Alex Le’s Blog

KT is THE best site for any heavy metal lovers. Period. The members are very active and there are always a boatload of new releases. I don’t want to talk about how torrents are killing the music industry and etc. (that’s just noise to me - yeah, big fat CEOs of huge labels are getting the big cut from the CD sales, so the money don’t go directly to the artists anyway. The RIAA is just a gang of highly greedy labels who are trying to go after small unorganized regular web users. Have you ever heard any CEO of any recording labels going broke? Exactly!)

Thanks to torrents, I am able to expose myself to amazing bands all over the world. And true fans are willing to shell out $15, $20 bucks for a CD, or even spend $30, $40 to buy the t-shirt of the bands. That money will actually go and support the band.

So many good band and musicians are putting out albums this time of the year. I was able to get the newest Angra’s album, Aurora Consurgens, the new Tarot’s album, Crows Fly Black, Dragonland’s Astronomy, and tons of other amazing bands. Angra’s newest album is a solid work power metal. The songs are vey well written and produced. Of the 10 songs on the CD, 5 of them get my 5 stars rating in iTunes, and the rest are also as good. The guitar work of Kiko Loureiro is fast, efficient, smooth, and crystal-clear. Actually I didn’t know that Kiko is from Angra. I already knew him from his excellent solo album No Gravity (#8, Moment of Truth, is an amzing song, btw), but I didn’t read his bio. When I listened to the song #9, Scream Your Heart Out, on Aurora Consurgens, I noticed the familiar playing style and the clear distortion settings of Kiko’s guitar, I looked up the Angra’s band and voila, Kiko is the lead guitarist of the band. Here is the song list and my ratings

1. The Voice Commanding You (4/5)
2. Ego Panted Grey (5/5): I love the deep expressive vocal part, and especially the amazing guitar bridging riff. The song start out slow, with only vocal,bass, and acoustic guitar. It then explodes with the full band coming in, then the amazing bridging riff that I just mentioned. The vocal remains as expressive and emtional as before. In the middle of the song, Kiko shows his amazing talents with the guitar solo while the symphony plays richly in the backgroud to support the him. And I have no comments on the percussion work except praises. This song alone is worth the money already.
3. Breaking Ties: A little too 80’s (the chorus part), but still very enjoyable. The vocal reminds me of Dream Theater.
4. Salvation Suicide: (5/5) Fast tempo, highly technical guitar work.
5. Window To Nowhere: (4/5) Another good song, especially the beginning.
6. So Near So Far (5/5): a 7 minutes song! This is rare nowadays as most songs are about 3:30mins to 4:00mins maximum. Middle Eastern influence beginning - love it! The song comes in slow with delicate instruments in the background, and the guitar part comes in about 1:20 into the song, still with the middle eastern influence. The vocal is high and strong. Around 4:30, it’s Kiko’s showtime. His solo wins my 5 stars rating. The middle-eastern acoustic solo around 5:15 is equally beautiful. Kiko’s guitar work is very intricate. It’s highly technical by being fast, accurate, but at the same time, very expressive, emotional, and melodic. The song ends with the guitars looping and nicely fade out. What can I say? Amazing
7. Passing By (4/5)
8. Scream Your Heart Out (5/5): The song already starts out with highly melodic Kiko’s guitar solo. The guitar riff just before the vocal comes it is awesome. I have to admit that the percussions of all the songs in this album are very well written and performed. Together with Kiko, the percussions give the songs the necessary punch and power. The song doesn’t even build up,it erupts.
9. Abandoned Fate (4/5) A slow song to conclude the excellent album

I highly recommend this new Angra’s album to power metal fans. I haven’t listened much to previous Angra’s albums so I can’t compare too much the the new album against the older ones. Anyway, this album is so worth your listening.