It’s kind of hard to figure out where ANGRA fits into the metal world. It could be a cross between progressive, thrash and power metal. Some of the playing here is unbelievably impressive. The chops are quite sick and the musicianship overall hardly reeks of redolent metal clichés’. Metal that looks more forward to the future rather than the past is not a bad thing at all. Every instrument comes out clear and nobody has to fight to be heard. There are at least anywhere from 2 to 4 guitar parts being played at any given moment. The keyboards and orchestral strings come through clear. At times, the singer does come a little too close to the Bruce Dickinson or Geoff Tate style for comfort.

The doors blow open with “The Course of Nature” and the ante is upped by the “The Voice Commanding You” with breakneck thrash speed and melodious melodies so...well...melodic! “Breaking Ties” is the obligatory power ballad, not nearly as bad as it should be. The pace is reduced by the radio friendly vibe of “So Near So Far” and “Passing By” which both still contains instrumental appeal. “Salvation: Suicide” and “Scream Your Heart Out” pick up the slack in a way that would make DREAM THEATER blush. “Arurora Consurgens” closes with the acoustic “Abandoned Fate” and I’m exhausted from listening to this disc twice in a row. It’s bedtime. I will listen again and again in the future. Rest assured. This is great stuff. Good night to all you peckerheads.

- Herring

Any Brazilian in ya? Want some?

Brazil is probably the metal capital of the world. It's clear from releases like IRON MAIDEN's "Rock in Rio" DVD/CD and HALFORD's "Live Insurrection," that audibly feature tens of thousands crazed Brazilian metalheads singing along not only to the words of every song, but to the GUITAR SOLOS as well, that this is a nation that lives and dies by all things TROO. I heard that Paul Di'Anno up and moved there because he grew accustomed to the worship that Brazilians heaped on him. If you need even more evidence of just how deep Brazil's appreciation of metal goes, look no further than long-running Brazilian heavyweights, ANGRA on their eleventh full-length release, "Aurora Consurgens."

The only thing ANGRA share with their Brazilian brothers in blast-beats SEPULTURA is the brief use of some tribal sounding percussion that serves as the intro to the lead-off track "The Course of Nature." From then on, it's "Seventh Son" era MAIDEN worship with a lot of HELLOWEEN thrown in. There are also plenty of proggy-type moments reminiscent of bands like DREAM THEATER and QUEENSRYCHE scattered throughout, but for the most part, this is total power metal overload. Musical performances are all razor sharp. Vocalist Edu Falaschi does his obvious heroes proud by being able to channel Michael Kiske, Geoff Tate and James LaBrie at different points. Drummer Aquiles Priester keeps things moving at a breakneck pace, and can turn things around on a dime in terms of feel and dynamics. Check out the majestic "Window to Nowhere" for the proof. Guitarists Kiko Loureiro and Rafael Bittencourt are certainly no strangers to the shred. Their inventive trade offs in "Ego Painted Grey" would no-doubt give a collective erection to the entire readership of Guitar for the Practicing Musician magazine. Their insane guitar tones on these solos would be nauseating if the song wasn't so awesome. The only real clunker of the bunch would have to be the more laid back "So Near So Far," which comes off as kinda wimpy given the crystal clear production of the disc. The electronic sounding backing tracks that play under the verses sound like they would be more at home on a Richard Marx track. Luckily, you don't have long to wait to get back to the metal.

So the country that booed Britney Spears and PAPA ROACH off the stage has given the western world something else to be envious of: "Aurora Consurgens" by ANGRA! Screw Florida. Proto Man has found the idea place to go after retirement.

- Broadbent

OFFICIAL SITE: www.angra.net

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