Having just reviewed the ‘Best of’ album by Gamma Ray, here’s the new album by another band that at it’s beginnings hade a sound quite similar to Helloween, but have developed their style over the years towards a more progressive metal sound.
It’s been four years since these guys from Brasil released new material, but is was worth the wait. 23 years after this band saw life, they still go at it in a very strong way. I already liked Fabio Lione when he was still with Vision Divine and Rhapsody (Of Fire), and I still like him. This man has an impressive vocal range, being able to do high notes, as well as surprisingly low notes, and even some hars ones. Musically this is, I believe, one of the best Angra albums so far, not only because Fabio delivers one of his best performances so far, but also due to the sheer quality of the music itself. There are songs to everybody’s liking, ballads as well as power anthems, there are South American influences on the album as well. You also get two guests, Doro Pesch, who does a duet with guitarist Rafael Bettencourt, and Simone Simons, who sings on the title song ‘Secret Garden’.
Let’s finish by saying that this is likely to become one of my favourite albums for 2015. A must-buy !