Holy Land

Angra have always been a personal favorite band of mine, and their second full-length, 1996's Holy Land showed the world the potential of the Brazilian quintet. What always shocked me about Holy Land was the fact that this came out in 1996. 1996!? I think it is often understated how much Angra actually did for the power metal genre, as well as their special way of progressing it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the guys in Rhapsody had enjoyed a spot of Holy Land prior to their debut. This had a lot of the hallmarks that would later be almost standard for the genre in years to come - especially as far as the bigger bands were concerned. Hansen studios, Sascha Paeth, Charlie Bauerfeind, yeah that's the shit right there.

Holy Land was a concept album, fusing traditional Brazilian music into Angra's crafty blend of speed/progressive/power metal. The concept details of the conquest of Brazil, and as a bonus for those who have a hard copy of the album is that the booklet folds out into an old 15th century map. (Which is awesome, but I hate opening it out in fear of damaging it).

Anways, onto the actual music. As I said they fuse traditional Brazilian music with their tasty brand of metal and the result is a totally unique album. Angra never did another one like this, nor did any other band attempt it. This, my friends, is what I would call a piece of power metal history. In terms of arrangement, production, and of course the material on offer I think this is right up there with Land of the Free, Episode and Imaginations from the Other Side as far as influence, both on the power metal genre and its progressive off-shoot.

This predates quite a bit of the Italian power metal sound, which is funny, and in places here you can hear motifs, and inklings of what would later influence the Italian guard. But I digress, tracks such as storming opener "Nothing to Say" and the epic "Carolina IV" should be all you need to hear to see where I'm coming from.

The performances here are really quite special, Andre Matos' unique voice is at its finest on Holy Land, his range has always been his strong point and here proves no different, truly superb form. Kiko Loureiro and Rafael Bittencourt comprise one of my personal favorite guitar duos, and perform deftly. I always felt their guitar playing, as far as pre-Edu Falaschi era Angra went, was a little understated. Possibly due to their styles routed in various genres and techniques. The rhythm section is tight, and handled wonderfully, and not to forget a whole host of guest musicians who make this album that little bit more special.

In an attempt to close I will say that Holy Land was Angra's finest release with the Andre Matos line-up. In fact I think Holy Land is a masterpiece in its genre, and an album that can often be a little misunderstood. As far as power metal goes, this is a mandatory listen, and whilst I guess it could be considered a little fruity in places, is still completely worthy of attention. This one takes a little bit of time, especially if you're more familiar with Angra's work from Rebirth onwards. Despite that, this is a magical release that just has to be heard.