You get these riffs that may be filled with notes and yet, whether it’s the urgency of the shredding ala “Angels and Demons” or the winding compositions with those hooky leads ala “Temple of Hate” and “Winds of Destination”, there’s always something that lodges the song right into your cerebral cortex. I’ve already mentioned Bittencourt and Loureiro’s penchant for shredding, but it’s paramount to how it manages to create these songs that are chock full of memorable moments. All the while, Angra’s sense of melodicism – both overt and subtle – kick right the fuck into the overdrive. One minute, you get this power ballad the next, you get speed metal the next, you get a grim acoustic joint the next, Falaschi and Hansi fucking Kursch are performing a duet over a rising and falling metal monster and the next one delivers unto you a more subdued but ultimately catchy Brazilian kind of deal via hooky latin acoustic guitar lines and larger than life orchestrations. If there’s one thing this album’s got in spades, it’s variety. Then you follow that up with the explosive “Angels and Demons”, the conflicting “Waiting Silence”, the contemplative yet sobering “Wishing Well” and the flat-out speed metal “Temple of Hate”, and what you’ve got is a right theatrical album. It imparts a positive effect on the album throughout, mainly through its bombastic use of symphonics and varied clean vocal inflections to make these big verses and choruses, all while the guitars let it rip – particularly during the solos, but even throughout the rest of the song to make it all so highly memorable. Standing tall with the extravagance and flair of a Mardi Gras parade, “Spread Your Fire” casts a bright light upon the album the way any particularly good opening number does. Between Bittencourt and Loureiro’s mad shredding, Priester’s manic percussion and Falaschi’s dynamic vocals, it’s a veritable explosion of pomp-laden power metal. There’s this big fuck off bombast behind the symphony opening up the album and then “Spread Your Fire” does exactly as the title says. Often considered the best of Angra’s discography, Temple of Shadows showcases a potpourri of flashy pyrotechnics and somber balladry to provide a highly theatrical experience.
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August 2023
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