Angra 's show in Porto Alegre, as we all know, is packed, fans are fired up, and there's a return to the past. In 30 years, the band has lived long enough to have many stories to tell, and in this journey of highs and lows, there's much to celebrate. The current celebration is for the (belated) 20th anniversary of the album Rebirth (2001), which propelled the band to an even higher level when that seemed impossible. Amidst the departure of 3 of the 5 original members, the rebirth came loud and clear with an album that became an absolute classic on the shelves of generations of fans of technical, melodic, and Brazilian metal.
After a second mass exodus between 2010 and 2027, Rafael Bittencourt (guitar) currently has Filipe Andreoli (a loyal bassist since the band's debut in the so-called Rebirth , in every sense), as well as Marcelo Barbosa (who replaced the Brazilian guitar hero Kiko Loureiro – now in Megadeth – and performs the task with ease on the instrument) and Bruno Valverde , who joined the band as a young question mark regarding Angra's drumming legacy. On vocals, the lead singer is Fabio Lione (ex-Rhapsody of Fire) , who has been with the band for several years and, with a strong and clear Italian accent, has always delivered excellent performances.
As you can see, Angra was a supergroup of great musicians in all its incarnations, and is deeply ingrained in Brazilian musical culture as niche, classical, metal, and folk music. Replacing figures like Andre Matos, Kiko Loureiro, and Aquiles Priester requires playing as well as the old guys and also bringing your own style, which, let's face it, is asking a lot.
Rebirth - blooded power metal, Brazilian-influenced rhythms, three-part epics, and an Edu Falaschi , out of control of the power he held over masses of young people throughout Brazil, and with the responsibility of replacing Andre Matos. With great appreciation for the album, Rio Grande do Sul mobilized and packed José do Patrocínio street with tour buses. The Opinião venue, as a bar, was unusable – so crowded that some rough behavior could be heard here and there, and reports of discomfort. As a concert venue, it remains the home of metalheads (and also a cultural hub), where the band, in its three or four different formations, has been connecting with the city since Fireworks.
On that June 25th, the show was preceded by Mortticia , a local band that has been presenting its compositions online since before the pandemic. The boys' satisfaction was noticeable, evident in the smile of vocalist Lucas Zawaki. The quintet brings a traditional metal sound that explores its own structures. From their set, "Ocean of Change" stood out, concluding the band's performance.
Next up was Rage In My Eyes . The band brought their "gaucho metal" to create a night of power metal and southern Brazilian influences. With the stage adorned with images from their latest work, Spiral, the band delivered a respectable set, featuring songs from this EP as well as their impressive debut , Ice Cell. Highlights included Jonathas Pozo , one of the best vocalists in the current melodic scene, and also the bagpiper Matheus Kleber , who showcased great duets with Magnus Wichmann (guitar, ex- Scelerata ). The band certainly pleased with tracks like "Death Sleepers," "Winter Dream," and the impressive high notes of "Spiral Seasons," in addition to the ballad "Spark of Hope," with its enchanting verses in Portuguese sung by the audience. Such speed, personality, and technique left a great impression on the musicians from Rio Grande do Sul, who also participated in Angra's dates in Florianópolis and Curitiba.
Finally, it was their time. Angra came on superb, and accompanied by keyboardist Dio Lima and percussionist Guga Machado , opened with (the traditional) “Nothing To Say” and, following that, Sandy (“Black Widow's Web”), an exotic way to promote their new identity, with so much good music in the catalog of Omni , their most recent album. The night was lively. With tickets sold out weeks in advance, they finally gave the audience what they wanted: Rebirth in its entirety.
I'll spare you the details, as we know the album and, except for the vocals, it was faithfully performed. Marcelo Barbosa plays "Nova Era" (the biggest challenge of the year 2000) with one hand tied behind his back, Andreoli is clearly living in a world of his own, Bruno Valverde is tasked with performing the iconic fills, grooves, like "Acid Rain," cool bass drums like "Millennium Sun," and everything else. Rafael Bittencourt stayed on stage, a little lost between the role of host of the night and "mere" guitarist of the band. Fabio Lione, despite having two albums with the group, made the celebration seem like a tribute. It's a bit like hearing Blaze Bailey Iron Maiden classics – it can be very cool, but a certain absence is felt.
But I don't want to declare the end of Angra: the band delivers what it promises. "Unholy Wars," for example, is a banger and shows a powerful band, with explosive energy, great musical effort, and, in the second half of the album, the performance becomes even more interesting. " Rebirth " comes full of pomp and is sung in unison. It's impossible not to be moved by "Judgement Day" and "Running Alone," which truly give a huge boost to this remarkable album, and at the end, Fabio Lione delivers an operatic vocal for "Visions Prelude , momentarily reminding people that this isn't a tribute – this is the band now, and Lione's small contribution served to further warm up the night. That's when Bittencourt takes the microphone, introduces the band, and thanks everyone for their affection. And I mean affection! Did I mention how packed it was?
After that, Angra continued the party atmosphere and presented one track from each item on their discography. Bringing a berimbau to the Opinião stage, in the hands of Guga Machado, was really cool of Angra, since it's the sound of the instrument that precedes the big hit from Aurora Consurgens, "Course of Nature". The band followed with a great performance of "Metal Icarus". The energy dipped a bit during "Shadow Hunter", which soon led into "Bleeding Heart" and "Rage of the Waters", from the excellent (but neglected) Aqua . The audience, drained, was distracted by a long bass introduction and ended up getting into "Upper Levels". The band left the stage with the audience exhausted and with no room to move.
The quintet (and guests) would return for "Carry On," but apparently it was Fabio Lione who got distracted. The band remained intact despite the vocalist's disheartened effort to sing the song, which he usually butchers, but which, for a technical reason, became a hilarious memory that will surely remain in the good-humored hearts of the fans. Apparently without any sound feedback or reference, Lione threw verses into the microphone at the wrong points – bridge in the chorus, chorus in the solos – a madness. The audience took it in stride and watched the band perform the song intact until the end without showing any signs of distress or discomfort. Aside from the obvious comical aspect of an Italian with a super-pronounced accent trying to sing the extremely high-pitched phrases that open Angels Cry , Rafael Bittencourt finally had a moment of peace with his fans, who laughed and cried at the vocalist's misfortune, and together ignored the Italian's fiasco and sang the verses of the song, believing they were chanting the verses of the greatest classic of Brazilian metal to date – and let's face it, maybe it is.
Angra concludes their performance with a sense of accomplishment, despite the inconveniences – the uncomfortably full venue, the exhausted audience, the grand finale . Angra takes advantage of the tour to ride the wave of legacy from a historic album, which won over a couple of generations, but must continue the battle to establish their new image, with or without guests, outlandish concepts or social media engagement strategies – but with music, as they always have. Soon, they will be producing with Dennis Ward (producer of Rebirth ), perhaps creating the ideal moment to finally end the celebratory period, reconnect with the old Germanic school of melodic heavy metal and shape riffs and hits with the DNA of the current lineup.
See below a photo gallery featuring images from our contributor Alessandra Felizari.
