OSSIAN – Küldetés

Over twenty years of Hungarian Metal history, that is Ossian. With regularity the band around mastermind Endre Paksi releases new albums, and although changes are mostly minor, the band always delivers pure steel. The fact that the band hardly shows any development, at least during the second phase of their career as they have disbanded once between 1994 and 1998, has been a point for criticism. But then again, as long as all their albums show such a high level of quality, why not just enjoy it?

With Küldetés, Ossian will certainly not disappoint their fanbase – again. But there are some subtle changes to their last release, Örök Tűz. The band turns their back to the raw and basic production and returns to their slightly more bombastic style, more Power Metal than traditional Heavy Metal, but without the amount of speed songs sported on their earlier albums. The first two songs “A Szamuzott Visszader” and “A Veletlen” are great melodic Metal songs with fantastic guitar harmonies that are at the top of today’s Metal in this genre.

What was totally absent on Örök Tűz returns with “Uj Aranykor”: an uptempo track. It is a welcome rocker which rounds off the first three songs magnificently and gives hope that Küldetés may be able to finally push the Ossian reference, A Szabadsag Fantomja from 2005 off the throne. Overall, their new album definitely sees eye to eye with it, even though not every song is on the same level of excellence. After the unavoidable Metal ballad, followed by another handful of great songs including “Mondd Ki!” with its memorable chorus, the melodic Accept-like “A Köszikla”, powerful “Az Ordögök Mennyorszaga” and a song that contains similar guitar parts as the two opening tracks, “Az Eletvonal”, the title track turns out to be a half-ballad that will remain in one’s ears even after the album is finished.

And that is good, at least for the next eight minutes as the only two weak songs on the album follow: “A Nagybetus Szavak” is a filler that contains all the winning ingredients, but still does not make a tasteful dish, especially the guitar part can only be called… boring. “Jo Idöben, Jo Helyen” comes next and is similar in composition to “A Küldetés”, but pales in direct comparison, especially as this chorus is the weakest on the album. But before they go, Ossian ends the album with the only real speed track. They have not forgotten how to do it!

Of course, one has to be able to listen to Metal with Hungarian lyrics, which takes some getting used to. But Paksi’s melodic, yet raw voice would be worth listening to in any language, just check out the ballad “Asszony Feketeben”. You can do that, along with two more songs from this album, on Ossian’s MySpace site.

Overall, one of Ossian’s strongest releases, and definitely another step up from last year’s Örök Tűz. Get it if you can.