TEMPLE OF SHADOWS

I remember when Andre Matos left Angra, people thought the magic was gone, but they couldn´t have been more wrong! Edu Falaschi is in my opinion the greatest prog metal vocalist of them all. His singing on this album is phenomenal!

The first three songs on this album are more in the power metal vein, but after that it gets really progressive. If anyone has doubts about Angra being listed under the Prog Metal genre, they have to hear this album.

It is a concept album about organized religion through the centuries (All the lyrics are written by Rafael Bittencourt) Sabine Edelsbacher of Edenbridge gets to sing a duet with Edu Falaschi on "No pain for the dead" which is truly magnificent. Brazilian legend Milton Naascimento can also be heard on this album. In fact, there are a few Brazilian musical styles in between some of the songs which makes the songs even more interesting.

The twin guitars of Bittencourt and Loureiro work so well together, moving from one speaker and then going together in unison. Lightning fast guitar work is heard from Kiko Loureiro. The playing is extremely tight and fast on the first songs that one could think they are listening to Sonata Arctica, but after a while it slows down a bit. The greatest surprise on this album is Edu Falaschi´s vocals, the man sounds incedible on this release.

I would say this is the strongest Prog Metal album of this century!!