Band:	Angra
Album:	Temple Of Shadows
Style:	Progressive power metal
Release date:	September 06, 2004
Guest review by:	Talvi

01. Deus Le Volt!
02. Spread Your Fire [feat. Sabine Edelsbacher]
03. Angels And Demons
04. Waiting Silence
05. Wishing Well
06. The Temple Of Hate [feat. Kai Hansen]
07. The Shadow Hunter
08. No Pain For The Dead [feat. Sabine Edelsbacher]
09. Winds Of Destination [feat. Hansi Kürsch]
10. Sprouts Of Time
11. Morning Star
12. Late Redemption [feat. Milton Nascimento]
13. Gate XIII

Sometimes I should eat my own words. Why do I go talking about an album being the best? Because I believed nothing could prove me wrong. When you love a song or album so much nothing can make you change. And I thought I wasn't going to change.

I did. Well, maybe I will. Because even I said Voimasta Ja Kunniasta was the best metal album, or at least the one I loved the most, now I may change my opinion. This, my friends, is the best metal album. Or maybe I just should stop talking shit and just say that any album I rate as perfect (you won't find a lot of them) can be my favorite.

Angra. A second tier power metal band. Really, why listen to these bands when you have masters like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Gamma ray, etc. Unless they have something new and fresh for the genre, you shouldn't bother. And Angra didn't have anything that just made you crazy.

No longer. This album is so new, fresh, powerful, technical and bombastic that it's unbelievable. First, this is metal. Power metal. Almost. Well, the first songs are classic power metal songs. So, you may ask? Well. "Spread Your Fire." "Angels and Demons." "Wishing Well." "The Temple of Hate." Any of these songs in any power metal album are highlights. But in this album they are the only "pure" power metal songs. Even in two of those there are a guest singer. Now, what's going wrong?

Well, if you are "only" a metal lover, forget this album. Get those songs, and don't bother buying the album. All the other songs are in some part power metal songs. Very little part. Only in a few more songs. Let's say, how would Dream Theater sound if they were Brazilian, they liked power metal and had a singer with balls? Yeah, I'm cumming too.

But before going on, the singer. Well, not the singer, but the vocal melodies. (Take a big breath). This album has the best vocal melodies ever found. That's right. But not only because of the singer who is amazing, and maybe better that Mr. Andre Matos. It's the songwriting. Each instrument is perfect where it is, and the vocals are another instrument. Fuck, even Hansi sings better than ever. Yes, "Winds Of Destination" has the best performance Hansi has ever done.

But you may wonder why I said "Brazilian" Dream Theater as a comparision? The folk elements are there. (Brazilian) Folk Progressive Power Metal? Check the flamenco intro on "The Shadow Hunter." The salsa sound of "Sprouts Of Time." Yes, almost all the second half of the album has a lot of experimentation, and they even have some good innovating ideas. Check the bass on "Waiting Silence." And the best is how coherent this album is, because usually albums that want to be conceptual, have a ton of guest singers (well, there are only 5), and making each song so different to each other it looks like another band, it's difficult. Yet they made it. The best is how the intro and the outro have melodies from "Spread your Fire" (and more songs), which make listening to the album repeated times more satisfactory.

Now, those looking for highlights: this album has none. No, you can't find any. Any song has something the other hasn't. Crunchy riff? "Morning Star." Complexity? "The Shadow Hunter." Kick ass chorus and intro? "Spread Your Fire." Best vocals and bass? "Waiting Silence." I could go on forever. Remember, not every album is a bunch of songs. If you like albums as cohsive collective of songs, get this. Now. Guess what, that's what every concept album is.

Now, what I hate is that an amazing album will be just heard by some elitists and be forgotten by society. Why couldn't this be an album that influences a genre? Power Metal needs a new make up. Kiuas is there helping too, but just two bands aren't enough. Really, Prog/Power is the way to go now. Ask Pagan's Mind and Symphony X if you want.

Well, if you are checking for new bands/albums, remember this: If listening to a flamenco acoustic intro, or some salsa, or just wanting to listen to heavy and crunchy riffs wherever, don't get this. Get some Death, or Thrash. But the others, the ones who have read the full review, those who love music, and not just metal. Those that are looking for something new and refreshing, and are sick of listening the same thing when they see a band labeled as "Power Metal", get this. Forget every other album Angra has done. You can't compare those to this masterpiece. This album is so rich, complex, but at the same time accessible, that people will se it on the future, and remember it, not as "that awesome album," but as a classic. That's what this deserves. No music collection is completed without this. What are you waiting for?