Everyone's gotta go solo. It seems to be some unspoken rule. No band is ever a good enough outlet for the individual's artistic expression. So thus the market gets flooded with solo albums, which often are slight deviations from the old hat. Edu Flaschi's
"Almah" is no exception to the iron clad rule, although he does bend the conventions frequently with this first solo outing. The disc is maybe on the surface is just a breath away from being an
Angra disc, yet holds its own by presenting a neat concept and enough unique deviations to keep it fresh and far from the norm. This in itself is odd, since Edu had squat to do with
Angra up until recently. He was the replacement for Andre Matos who toiled with the band for almost a decade. Yet Edu's artistic side somehow manages to come out as a twin spirit to
Angra, although the softer, more sensitive brother of the two.
His backing band is nothing to sneeze at however, including guest performances from such well respected musicians as drummer Casey Grillo and Nightwish's (and Brother Firetribe's) guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. It also boasts an ambitious concept. Pretty much directly from the marketing pitch: "Almah is a so-called universe with alot of different worlds, namely our feelings. Therefore, each person 'inhabits' and grows in his own world. To put it simply, some inhabit the world of greed, others the world of courage, hatred love and so on." And Edu has grabbed famous examples out of Earth's timeline to drive the point home and provide a concept basis for each song that couples emotion with a slice of world history.
There are double drum gallopers like
"King" that resemble thoroughbred race horses with their hooves rapidly pounding the turf. All guns blazing and apocalypse ponies blazing the song on fire for the thundering ride on
"Take Back Your Spell" which is unfortunately mediocre. Its furious speediness is too much like many other bands, but wow is it ever up front in the mix and slamming down right in front of your face.
The epic in scope but short in length,
"Golden Empire" is a huge dramatic piece in the shadow of
Angra that sweeps through with thundering drums, soaring vocals and an arresting halting pacing that commands...no,
demands attention. Those taking notes might also detect some similarities to
Kamelot here as well. Because of the Grillo connection perhaps? Other songs choose a more well traversed route such as
"Children of Lies" that is pure streamlined heavy metal. It sparks off the feel of Bruce Dickinson's solo albums and a dash of Edguy. Throw in a very catchy chorus and some outstanding singing that pours out clean and dips into a dark furious growl. Headbanging and harsh but a nice melding of all components and a wicked use of swirly keyboards.
"Breathe" is a softer, relaxing song at heart, driven by percussion. It starts out rather simply but gathers steam and instruments as it progresses on.
"Primitive Chaos" is even more stripped. Edu's voice mostly sounds great but a few weird quirks in the accent come off with a bad taste. The build and explosion is like fat clouds finally closing the simple pale blue-ish greys of open sky peeking through the stormy puffs and letting the cloud pour their watery teardrops down. The last acoustic strum and
"you're my shining star." end it nicely.
"Forgotten Land" puts the power back in ballad and flies through on a golden voice, shimmering guitars and a polished pure melody.
"Box of Illusion" is power wrapped in a neat progressive package, elaborate bow decorations and all. This could have come from
Dream Theater's brainstorming writing sessions for "Awake" with a dash of mid 90s brooding Queensryche tossed over the top. A curious intensity rises from the steam here. An interesting mixture of raw metal and edgy moments that push the boundaries boldly. The ending title track is just as daring in capturing that lost progressive mystique.
Falaschi has given us quite the surprise disc. Those that were expecting just another extension of
Angra should think again. Sure,
"Almah" shares many of the signature bits that help style their sound, but has also found some elements of its own. The disc is at times very reminiscent of pieces from the progressive boom of the mid 1990s. You can feel elements of well known prog outfits such as Queensryche and
Dream Theater being hinted at in the mix, but more uniquely, likely unintentional bits of Letter X, Leviathan, and
Conception among others. Those that have shunned
Angra since the band and Matos parted ways, might want to pick this up. It makes for an excellent passage to help mend broken bridges and a great introduction to the voice of Edu Falaschi. A few songs being not quite up to par with the featured tracks, a very in-your-face production (which is very clean I might add), and a handful of uncomfortable heavily accented phrasings are just small drawbacks to an otherwise solid disc debut.
Written by
Alanna Monday, March 26, 2007
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