Ex-SHAMAN / ex-ANGRA vocalist Andre Matos has issued the following update on his new album, Mentalize:

"Mentalize is now out in Europe, Brazil and Japan and already got some great feedback from all over the world. The CD is already sold out in Holland, and many good reviews have been published. Here you find an overview of what's been written so far. Follow the links provided on the page to read the complete reviews."

As previously reported, Matos is featured in a new interview with Metallus Maximus. An excerpt featuring Matos discussing his split with Shaman and his previous solo album, Time To Be Free, is available below.

“Time To Be Free was a crossroads for me,” says Matos. “Shaman split up and I was thinking about what I should do next. It didn’t make any sense for me to start up a new band, find a new name, re-introduce myself again. It would have been my fourth band (Angra and Viper being the predecessors) and I think people are a little tired of all that, so I decided it was time for me to face the challenge of having a solo career. I prefer to call it a solo band, actually, because I look at artists like Ozzy or Dio who used to have steady bands with great musicians that are an additional highlight for the fans. We write songs together and we hang out together; it’s not like I just hire a bunch of musicians and go out on the road. For me it’s very important to have that band feeling no matter what name I’m working under.”
“In some ways it works better now than it did when I was in an actual band (laughs). I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because in this sort of situation the roles people play are defined right at the beginning. There’s no ego tripping in this band, I don’t have to be a dictator (laughs). I think if you take it as a real band with real friendship behind what you’re doing it’ll work because everyone enjoys being together.”

Go to this location for the complete story. Click here for a review of Matos' new album, Mentalize.