You’ve all heard the old saying that appearances can be
\ndeceiving, right? Well, let me add on to that: expectations can be
\ndeceiving as well.<\/p>\n
I had heard a bit of a buzz about the Brazilian metal band
\nAngra, both in the press and from our readers. So when their latest
\ndisc
\nFireworks<\/i> arrived in the mail, I was expecting a headbanging
\ntour de force…<\/p>\n
Imagine my surprise when the disc hit the player, and what I
\nheard was what you could describe as progressive metal! This was
\nalso a shock, seeing what label they were on – a label I knew from
\nmy college days as being one of the early purveyors of
\ngrindcore.<\/p>\n
It took me several attempts to get through
\nFireworks<\/i>, and several listens to really get what this band
\nwas trying to do. And while
\nFireworks<\/i> didn’t live up to my expectations, it is a solid
\nalbum that should open the eyes of many naysayers who claim that
\nmetal is dead.<\/p>\n
The group – vocalist Andre Matos, guitarists Kiko Laureiro and
\nRafael Bittencourt, bassist Luis Mariutti and drummer Ricardo
\nConfessori – reminds me a lot of the style of music that
\nQueensryche played in their glory days, with just a touch of thrash
\nthrown in for good measure. If anything, Angra could be Royal Hunt
\nwith a tougher edge to the music and no reliance on keyboards.<\/p>\n
Musically, Angra is a tight unit. Matos’s vocals are strong and
\nclear throughout the album, and he’s not afraid to stand out in the
\nmetal world as a singer, not a screamer. On tracks like “Speed,”
\n“Paradise” and “Fireworks,” his vocals ring out, almost becoming a
\nunique instrument that blends with the guitar work of Loureiro and
\nBittencourt – as well as an orchestral section fleshing out the
\nband’s sound.<\/p>\n
But if you’re looking to be blown back through the wall by
\nbreakneck speed, with rare, momentary exceptions,
\nFireworks<\/i> may disappoint you – at first. However, after
\nnumerous listens, the technical craftmanship and musical precision
\nof tracks like “Metal Icarus” and “Lisbon” will win you over.
\nEspecially noteworthy is the nearly eight-minute opus “Paradise,”
\nwhich will hold your interest throughout. (I also wanted to note
\nthe cool drum licks provided by Confessori on “Metal Icarus”.)<\/p>\n
Angra is a band that has been overshadowed by one other band
\nfrom Brazil – the legendary Sepultura, even though the musical
\nstyles of the bands are different. Angra does have its feet firmly
\nplanted in metal, no doubt about that – but if they were to set
\nthemselves apart by pushing the progressive style they have
\nembraced, it could bring them some well-deserved attention.<\/p>\n
The only negative is that it takes so long to really get into
\nthis album. Had I written this after one full listen, I would
\nprobably have written them off. But knowing that some readers saw
\nsomething in this band that I didn’t see on the first approach
\nconvinced me to give them a second chance – and a third, for that
\nmatter. I just wonder how many consumers would be willing to give
\nan album like this at least three listens to really appreciate
\nit.<\/p>\n
\nFireworks<\/i> is a solid effort from Angra, and is one that
\nshould put them on the map for their own contributions to the
\ngenre. But be warned: if you do pick this one up, be prepared to
\nspend a lot of time with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6111],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-36224","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-angra","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36224"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}