Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Angra
Label: Ear Music Records
Release: 2018
Length: 60:57
Rating: 4/5
Angra, the famous progressive metal heavyweights from Brazil, who have been unfairly overlooked in recent years, gave birth to their ninth studio album in mid-February this year, and they named it “Ømni.”
The legendary band, which is about to hit 27 years of tireless activity, has had its ups throughout its career, but also its share of turbulence thanks to constant lineup shake-ups. Still, Angra, led by guitarist Rafael Bittencourt (the main composer), show no signs of fatigue and keep brimming with fire and passion to bring one new musical idea after another to life. Three years have passed since the predecessor »Secret Garden« and “Ømni” keeps that creative freshness. The membership status of guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who joined Megadeth in 2015, remains »on hold.« So the man hasn’t officially left the band, but because of his time commitments to Uncle Mustaine, Angra have simply frozen his membership for the time being. Since 2015, his duties in Angra have been covered by guitarist Marcelo Barbosa. Still, Kiko »tacked on« some guest guitar magic on »Ømni« in the track War Horns.
“Ømni” is a concept album featuring a series of sci-fi stories that unfold in different places at the exact same time. The backdrop to it all is the prediction that by 2046, artificial intelligence will completely replace human perception and cognition. A new system will be set up that allows conscious communication between the present and the future. The concept features “time travelers,” “cavemen,” “warriors,” and many other “narrators” of the story.
The album “Ømni,” which means “everything” in Latin, merges the concepts of its predecessors »Holy Land«, »Rebirth«, and »Temple of Shadows« into one confessional conglomerate, striving for the interconnectedness of systems and beings in pursuit of a universal truth. With the new album, Angra have in a way also told the story of the band itself: the road they’ve traveled, the musical feats still to come, and the fateful link between their past and their future. All of that is summed up by the album “Ømni.”
So, how is it? Good. Angra really do pull out some musical arrangements that blast the listener straight back to the mid-nineties, when the band was seriously hot on the scene. Back then, power metal and progressive metal caught a full wind in their giant sails and became wildly popular, in-demand genres in the “worldwide metal community” for a few years. If Dream Theater got on your nerves, say, then Angra were the place to find some solace, with polished, compact songwriting, bombast, musical catchiness, and just the right amount of “prickly” complexity. »Fireworks« remains their timeless masterpiece in that respect.
»Ømni« is the most neo-classical-leaning of all Angra releases. Not just thanks to Rafael Bittencourt’s musical vision, but above all thanks to the exceptional new vocal performance from operatic nightingale Fabio Lione. The man remains top-notch in every way, and his vocal power is as pristine as ever. The opener Light Of Transcendence doesn’t yet bring that signature layered feel of the band. It builds on pompous riffs like the ones the Italians Rhapsody were writing in the nineties. So, thoroughly neo-classical power metal. But as the album goes on, »Ømni« gets more and more interesting. Above all, there’s plenty of traditional tribal rhythms artfully crossed with metal riffs. That’s what the debut »Angels Cry« already offered. The band once again stuns with outstanding technical brilliance, which is, as always, subordinated to rock-solid compositional tightness. That means the album is stuffed with pomp and bombast and musical invasiveness. In other words, a classic Angra album that, compared to »Secret Garden«, is again more varied and looser, and creeps into your ears a bit more slowly than that predecessor. . An album that any true fan of the band can freely enjoy from start to finish. Of course, »Ømni« is also the kind of album that will appeal more to fans of classic metal elements and less to those of you looking for genre extremes in metal. Other vocalists join the lead vocals too, with Bittencourt stepping into that role as well. That’s how the band tried to bring the album’s chosen concept to life as effectively as possible. The last track Ømni – Infinite Nothing once again confirms Bittencourt’s great love of classical music. It works like a film soundtrack. Theatrical. Perhaps one move too many on the album. But the band clearly felt its integration into the chosen concept was a must.
So Angra remain the very definition of quality, and they’re not letting up. With “Ømni,” an era has come to a close for the band. The album really is »everything« that Angra were, are, and will keep being. Perfection and musical uniqueness, personified.
Lineup
Fabio Lione – vocals
Rafael Bittencourt – guitar, backing vocals
Marcelo Barbosa – guitar
Felipe Andreoli – bass
Bruno Valverde – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Alissa White-Gluz – vocals on track 3
Sandy – vocals on track 3
Kiko Loureiro – guitar on track 6
Production
Jens Bogren
Tracklist
01. Light Of Transcendence
02. Travelers Of Time
03. Black Widow’s Web
04. Insania
05. The Bottom Of My Soul
06. War Horns
07. Caveman
08. Magic Mirror
09. Always More
10. Ømni – Silence Inside
11. Ømni – Infinite Nothing
