Angra – Rebirth

Hopefully one day we will get this album on vinyl!

And to think I was worried when I first heard that Angra "broke up" in 2000. Little did I know that the result of the split would result in not one but two great progressive power metal bands. Original vocalist Andre Matos, bassist Luis Mariutti, and drummer Ricardo Confessori left to start the excellent Shaman (Matos has since exited for a solo career), while the remaining brought in some new blood, most notably vocalist Edu Falaschi, and re-launched Angra in 2001 with the breathtaking album Rebirth.

As much as I love the early Angra albums, Rebirth is the album I'm most likely to wear out from repeated listens. Rebirth comes across as a more polished, more mature version of the band's debut album Angels Cry. All of the elements that made that album a classic are present here, from the high-speed guitars to the prominent keyboards to the fantastic melodies to Angra's signature Brazilian musical elements. On top of that, the band finally has a vocalist who doesn't have to rely exclusively on high notes. Edu Falaschi is a major talent, and his powerful soaring voice is no doubt a welcome change for those who were put off by Andre Matos's high-pitched style (which to be honest I never minded).

This album is so powerful and so melodic that it took all of 30 seconds of the first song (after the obligatory instrumental intro) to have me totally sold. Very few power metal albums leave me breathless like Rebirth did, and six years later it still has every bit as much an impact. Aside from that throwaway intro track, there isn't a weak moment on the whole album. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Every single song on Rebirth is an absolute classic.

Put Rebirth right up there with Holy Land as the crown jewels of the Angra discography. Fans of great melodic power metal, from Iron Maiden and Helloween to Dragonforce and Brainstorm need to add Rebirth to their collections.