REVIEWS
This Russian band took me by surprise... I wasn't expecting that kind of music! I heard they were playing an amalgame of doomy styles, somewhere between MY DYING BRIDE and LAKE OF TEARS... Not at all!!! They do have some great atmospheric and doomy moments but for most of it, it is a little more up tempo Heavy Metal. Yeah, I enjoy it!!! Specially the vocals; the lyrics are sung in Russian which makes it all more original... Production-wise, it is pretty good, even excellent!!! Everything is clear, and in your face!!! If you are into melodic Doomy Heavy Metal with a twist of originality, try this, you will probably like it!!!
Remi Cote
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Taken from VAE SOLIS issue No. 2, February 1998
ORA PRO NOBIS "Dedication" Metal Agen Records
"Dedication" turned out as something completely different from what I've expected to hear from this band, based in St. Petersburg. Their first (and last?) demo featured three extremely long songs (up to fourteen minutes!) with plenty of violin parts and thick, heavy
     sound bringing back to memory MY DYING BRIDE's "Turn Loose The Swans" (truly a swansong for this band!). But now their style is something utterly different. You know, we could compare them to Norwegian / American ANCIENT - I'm talking not about the music of aforementioned band, but the similar radical change in musical direction and sound. And in my view both bands made a wise step, because their music only gained by it. Now ORA PRO NOBIS call themselves as "progressive doom metal band", a definition, which is not quite appropriate. These guys are more close to traditional heavy metal now, with addition of ethereal keyboards and heavenly female voice, while main vocals, melodic and hoarsy,
     surprisingly remind me of Anatoliy Krupnov's (R. I. P.) singing! All lyrics are in Russian, written in dark and poetic way, which I find as an interesting experiment in contrast to many people, who suggest ORA PRO NOBIS' vocalist to sing in English, because "all others
     do that..." What a stupidity! If a band comes from Russia, they have a right to sing in their own language! Why the whole world listens to Norwegian black metal without considering the fact that there's no trace of English in their lyrics??! Ok, let's leave such wimps with their empty brains. Back to the music... aha, it seems like I told you everything I wanted already! So don't hesitate and run to the nearest music store in order to purchase this brilliant album!
Nyarlathothep N'ga Kthaan
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