Power of Metal.dk Review

 
Age of Artemis
The Waking Hour
Rating
 
Style: Power/Prog. Metal
Release date: 18 July, 2014
Playing time: 52:00
 


This is the second album by this Brazilian band and after the intro "Penance" the first track "Under the Sun" starts with a tribal rhytmn typical for the most known power metal band from that country; namely Angra. Singer Alirio Netto has a voice rather similar to the Angra vocalist and that even underlines the connection with that band and I fear for a cheap copy.

But that is not the case, half way thru the first track the guitar players Nathan Grego and Gabriel Soto show that they are well skilled and serve some beautiful soli. Fortunately the band has a progressive touch too and they don't play power metal from start to finish. There is a lot of variety and influences from the AOR genre appear in several songs. "The Waking Hour" is one of the heavier songs with a more aggressive singing style, but with a very almost poppy refrain. After the piano intro the song "Hunger and Shame" turns into an emotional serene song reminding me a bit of Dream Theater. In "Melted in Charisma", "Childhood" and "Your Smile" some Brazilian tribal influences are used again and they make me think of Angra again.

The second half of the album has a lot of balladesk pieces and that sees to it that I loose my attention and after the ballad "Winding Road" and a piano version of "Take Me Home" the album ends a bit like a farth blown away in the wind. Personally I like the first half of the album the most, because it is a tad heavier.

All in all, this band is more than Angra 2.0, they are a lot more progressive and the melodic (AOR) refrains make them nice to listen to.


Tracklist
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
12. Take Me Home (piano version)
Label: Power Prog
Distribution: Power Prog
Reviewed by: Reinier de Vries
Date: 18 July, 2014
Website: www.pt-br.facebook.com/ageofartemis