Artist: Angra
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2004
Now that’s an incredible surprise for a band that was clinically dead after the phenomenal album “Fireworks” (1998)! But as Nietzche says: “Što ne ubija, to jača!” Not only has Angra reincarnated, they keep on following a constant, positive change in their evolution. If “Rebirth” (2001) was about feeling out the favorable ground to land on the ruins of the newly risen Angra, when it was all about affirmation, about saving the band and its name above all, “Temple Of Shadows” is its absolute upgrade! You can tell “Rebirth” was above all a cautious album. This time Angra found incredible self-confidence and coherence, and the chemistry between the band members works, in one word, perfectly. The result is a flawless album. The most progressive, witty, experimental, in short most polished-from-head-to-toe thing the band has ever put out. Listening to music like this, you can finally breathe out, because it confirms that even in metal-based genres there are still undiscovered spheres out there. The album is bursting with shifting moods and the hot temperament that only these guys from Brazil can conjure up.
From the first minute to the last, “Temple Of Shadows” carries an incredible amount of unpredictability and genre diversity, and it’s bursting at the seams with high spirits. The album is a concept record. Deus lo volt, the crusaders, or “Knights Of The Cross” the “Grave Digger way”. Unbelievable! Just as the gravediggers did a brilliant job putting this concept on record back in 1998, Angra now bring the story to life just as successfully through their own unique approach. Where Grave Digger rawly chop wood through their concept, coldly steering through the revival of a medieval slaughterhouse, Angra approach it with emotion, red-hot and loaded, through the confession of a hero’s heart, through the story of just one crusader, called the Shadow Hunter (“The Shadow Hunter”), who has a personal revelation, converts, starts to serve only the voice of his own heart and thus frees himself. Love fills his heart, fear is uprooted forever! Which actually brings us closer to the finding of a kind of holy grail (among other things, the Pope ordered the crusaders to search for it, which is a manipulative act anyway (and fundamentally misguided)). Whatever the title says, the album is full of light and brightness.
Angra have upgraded everything. The orchestral and keyboard arrangements are once again outstanding, adorning and building on the punchy, cannon-like riffing of one of the wittiest guitar duos of today, Bittencourt/Loureiro. The riffs sit together endlessly listenable and extremely melodic. Once again we get splendid supersonic soloing, tightly synchronized guitar playing and extremely fast picking over the riffs. Weaving through the riffing is a clean, melodic vocal that really spits out anger, that’s equally strong in every single sequence, that’s colorful and varied, and that acts out, with total commitment, every situation the main hero finds himself in, especially when bringing his emotional states to life. No wonder singer Edu Falaschi made the short list of candidates in 1994 to fill Bruce Dickinson’s spot when he left Iron Maiden back then. The rhythm section is angrier than ever! In the production the bass is also pushed forward this time, and the record really carries an incredible “groove” that earlier Angra records never had so pronounced. There’s far more room than ever in the arrangements for expressive bass bubbling, in constant, intense communication with the drums, where the witty use of the double bass pedal and the steady stream of excellent transitions really shine. Angra have once again added percussion to the drums, and the motifs are literally riddled with this great contrasting interplay between the two elements. The sound is packed to the max!
It’s hard to find a peak, hard to single out a track in this level of polish and production brilliance, where everything sits in expressive balance. One of the highlights that shows off this incredible variety is without a doubt The Shadow Hunter, which opens on castanets and Spanish flamenco. Insanely convincing — Angra simply have to release a live unplugged album (ideally with Paco De Lucia as a special guest). Drums and percussion weave together brilliantly and give the track incredible depth. And it’s not the only track where the guys, as has long been their trademark, artfully add Latin folk elements to their sound. Angra know how to let a riff flow. They don’t force motifs together! That often ends in incompatibility, chopped-up flow and a killed atmosphere, which is the flaw of many prog bands who think that finger speed excuses everything (Right, “old farts” Dream Teather?). Angra don’t do forced! The tracks are compact, they have heads and tails, and the motifs never fall apart.
Oh yeah, almost forgot! The special guests are singer Sabine Edelsbacher (Edenbridge), right in the chorus of the power-metal-wound-up Spread Your Fire, Gamma Ray boss, guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen, in the furiously burning rhapsody The Temple Of Hate, and Blind Guardian boss, bassist/vocalist Hansi Kürsch also appears on the record.
“Temple Of Shadows” is an album made with incredible ease, sophistication, sensuality and intellect. It’s an album where nobody needs to think too long about whether to add it to their collection or not. “Temple Of Shadows” isn’t just a progressive metal album. It’s an album that offers much, much more. In this case the term progressive metal is merely a kind of degradation. A unique “angrarock” loaded with every possible explosive innovation, defiance of the rules, a search for the unknown and undiscovered, in short an album bursting with an outstanding freshness that genres built on cranked-up distorted guitars sorely lack today. An album of pure musical perfection, and I dare say, without mincing words, that this is the best progressive metal album of 2004.
Lineup
Eduardo Falaschi – vocals
Rafael Bittencourt – guitar
Kiko Loureiro – guitar
Felipe Andreoli – bass
Aquiles Priester – drums
Guest musicians:
Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY)- vocals
Sabine Edelsbacher (EDENBRIDGE) – vocals
Hansi Kürsch (BLIND GUARDIAN) – vocals
Milton Nascimento – vocals
Tracklist
1. Deus Le Volt(0:52)
2. Spread Your Fire (4:25)
3. Angels And Demons (4:11)
4. Waiting Silence (4:55)
5. Wishing Well (4:00)
6. The Temple Of Hate(5:13)
7. The Shadow Hunter (8:04)
8. No Pain For The Dead (5:05)
9. Winds Of Destination (6:56)
10. Sprouts Of Time (5:09)
11. Morning Star (7:39)
12. Late Redemption (4:55)
13. Gate XIII (5:04)
Total Time: 66:28
