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Angra - Aurora Consurgens review



Reviewer:
8.6

350 users:
7.8
Band: Angra
Album: Aurora Consurgens
Release date: October 2006


01. The Course Of Nature
02. The Voice Commanding You
03. Ego Painted Grey
04. Breaking Ties
05. Salvation: Suicide
06. Window To Nowhere
07. So Near So Far
08. Passing By
09. Scream Your Heart Out
10. Abandoned Fate
11. Out Of This World [Japanese bonus]

Finally, "Aurora Consurgens" the new album of the Brazilian combo Angra is out. And well for their 15th anniversary and despite a radical band members turnover in 2000, our guys are still happy to play music, and still able to write great songs. If "Temple Of Shadows" was probably one of the best releases of the year 2004, it was not so easy for the band to release something similar for their new album but before that we even try to expect something specific, Angra cut the grass under our feet and simply changed its musical orientation? "Aurora Consurgens" will be really surprising for you?

"Temple Of Shadows" was a pure album of Power Metal (and a great one of course, we will all agree on this point) with evidently the Brazilians touches that we have the luck to listen to in the music of the band since a lot of years now. And it was a direct album, with a lot of great Metal anthems, some real "in your face" hits perfectly written for the live performance but "Aurora Consurgens" is definitely different.

Inspired by a secret book written by Saint Thomas d'Aquin, "Aurora Consurgens" is not a new concept album but the lyrics will mainly deals with human being and society problems. You'll have to know also that this album is a lot more complex than the previous works of the band and well, even if the bands claims that "Aurora Consurgens" is their heavier one I have to add also that it's is their finest complex and technical work of their whole discography. But of course on a side it's heavier. First, the voice of Edu is still beautiful but you'll be able to see that he is able to sing with a voice a bit more "Heavy". I'm not talking about Death Metal vocals of course, but you'll see, his voice is not always "sweet" on the new album. Also, to give you an example, the guitar break of "The Course Of Nature" is not so far away of Thrash. No, "Aurora Consurgens" doesn't lack of heavy music, but its main difference with "Temple Of Shadows" is that it's not anymore a pure album of Power Metal.

But hey, it's not a big problem if "Aurora Consurgens" doesn't basically follow the road of "Temple Of Shadow", at the opposite, this is a good way to show to the audience that the band is able to do different things and that they're not simply living on their acquired experiences. "Aurora Consurgens" is a lot more progressive and complex but also a lot more intimate and it will maybe be a problem for some of you I think. First, don't expect any real mega hits on "Aurora Consurgens" and second in general the rhythms are cooler than on "Temple Of Shadows" so the songs are not easy of access, they're complex with a lot of variations but with this pleasant little complex aspect that we can find in Progressive music. Also, you'll be able to find on the release the best performances of Kiko and Rafael and they will also be a real confirmation of the enormous talent of Edu, Aquiles and Felipe. "Aurora Consurgens" is special for an Angra album but it gives something new and different and well, if you take some time to listen to it, I'm sure that you'll like it a lot.

As we say, we never change a team of winners, so this is again Isabel de Amorin who worked on the design of the album and Dennis Ward who mixed and recorded the album. Be sure that the sound will be perfect one more time and that the booklet will be full of beautiful drawings and images. On the other hand, you'll not be able to find any guest musicians on the new album but if you need to have something "new" just remember that the album is probably the first real "meeting" of all the musical ideas and influences of all the musicians so for sure you will be able to discover new musical orientations on "Aurora Consurgens".

"Aurora Consurgens" is a beautiful album but you'll have to remember also that it is a bit different than "Temple Of Shadows". Angra didn't follow quietly the road that they started to use with their previous release and this change, this way to take some risks is a great thing in my opinion. "Aurora Consurgens" is maybe not so easy of access at the end but still, this is one of the best album of the band without any doubt. Don't miss it!


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 9
Production: 9

Written by Jeff | 30.10.2006



Guest review by
Spyroid
Rating:
8.0
When I first heard this album, and still now when I'm writing this review 18 months later I am very confused - my brain has never felt so split about any album before! All this time I haven't been able to decide wether this album is totally awesome or a complete letdown. And the reason is spelled 'Temple Of Shadows'. That album still is one of my all time favourite albums in any category simply because it's such a totally complete masterpiece. 'Aurora Consurgens' is not. So first I will try to explain why this not a worthy follow up to it's ancestor.

Read more ››
published 13.06.2008 | Comments (1)


Comments

Comments: 29   Visited by: 93 users
30.10.2006 - 14:03
pajo
Account deleted
Amazing album!!! Firstly I had a problem to get into some songs, but now I think they are one of their best!!!
There are lots of sounds... Little bit of thrashy riffs, latino, power, prog riffs.
Once again I must say "Great work Angra!!!"
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30.10.2006 - 14:37
Baz Anderson

it came out today but i have not been able to get my hands on it yet
i am really looking forward to hearing it though

the new Iron Maiden album was supposed to be a lot more progressive, as is this one - and i didnt really like the new Iron Maiden album so i really hope the same doesnt happen for this album
i do really like the single from this album though so that is a good sign!

i hope i can get this album soon!!!
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30.10.2006 - 15:15
Rating: 8
nb

This album sounds, great, so far I have only listened to it once, but it is true, that it need more than five or six listens to be able to digest it. But I like this kind of albums.
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30.10.2006 - 17:50
Jonathan Tweet
Account deleted
wow Angra's last two releases really blew me away.
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30.10.2006 - 18:18
Rating: 8
BlankFile

After the deception that was the slipt up of Shaaman, i was hoping that this brazilian band named Angra, would give me some happiness with this new release. My first listening was very odd, i confess. I really had doubts about the quality of this album, cause the first song presented to me was Course of Nature, a very different song compared to the line-up of Temple of Shadows.
But in the following listenings man i went crazy about this one and all the entire Masterpiece! Its a full quality and creative album! What a lesson to Shaaman and André Matos indeed. Angra keeps doing some quality stuff, and i like it very much!
This album is one of the best Angra ever made. Its a beautiful and powerfull cd, with fantástic compositions such as "The Course of Nature", "Salvation:Suicide", "Window to Nowhere" and for me the highlight of the album and one of the best Angra songs: " The Voice Commanding you". Its a Hymn to progressive Metal! Fabulous!
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30.10.2006 - 18:49
Rating: 8
Spyroid
Rosetta Stoned
I didn't got anything from this review ^^ not that it was bad, but it seems like I have to get it to understand a shit :p
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30.10.2006 - 19:06
Kanon
Account deleted
This is a great work of angra, again the brazilian guys, give us a very powerfull album, with a great songs, progressive and power metal, the Highlights: The Course of Nature, Salvation:Suicide, Window to Nowhere and the best song of the album and i think one of the best song of angra (after Nova Era): The Voice Commanding You, i love this song
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30.10.2006 - 19:43
Rating: 8
Talvi

Great album, indeed!

PD Thrash break... on tge 'Break of Nature' or 'Course of Nature?
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My account on other musical pages:
http://www.last.fm/user/Pozito/
http://rateyourmusic.com/~Talvi
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30.10.2006 - 19:47
Jeff
Freaky Admin
Oops... typo fixed... thx

And thx for the comments btw !
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Come with us to Hellfest 2011!
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31.10.2006 - 00:54
PyRaMaZe
Account deleted
It took me a couple of listens to start liking the album, so now I love it, great album,
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31.10.2006 - 15:37
buttsechs
Account deleted
Absolutely incredible. Angra never did fail to impress me. It'd be difficult to really put this album's greatness into words. Just go and buy it. It's worth your life savings. You really can't compare Aurora Consurgens to their previous releases. Angra clearly stated that they were going to try a new sound for this album and they did. 'Ego Painted Gray' sounds like nothing they've ever done before. They made this album much heavier than Temple of Shadows while making sure that they didn't change enough to disappoint the fans. So in case you're expecting Angra to have just completely changed, you're wrong. This album is everything you would ever want from Angra but with more than you expected (if that makes any sense to you) I can't say that there are lots of bands out there that have ever grew the balls to try something new and have actually succeeded. Most try and fail at it eventually making their fans hate them for it. And then there are those that slowly change, slowly sounding more and more like shit simply because they ran out of ideas after their first album. Angra never went in that direction. These guys are beyond creative and for that my respect for Angra just keeps growing with each and every album they put out. Aurora Consurgens owns you.
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01.11.2006 - 02:20
Zendrian
Account deleted
well.... im not disapointed but.... i'll prefer temple of shadows stile (more sentimental), still a great instrumental part.

..(i will hear it more, maybe im wrong, who knows)..
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02.11.2006 - 19:26
Rating: 8
Silhouette

I wouldn't call Temple of shadows just a power metal release, though I know this album is more complex in it's structures, I still think Temple of shadows is a progressive album. Rebirth was a power metal album, and Temple of shadows was a big step forward, I think. Though this new album is another, even bigger, step, Temple of shadows is still my favourite.
But hey, considering the complexity and progressive qualities of the new album, that might change in time.
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08.11.2006 - 09:26
marco

is it just me or does the song "Breaking Ties" sound a lot like The Flower Kings? Anyway, this new Angra record is one of their best yet, I have listened it to like 10 times already and this masterpiece is a real MUST HAVE for all power and prog metal fans. To me this sounds like a mix of old Angra, Awake era Dream Theater and The Flower Kings but maybe it's just me
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the proggy bubblefucker
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18.11.2006 - 07:59
Rating: 4
Kib Thanyarath

i keep listenning to "The Voice Commanding You"
like 100 times already xD i totally LOVE this song!
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19.11.2006 - 00:27
ReckoningWinter

It isn't Temple Of Shadows, but it's still a good album.
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20.11.2006 - 09:01
Kanon
Account deleted
Written by Kib Thanyarath on 18.11.2006 at 07:59

i keep listenning to "The Voice Commanding You"
like 100 times already xD i totally LOVE this song!


Hell yeah!!!!, the voice commanding you is the best song of this album xD
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02.01.2007 - 08:48
Jason W.
Razorbliss
It's a decent CD, but I fail to see what's so masterful about it. Great solo work and of course production, but the lyrics are average at best, and songs like "Breaking Ties" sound poor to these ears.
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"After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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26.01.2007 - 15:49
Cloud Strife
Account deleted
It's a very good CD..

But Temple Of Shadows is better than this.
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30.01.2007 - 20:57
Pianoman
Account deleted
The worst album of Angra but its still good.
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26.03.2007 - 19:22
Crowe
Account deleted
Still think that Temple of Shadows has better songs, but this album kicks ass, specially Voice Commanding You and Ego Painted Grey. 10/10
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16.06.2007 - 18:25
Rating: 7
4look4rd
The Sasquatch
Cant get into this album, I think it has the weakest guitar riffs, and the vocals arent that good either... Pianoman is right, this is Angra's wort album but still Ok
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26.06.2007 - 01:31
Rating: 8
ãtuã

AC is an great album, but I expected Angra to turn up with something more similar to Temple Of Shadows.
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12.07.2007 - 20:42
Arcaliz666
Account deleted
Great work of Angra, specially by the songs The Course Of Nature and Ego Painted Gray.
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11.03.2008 - 02:54
Rating: 8
Evil Chip

This is more progressive than their previous ones but is really good. I like all the songs of this realese. 9/10
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31.03.2008 - 09:38
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
heh.. its great.. i like to say.. Angra will never release a bad album.. unless a great catastroph happens and changes the mind of the band.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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23.06.2008 - 01:36
Rating: 8
juanopereira

I think temple of shadows is better but this is a great album anyway. I'd gave temple of shadow a 9 and aurora consurgens an 8.5
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17.10.2009 - 18:37
Rating: 10
Hermann Langke
Brahmastra Corps
Got its deserving due.
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23.07.2011 - 18:37
Rating: 9
mohammedMG

To be honest i became a fan of angra because of this album i listened to temple of shadows but this album sounds better to me it's their heaviest one
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