Operus – Opus I (2015)
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For fans of Nightwish, Epica, Kamelot, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody of Fire, Ensiferum, Wintersun
Release Date: November 12, 2015
Contacts: PR Rep – Jon Asher – ashermedia[@]gmail.com
Booking & Management: info@OperusOfficial.com
“Operus vocalist Will Patterson broke out the big guns. With deep vocals like those found in Turisas to the higher emotion packed vocals of Kamelot, Patterson can do it all.” – Metal Master Kingdom.
Top Left: Wojtek Sokolowski (Bass) | Bottom Left: J.J. Tartaglia (Drums) | Center Left: William Patterson (Vocals) | Center Right: Robin Howe (Cello/Backing Vocals) | Top Right: Robb Holden (Guitar) | Bottom Right: Oscar Rangel (Guitar)
Toronto, ON based OPERUS creates compositions of heavy classical influenced metal without restriction on creativity in expressing thoughts and emotions from the brainchild of band founder Oscar Rangel.
“I have always been a huge fan of performing arts, not only music, but also theater, circus, and contemporary dance, some ballet, etc. I always wanted to combine as many of my influences as possible that includes many metal sub-genres and other disciplines, hence I started roaming towards the idea of “Opera”, but more in the classical sense, and less in the modern “metal opera” movement (Avantasia, Aina, and many more).” says Rangel.
First composing in Mexico before relocating to Toronto, ON, the solo project at the time went under the name ‘Masquerade of Opera’ and went on to record a demo in 2009 entitled “Winter Nightmare”, which was named after Rangel’s first cold winter of that year in Canada.
Fast forward five years later to 2014, Rangel who is also a former member of Annihilator and bassist for Mastery, changed the name of his project to OPERUS to better describe it and push towards creating a bigger production.
““Operus” Stems from the combination of two highly “classical” words: “Opus”, which was used in the previous times to mark musical creations (Opus 1 = creation 1). And “Opera” which is a form of theater where the script is performed singing.” says Rangel.
Recruiting Will Patterson (Vocals) (ex-Anurysm, ex-Exile), Robin Howe (Cello), Wojtek Sokolowski (Bass/Vocals) (Eclipse Eternal), Rob Holden (Guitar) (ex-Left Hand Creation) and Alan Madhavan (Drums) (ex-Nephelium) (now replaced by drummer J.J. Tartaglia (Skull Fist, Final Trigger)), the group recorded their first EP ‘Opus I’ with all instrumentation written by Rangel (Guitar/Vocals).
The debut EP ‘Opus I’ was unleashed during November 2015 and features four tracks of cinematic themes of powerful metal to fill fans mind with images and stories with a sound based on lyrics from philosophical topics such as what it means to be human and alive in a world full of violence, greed plus our evolution as a species.
“We felt these tracks display the most of what we sound like. We wanted our debut EP to portrait as much of the textures and colours we put in our music. Plus “Opus I” as it states our first creation is an “introduction letter” for everyone to know who we are, we made it all ourselves and now that we have something to show we are working on a bigger project.” comments Rangel.
With the completion of their EP, Rangel has several albums worth of finished material ready to go for their debut full length that they plan to record later this year to add to their performance that goes beyond a music show or a metal gig, but a full on metal orchestrated experience.
About The EP explained by Oscar Rangel:
The album is full of different textures and musical ideas; it goes as loud, fast and heavy as some death metal bands, and as melodic and quiet as chamber music or a folk trio in the woods.
Track 1 – Agmen Inis:
Latin for “Army At War”, Agmen Inis is a very epic sounding song with a long, atmospheric intro to set the mood for Will’s impressive performance, we portrait a big part of what makes the band unique in this song from the very beginning where you have cello, classical guitar and great vocals. The verses and chorus are powerful and fast in contrast to the epic intro and middle part where we are setting space for theatrical performances on stage.
Track 2 – Fate’s Pantomime:
A light, fast and power metal sounding song with a cello solo substituting the usual guitar solo, this is definitely the simplest song in the album where the voice carries the main part most of the time and the bass has some fast passages.
Track 3 – The Book of Shadows:
The heaviest, most classical sounding song on the EP is also the most elaborated one. Both guitars in this song play completely different parts 90% of the time. This song also displays the heaviest and most aggressive side of our musical narrative, the vocal parts go from clean to growls to high pitch “heavy metal screams” to belcanto and choir parts. This is the newest composed song we recorded, as it was made roughly three years ago, as opposed of 6 to 10.
Track 4 – Maya & the Wolf:
Maya & the Wolf is the most interesting song in the album, its sound is very classical, yet the story telling in the lyrics and the instrumentation makes it sound very folkish as well. This is the song we choose to produce a lyric video because we believe this is the easiest song to listen and yet it still sounds heavy and it is clear that its part of a metal album. The instrumental part in the middle is one of the many “band solo” sections I have worked over the years using mainly the counterpoint composition technique, all the instruments play different melodies at once to build up a very interesting sounding passage.
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