RITUAL

A wizard, a beholder of the knowledge of the ancient, who can heal the soul and knows how to read the signs of time. That's what Shaman means and André Matos is what we can call a "Musical Shaman" without a doubt.

After the disband of the power symphonic metal band Angra, André Matos gather up some of the partial members of Angra and continue the musical journey under the accurate name of Shaman. More mature, still fresh, original and dynamic, Matos and company brings out the best of their repertory, managing to bring great metal riffing with melodic lead vocals, touching piano parts and great impressive symphonic ensemble with a few more Brazilian folk music. The result is a great progressive metal album, one of the best productions of the century, without doubt.

The songs are very accessible and somewhat charming. The mystical approach of lyrics and the epic "taste" of some of the songs contrast with the easy going of the melodies and the appealing of the concept, which is very accessible to any new fan used to less busy stuff than prog. Some shadows of power metal remains there, but the spirit in the overall is improved. In the technical side, sure they are good musicians and they quite show it in this album but their capacity never overshadow nor the concept nor the beauty of the songs. This is a great place to start digging into Prog Metal.

There's no weak song, every theme gives something original and fresh to the mix. Matos voice is better than ever and his trademark of music with soul and emotionally heavy is all there. Some could find some of the melodies a little cheesy but for me there's nothing wrong with it. Sure you won't find the Stratovarious "I can defeat all the demons in the sky" kind of over cheesiness here. This is music with soul and purpose, so, you won't regret to try it and enjoy it.

For those who think Prog Metal don't have soul, sense or wise musical meaning, I invite you all to try this particular album of Shaman, which is something that really lift my spirit high. 5 stars is the correct rate, sure it is.