Rebirth

Well, I must say that I didn't wait such a quick move from Angra, and I was amongst the ones who were very sad to hear about what happened between Andre Matos and the others. And somehow I was also amongst the one who thought what Angra was over, SHAME on me :(... But in this case I'm glad to be disappointed !!! so glad ! How can I describe Rebirth... well, I don't have to, the title speaks for itself, it's like a resurrection, and a damn good one. By far better than Fireworks for me, this new Angra album is a pure jewel of wonderful melodies and symphonies, bringing back the magical Brazilian touch to heavy metal music that Angra had in the past with their 2 fantastic albums Angel Cry and Holy Land. That magic was gone in Fireworks and I was really disappointed by that album to tell you the truth. I discovered Angra with Holy Land, and it took me a few days to really understand what a powerful slap I had received. This Rebirth is halfway between these 2 albums, with a more Angel Cry feel to it, probably because the songs are as progressive as they were in this album, maybe even more. Take Unholy Wars, who starts nothing like a metal song, and goes very heavy after. The album is filled with wonderful riffs and solos, melodies flying all over the place at near lightspeed, all that being majestically filled with beautiful orchestrations and fantastic choirs, singing in Latin, adding more depth to these excellent songs. Every song is a killer and adds to the long collection of classics from this one on a million band ! Angra is Angra, no need to compare them to something else. As for the killer tracks : no need to name them... they all kill ! Now... I have to speak of the vocals do I ? No need to cover my ears, Edu Falaschi is not Andre Matos... but you know what ? I don't care, I don't care cause he's a great singer and seems to be a team player. After all the interviews I've read, I must say that I was very disappointed by Andre's attitude, it seems he had already left the band before Fireworks and came back a few days before the recording sessions. At that time, the band had already asked Edu to take his place. So basically I feel like Angra is going to become a more unite band that they were before, and that's much better. So OK, Edu don't sing as high as Andre, but his vocals fits perfectly into place and add a heavier touch to Angra's music. So I in the end it's better that Andre left in the end and I hope that Angra's current lineup will stay as one, cause the balance of their music is near perfection now. No hard feeling against Andre neither, I like his vocals and if he wasn't happy with Angra then let's see what happens with Shaman. A fantastic album, and let's hope the first in a long list of killer albums to come. I just hope Angra will be more "constant" than in the past, since albums were always long to be released. Let's hope that won't be the case with this new lineup. You like ? or melodic metal in general, then you don't want to miss that album my friends. Many have put Angra in the grave way too soon it would seem, but what is now consider a challenger is back in full shape and simply blasts everyone fears away with style. Welcome back to life guys ! Two thumbs up !