Artist: Angra
Title: “Temple Of Shadows”
Label: SPV Records
Release Date: 1/11/2005
Style: Melodic Power Metal
Rating: 8.5/10

Metal notables Angra have returned with a CD that kicks you in the teeth right off the bat. Starting with a brief orchestration, you are quickly drawn into the metal thunder that is the track “Spread Your Fire”. I admit I played this one at top volume at least 4 times in a row before I let the rest of the CD complete. Hailing from Portugal, this quintet does not do anything less that pull out all the stops for you on this entitled “Temple Of Shadows”. As I mentioned, the track “Spread Your Fire” is nothing short of a blistering technical masterpiece. There is also a grand chorus that makes one feel like raising flagons of beer into the air when it plays. Clearly this is the band that inspires the likes of “Heavenly” and “Dragonforce” for not only is an amazing amount of speed delivered during the tune, but there is no loss of technical ability throughout. We often find that when there is so much speed that the skill suffers as a result. Not so in the case of Angra. Some of the tracks made me site back as a musician and try and figure how they managed to play it with such a fluidity. Since not all Prog fans are Power Metal fans, I say that this offers quite the treat for the Prog fan as well as the Metal fan.
Continue reading “Temple Of Shadows” by Angra →