Title: Holy Land
Artiste: Angra
Genre: Power/Progressive Metal
Familiarity: I've heard one or two albums by them.
1. Crossing: Anyone not expecting a Love already doesn't know my tastes very well! This is called an instrumental but there are choral vocals, very classical sounding, quite religious in theme. Nice opening.
2. Nothing to say: Good fast powerful rocker, as expected. Love the keys.
3. Silence and distance: Thought this going to be a ballad, and for nearly a minute and a half it was, then it kicked up and is really rocking along nicely now. Ends on a lovely piano piece.
4. Carolina IV: Sounds a bit tribal to me. Kind of reminds me of a mixture of Yes and It Bites. Changing completely now, rocking out. Now into a kind of eastern thing. Interesting, and considering it's ten minutes long there needed to be some variety. There is. It certainly never gets boring. Slowing down now on piano and bringing in cello, then back into the main theme, and we're still only slightly more than halfway through. It really does remind me of Yes though; singer even sounds like Anderson.
5. Holy land: Another low-key opening, with some really nice flute and piano, then it gets more intense
6. The Shaman: Great power rocker, with again that real sense of Jon Anderson in the vocal. Some sort of spoken words, possibly (probably) in Portugeuse, though given the title it could be some obscure native tribal chant or ritual. Great solo from Bittencourt, sounds like a didgeridoo there at the end?
7. Make believe: Sweeping organ and rolling drums, slower song (ballad? Sort of). Love the piano.
8. Z.I.T.O: Weird orchestral intro then it powers up into a fast power metal anthem. What does it stand for? Checked the lyric, haven't a clue. Good song though. Slows down a little in the middle for a bit, then picks up again. Some very neoclassical guitar.
9. Deep blue: Gorgeous ballad with orchestral backing and I think a full choir. Just beautiful.
10. Lullaby for Lucifer: And despite its rather odd title, another ballad, almost acoustic and with I think sea sounds (though that could be the rain outside) and a really accomplished vocal. Lovely.
End result: No surprise to anyone I'm sure to hear I loved everything about this album. Oddly enough, I wasn't that taken with their latest, but this is, to put it in Dublin parlance, savage. Shade too close to Yes for my tastes, but it's a great album, and its being a concept sets the seal on it.
So, Love or Hate? Compared to the other Angra albums I've heard, this is far superior and so I award it a
True Love.