ANGRA - Rebirth
November 4, 2001, 22 years ago
(SPV)
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this album due to the fact that I'm biased in favour of ex-singer Andre Matos, who left to form a "real band" called Shaman, taking Angra's rhythm section with him. I figured Rebirth would sound like a continuation of the speedy, and ultimately boring, Fireworks album since only guitarists Loureiro and Bittencourt remain of the original line-up, and I couldn't have been more wrong. In actual fact, Rebirth is the follow-up to the classic Holy Land, the album that established Angra as a metal entity worth watching. The songs have been slowed down for the most part, and there is a marked return to the Latin rhythms and orchestral arrangements that had been their trademark. Matos' successor is a more than capable replacement, perhaps even better as he either lacks or avoids copying Matos' sometimes irritating dog-whistle range vocals, and the songs in general are that much stronger all round. This has been a favourite spin for me of late, with particular attention to 'Acid Rain', 'Millenium Sun', 'Running Alone', and the killer 'Unholy Wars', this last one a deliberate attempt to create a more powerful version of the Angra classic 'Carolina IV'. They do a remarkable job of succeeding. No question the bar has been raised quite high for Matos and Co. I'm curious to see how they'll fare with this thing hanging over their heads.
