Customer Reviews

Ritual

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

And to think I was worried when Angra split up at the end of the millennium. Had I known that it would result in not one, but two fantastic metal bands, I would have taken the news a whole lot better. Angra went on to greater heights with the addition of some new blood, most notably vocalist Edu Falaschi; and the departing members, led by vocalist Andre Matos, formed Shaman.

While I think that the new Angra is the better band (thanks to the truly amazing Rebirth album), Shaman is also quite excellent. If you enjoyed Angra at all during Matos's tenure with the band, then you're sure to enjoy Shaman. Their debut CD Ritual is an excellent offering of Brazilian-influenced power metal. It is reminiscent of the Holy Land album, which remains my favorite of the Matos-era Angra discs. It has some great melodies, excellent production (courtesy of the famous Sascha Paeth and Miro), and the vocals are superb. Andre Matos has one of the most recognizable voices in metal, though he has often been criticized for singing too high at times. He reins it in a bit on Ritual though, which gives the album a bit of a harder edge than the old Angra albums had. He does hit some really high notes on Pride, the albums closer, which might make the listener cringe a little. Standout tracks on this disc include Distant Thunder and Blind Spell, but all the songs are quite good.

I'd recommend Ritual not only to Angra fans, but to any fans of melodic power metal. If you enjoy bands like Gamma Ray, Helloween, and Freedom Call, then you owe it to yourself to check out this great debut from Shaman.

Andre Matos is one of the best singers ever!! This album rules so much!! It's like Holy Land, but heavier. Any fan of old school Angra needs this.

We all know the story, so I'll keep this part of the review very short. Main composer Andre Matos left his own creation, legendary Brazilian heavy metal nad Angra, because of management problems and diverse bureocratic issues. Fellow musicians Luis Mariutti (bass) and Ricardo Confessori (drums) joined Matos, and alongside Hugo Mariutti (guitar, Hugos's brother) they formed Shaman. Angra currently continued to exist, and they shortly released the Rebirth album, a magnificent display of European heavy metal, but not quite an Angra album. Shaman was the band to follow if one wanted the same power and Brazilian influences the old Angra had. But let's get this straight: this is not a band that copies their old setlist, Ritual is an impressive disc that has obvious influences from Angra's past catalogue, especially Holy Land, but also shows how these musicians have improved both technically and in terms of composing. Matos has improved greatly his voice, evolving far beyond his usual high pitched screams, he now has a much raspier voice, more manly in many aspects. And new guitarrist Mariutti completes the task of covering two spots, with killer riffs and acceptable solos (if you want excelent guitar solos, check Angra's Rebirth). Luis Mariutti and Confessori continue showcasing their best chops, especially the latter (if you get to see Confessori live you'll realize what I'm talking about).
The songs, are simply excelent. All of them are good. There are usual power metal type (Here I am, Time Has Come, Pride), more ethnic oriented songs (For Tomorrow, Blind Spell, Ritual), the usual ballad (Fairy Tale) and many others. I personally liked very much Over Your Head, Time Will Come and Blind Spell, but all of them are good. Get this and Angra's Rebirth, and then you'll se who should be carrying the Angra name......

Once upon a time there was a painfully good Brazilian power-metal band by the name of Angra. Sometime near the dawn of the new millennium, the band split, and those who kept the name Angra continued to craft mediocre and forgettable songs that lacked the folklore that kept albums like 1996's Holy Land at the top of enthusiast's metal collection.

Then, hidden under the rubble that used to be songs about castles and dragons, we find a gem. So it turned out that the remaining members of Angra who did not continue the path to oblivion formed another band by the name of Shaman, incidentally also a song on Holy Land. The result: a perfect mix.

The album starts off with the ultra-melodic "Ancient Winds", which blends the folk elements that we heard in songs like "Z.I.T.O" and "The Shaman" with Sascha Paeth's symphonic diligence. While most power metal bands start us off with a 1-2 minute intro, this one breaks three minutes of glorious melody.

Then a slump. Strangely enough, the second and third tracks ("Here I Am" and "Distant Thunder") don't live up to the standard set by the album's intro. In fact, they fall dangerously short. The embody the mediocre power metal that I criticized earlier. However, we continue listening until we reach the brilliant "For Tomorrow", which combines medieval humility with a slow, but powerful guitar crunch. With wailing harmonics and Andre Matos' piercing voice, the song redeems the previous two.

Then the album only gets better. "Time Will Come" is perfect. It's neither predictable nor does it depart too far from power-metal's technically limited arsenal. In fact, with today's endless supply of bands, it's very difficult to pinpoint what makes a power-metal song truly stand out. But whatever it is, this song has it. "Over Your Head" has its moments, but it is unfortunately sandwiched in between "Time Will Come" and -

- "Fairy Tale". This is one of the album's two absolutely remarkable tracks. It is elegant, charming, seductive and epic all neatly woven into a superb 7-minute concoction. It begins with two female singers, continues to a beautiful piano line and Matos' soft voice, and then explodes into a mysterious ballad. The song is extremely similar to Angra's "Deep Blue", but with an added gothic flare. I can't praise this song enough.

Of the remaining three tracks, I approve of all but strongly recommend the triumphant closer, "Pride". Enlisting the help of fellow power-metalhead Tobias Sammet (Edguy), the band really packs the "power" into their genre, one vein at a time. It is another superb example of a power-metal song well done.

The album is splendid. I love it. Shaman, along with Kamelot, are quite possibly the only bands keeping this genre's heart beating. It's quite the responsibility, but someone has to do it.

See also: Angra - "Holy Land", Masterplan - "Masterplan"

It is difficult to describe this album in comparison with Angra albums. Think of a cleaner Fireworks with better songs, some of the mysterious elements of "Holy Land," and add in a large dose of power metal, and there you have it, Ritual, the first album by Brazilian metal band Shaaman. Now, if you weren't a fan of Andre Matos's voice, it hasn't changed much. But if you enjoyed Angra, this album is fantastic!

The album opens with the beautiful Ancient Winds, and then, without further delay, here they are with "Here I am." Distant Thunder was a bit hard to digest, but definitely has some replay value. And then, you'll find a few more masterpieces scattered around the album such as the Make Believe-esque ballad "Fairy Tale" and the folky, catchy "For Tomorrow." You'll also find the last song, Pride, features Tobias Sammett of Edguy's fame singing with Andre.

I would highly recommend this album to all power metal fans, those fans of metal with a bit of prog, and fans of Andre Matos.

When 3 members left Angra, it was bitter news for metal fans, but Ritual actually made me welcome such news. While the new Angra released an uninspired Rebirth, the new band Shaman released a masterpiece called Ritual that is the true successor of Angra's Angels Cry and Holy Land.

Here singer and main composer Andre Matos is at his best, singing with passion, variation and feeling, and composing songs that will make you sing from the start. Bassist Luis "Jesus" Mariutti is the rock solid base as always and drummer Ricardo Confessori an example that metal drumming is more rythm, feeling and variations than speed. But the keynote speaker is guitar Hugo Mariutti, whose guitar shows a perfect balance of Toni Iommi/Adrian Smith inspired riffs and bases and Judas Priest-like simple and great solos. Hugo alone delivers more than Angra's guitar duo and is the utmost responsible for Ritual sounding like a great Angra album should, but even better.

Ritual starts with 1 of the 3 best intros in metal history, ANCIENT WINDS (the other 2 being Angra's Unfinished Allegro and Crossing, both composed by Andre Matos). Just listen. Show opener HERE I AM has a fast catchy riff triggering a fast melodic metal with a chorus that makes everyone sing "But now...Here I Am". DISTANT THUNDER, the best song, opens with a melodic guitar piece followed by a galloping classic metal riff, making you jump as you singalong the initial verses. FOR TOMORROW is the typical great Angra-complex song like Never Understand, but now using Peruvian flutes. TIME WILL COME starts with a sad piano theme, but it evolves into a bombastic, melodic, fast metal where galloping riffs, fast vocals and emotional perfect choruses blow you away. OVER YOUR HEAD alternates gallpoing drumming, (very) heavy riffs, weird intimate keyboards, slow verses and heavy screamed choruses, again a great song. FAIRY TALE is the ballad, the worst song here, even soundtrack for a Brazilian soap opera about vampires (in other words, skip it). BLIND SPELL has a great hard rock feeling, from the initial riffs to the chorus and solos, adding variety and feeling. It's so easy to love this song. RITUAL has a weird but catchy keyboards leading a hard rock-like riff, all followed by pauses, evolving choruses and slow solos. PRIDE is the party song, a mix of Living After Midnight, Sanctuary and Iron Maiden. Heavy and fast riffs, speed metal drumming, chaotic screamed vocals by Matos duets with Edguy's Tobias Sammett, seasoned by Hugo's roars.

Awesome ending that makes you beg for more. And more means checking Shaman's newest release, Reason, another great album. If you are into metal, Shaman is a pleasure you can't deny yourself.

L'album est excellent. Si vous aimez angra, c'est un album de la tranche de Holy Land en plus heavy. La voix de Matos est toujours exceptionnelle et différente sur cet album (plus agressive).

Il vous faut absolument cet album, il y a très peu de points faibles et toutes les chansons sont bonnes.

Well, well...I must say when I found out that Angra had split up I was extremely disappointed like so many others. They were still getting better and better with each album. Shaman was formed with 3 ex Angra members including vocal god Andre Matos. I was a little skeptical, and not sure what to expect. Well "Ritual" surprised the hell out of a lot fans in 2002. It esentially continues a new progression from Angra's "Fireworks" 1998. The song writing however is even stronger, catchier and tighter surprisingly. Its based around epic melodies and brilliant guitar solos/hooks that take you on atmospheric journeys of different cultural instruments and arrangments mixed all together. Every song progresses by getting better and better until the very end...You would not be disappointed if you are into any type of prog/power metal...in fact this music is very inspiring in nature...it has a real heart and soul to it. Go get this CD as soon as you can because it is totally mind blowing! The only thing comparable is Angra still...and in my opinion and in many others opinions..."Ritual" is even better than Angra's last full length release "Rebirth" from 2001. I Definately look forward to future releases from Shaman it will be very hard to top "Ritual" I would say.

when i heard the line-up of this band including ex-angra members i was interested about was going on. This band has the magic and mistycism that angra had on "holy land" and "fireworks" (i still like a lot the new angra but nohting compared to theis), and that magic comes definetly from the carismatic and colourful voice of andre matos, his one of the most incredible inger i have ever heard; of course the other musicians goes pair with him, drummer ricardo Confesory shows a high level of virtuosity combining great hard rock drumming with ethnical percussions, and bassist Luis Mariutti shows a lot of non-metal influences (jazz, prog rock, latin music), and his brother Hugo Mariutti shows lots of technics with the guitars. To describe the music, is less virtuosic an more atmosferical than many bands of the genre (dream theater, symphony x, angra of course,etc) but still hard rockin heavy metal, but the highlight here are the world music touches that this album has, from latin, european to oriental elements, and again the main charater here is andre's voice, this album is recomended to everyone, everyone........believe me!!!!!

It's a real shame that the state of the music is so poor in the USA these days.

Angra is one of my favorite bands of all time and no one knows who they are in the US - luckily I was fortunate enough to see them at one of like 3 shows they ever did in the US. Unfortunately, it was on the Rebirth tour, and although that's a great cd, Andre Matos is not on it. They found some guy that sounds a lot like him but Angra lost a lot of song writing skills when they lost Matos.

I knew that when I heard Matos was putting together SHAMAN, there would be a small chance I'd get to see Matos in the US - My only question now is - Why is this music from Brazil so great and why can't I move to Sao Paolo and be happy? Maybe I will...

Killer CD by the way - a must-purchase for any Angra fan and now you can buy it on amazon!