Ømni

Well fuck me, this is more like it! Secret Garden being the first… I guess Mk 3 Angra album was certainly a disappointing way to kick things back off, as well as a less than satisfying send-off for Kiko Loureiro. So who knew that simply adding less digitizer to the production and varying up the riffs a bit more would’ve been enough to turn a below-average affectation into one that’s rather good? Because that’s right about what OMNI sounds like.

It certainly starts off on the right foot with a fast and upbeat little jig by the name of “Light of Transcendence”. It’s got many similarities to their major hit, “Nova Era” – even down to a suspiciously familiar opening motif – and that fast, upbeat stuff has always been one of those things Angra’s always excelled at. It fucking shreds, yet it presents an innately memorable rhythm nonetheless, much in the way they’ve always done it. Newcomer Marcelo Barbosa can certainly light up the fretboard, and Bittencourt’s still got it too. This especially shows during the solos as they electrify the songs around them with their sheer neoclassical energy. Alongside “War Horns”, Angra maintain that the peppy and the upbeat is one of their greatest strengths.

Of course, it’s still focused on creating these meaty grooves. But man, even the grooves have some actual fucking pep to them! Not just because the production is no longer bogging the riffs down into djent-style grooves like Bittencourt auditioning for the upcoming Animals as Leaders album – here, it’s still heavy-ish with that modern sheen, still accenting the grooves well. But at least here, it allows the riffs breathe. Thanks to this, the songs are able to stand and deliver on its more thoroughly engaging riffing that deliver on Angra’s other great strength of providing a strong variety of standout songs. Whether it’s bouncier like the poppy “Insania” or the Amaranthe-esque “Black Widow’s Web” (wait, don’t go, it’s better than you think, I promise!) or outright proggy like “Caveman” – and not to mention the emotionally powerful ballad that is “The Bottom of My Soul” – there’s certainly something that keeps the songs innately distinct, whilst maintaining that overly melodic neoclassical streak that the band had been known for since day one.

Not about to suggest it’s a fully flawless album. “Always More” is a lame ballad, and “Travelers of Time” and “Magic Mirror” rely more on simpler grooves that are about as catchy as the greased up deaf guy. They get the job done on a basic level, but most everything else here does too and manage to create more evocative soundscapes, or are at least pretty catchy. The issue with “Always More” is that we already had a ballad earlier on this album with “The Bottom of My Soul”, and that one kicked ass. That one had Bittencourt providing scratchier, more soulful vocals certainly ups the emotional stakes, and even the instrumentals provide those emotional highs and lows through latin guitars and heavier riffs. “Always More”… lacks all that, sounding more like a generic power metal ballad, and we all know how well those go!

I’m also not super duper on “Infinite Nothing”, but it’s more due to it being a bit drawn out and a bit more generic than anything else. I get what it was going through as some sort of orchestral finale, “Gate XIII” off of Temple of Shadows had a more climactic sounding rendition of the various melodies throughout that album, whereas “Infinite Nothing” sounds… like a rendition of the various melodies throughout this album. Minus the finality. Still sounds good, don’t get me wrong, but it ultimately lacks the grandeur found in “Gate XIII”. Interestingly, “Silence Inside” (the song before it) definitely has more of those “final” qualities, given its highs and lows – how it escalates and deescalates – throughout its groovy power-laden riffs. “Infinite Nothing” is something you probably could’ve taken the best minute-long segment out of and transition the end of “Silence Inside” into that, and it’d make for a more climactic ending to the album.

Even with its faults and nitpicks, OMNI definitely better showcases what the Mk 3 lineup has to offer, with Barbosa doing Loureiro justice and Lione packing some excellent vocals – honestly, the best since the pre-copyright issues Rhapsody days, given the high amount of power he puts behind his vocals. It’s interesting, because even with a more neoclassical bent to the riffs and even a couple of fast songs, OMNI does follow in the footsteps of Secret Garden. But the key difference – as juxtaposed by more interesting riffs, more variety and a less digital production – is that it’s not phoned the fuck in. There’s pep. There’s intrigue. There are interesting and/or catchy parts, for Christ’s sake! Above all else is an album that brings back the fire Angra once had, and I’m sure with the next album, this lineup will really bring the thunder!