by Gary Hill
Brazilian prog metal outfit Angra did well in titling this album Rebirth. Indeed, it marks a rebirth of sorts for the band. Many had been writing eulogies for Angra when longtime vocalist Andre Matos left the group. However, it was certainly too early to count this band out. Angra found a replacement in the person of Edu Falaschi and went forward to record a great album. This album shows the band carrying on its tradition of merging the more metallic side of prog (Dream Theater) with the more proggy side of metal (Fates Warning, Queensrÿche) and classically based European metal (Stratovarius, Royal Hunt) to create a sound that is all its own. Since the disc does such a fine job of bridging those two styles, it should certainly appeal to fans of both.