ANGRA: Angels Cry (MELODIC METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Now a big name on the heavy melodic metal scene, "Angra" was born in 1991 in Sao Paulo by the singer André Matos and the guitarist Rafael Bittencourt. The band was quickly joined by bassist Luis Mariutti and guitarist Kiko Loureiro released their first demo, "Reaching Horizons" in 1992. The big success of this demo allowed the band to very quickly offer this first album, "Angel's Cry" in 1993 in Japan and in 1994 in Europe.

And this first album is indeed a huge slap in the face. Covering five tracks reworked from his demo, Angra throws us a bomb of melodic heavy speed revealing a world-class singer with a powerful and angelic voice and sounding the revival of a speed metal that was in a very bad shape at the beginning of the 90s. On bases close to a Helloween or a Gamma Ray, the band brings a real freshness thanks to the contribution of classical and Brazilian influences and a pair of very talented guitarists.

And if there are of course some youthful clumsiness here and there, "Angel's Cry" is a great success with already two great tracks. "Carry On" opens the album with ardour and efficiency with a beautiful classical introduction, a wild rhythm and a great chorus made for concerts. Then with "Angel's Cry" we have another nugget of melodic speed dominated by a wonderful André Matos, raising his voice very high without ever forcing or sounding wrong. Moreover the little classical passage borrowed from Paganini gives the song an extra strength and a joyful cheerful aspect.

Then come solid tracks like "Time", "Never Understand", "Evil Warning" or even "Stand Away" which all show a band already close to perfection in its heavy metal. Of course, the influence of the speed scene is still very strong, but we can clearly feel that Angra has the extra touch through acoustic and classical passages, Iron Maiden-style guitar duels, lyrical vocal flights and more sweet and catchy moments.

Finally, to prove the incredible mastery of André Matos, you can't miss the cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights", which is very faithfully covered and which bluffs, so much Matos comes close to the original with a sweetness and a rather disturbing feminine side.

So there are still some weaknesses, the filiation with the European heavyweight is still marked. And we can still feel a certain naivety here and there, like for example on the last track, the ballad "Lasting Child", which is not very exciting and soft. But in the end, these are only details as the result is so good, "Angel's Cry" is a first album of high level and launches the band in the course of the great hopes of the genre. - Official website

ANGRA

ANGELS CRY

SPV STEAMHAMMER

MELODIC METAL