Band:	Age Of Artemis
Album:	The Waking Hour
Style:	Melodic power metal
Release date:	July 18, 2014
A review by:	R'Vannith

01. Penance
02. Under The Sun
03. Broken Bridges
04. The Waking Hour
05. Hunger And Shame
06. Melted In Charisma
07. Childhood
08. Your Smile
09. Exile
10. New Revolution
11. Winding Road

There's no two ways about it really, Age Of Artemis sound a lot like Angra. The extent of idol worship going on in their latest album is obvious, and more's the pity if their imitations didn't actually yield any success. Fortunately though, they do a remarkably good job of it.

Naturally the clear comparison arises from their Brazilian power metal heritage, adding the folk accoutrements that other bands such as Shaman and Aquaria have demonstrated in their varying stylistic formats, the latter to a much greater extent. Age Of Artemis crops up in the scene as a more melodically focused and less progressive brother of Angra, the most recognised Brazilian power metal outfit, and a leading name in general for the country's metal output. Comparisons also arise with Almah in that respect, the band of ex-Angra front-man Edu Falaschi, although this record generally offers a softer more harmonious experience.

It's all in good reason why Angra has such a strong influence over their subgenre's existence at home, with Age Of Artemis picking up on the melodic strengths and distinctly Brazilian flavour that seems to come as naturally to them as it does to those by whom they were directly inspired. Where the closest similarities do arise in the more folk inflected parts of the album, such as in "Childhood," they don't fail to disappoint or squander their direct inspiration; they deliver a comparable quality of melodies and hooks that you would expect of Angra themselves. Without introducing progressive elements, the melody focused song structures involve enough percussive variations which go a long way to maintaining the Brazilian identity that all the aforementioned bands share.

The band's vocalist Alírio Netto delivers a style uncannily like that of Edu Falaschi, and never shies away from such an obvious similarity, comfortably performing within a similarly well versed range. Consistently a focus for the record, these vocal arrangements are the primary element which draws such a strong connection with Angra, the catchy choruses ensuring that the similarity never really leaves the listening experience.

The album is well produced and offers a melodically streamlined set of tracks, however the main problem, as I'm sure you're aware by now, is that they lack their own identity, the performance here being completely at ease in directly imitating the style of Angra. Clearly all too comfortable.