Five years after the well-received release of Omni, Brazilian veterans Angra are back in business with their brand new album Cycles of Pain. With it being their 10th album, one should be prepared that milestone numbers come with surprises and that’s what emerges from this record.
The opening track ‘Cyclus Doloris’ (Latin for cycles of pain) consists of a low-pitched drone with tubular bells in a rainy jungle scenario before suddenly changing to a melancholic choir backed by a dark-sounding organ. The diminished chords at the end give an eerie hint that the album title is coming to life. The following track ‘Ride into the Storm’ is classic Angra with excellent dual harmonies and refined guitar work in the riffs and shredded solos by Marcelo Barbosa and Rafael Bittencourt. Fabio Lione confidently shows off his versatile vocal range with his dramatic tone and phrasing like a Puccini opera while Bruno Valverde fires away on full cylinders with mega-tidy fills and rapid-fire double kicks.
At this point, one might think that this is going to be a straightforward fast-paced power metal album throughout, but Angra had other ideas. In the same way that thriller movies start off smoothly, they turn into a puzzling experience, designed to trip you up, mess with your head and Angra with time has mastered this art. Odd time signatures kick in out of nowhere in the most unexpected sections before randomly switching back to 4/4. Just like being in a storm, ‘Ride into the Storm’ will chew you up and spit you out as its suction power is too strong to escape from once trapped inside.
Rafael, one of the founders and guitarists of Angra talks about how being a Brazilian band isn’t easy due to geographical and socio-economic challenges, which makes it hard to keep it running but it also brings its positives because with Brazil having a diverse mix of cultures, they use the “chaotic, cacophonic cultural cauldron” to their advantage to create their music. This is audible through their use of Arabic scales and their own native instruments in songs like ‘Vida Seca’ such as indigenous flutes and samba percussion. In addition, it’s partially sung in Portuguese by Lenine (one of the greatest talents in Brazilian music). As the album goes on, the slow to mid-tempos and ambient spaciousness begin to trigger the imagination of the meaning of what Cycles of Pain is trying to evoke.
In between the release of Omni and the upcoming record, Rafael emphasises how many tragic things happened within that time frame, from the passing of his father and original vocalist Andre Matos until the pandemic, all sorts of pain-related emotions prevailed “we were isolated, tormented, dealing with the shadow of illness and death on a daily basis”. Now with life back to normal, it feels like we have lived in a parallel universe at the same time. The title track perfectly sums up the inescapable ‘Cycles of Pain’ that society has been through during the past 3 years with a slow, syncopated tempo, melancholic guitars and desperate sounding, fading cries of help reflected by Fabio’s passionate voice. This record is arguably his best with Angra. The tremolo/shakiness when he sustains the longer notes really draws you in and with lyrics like “You wake up alone, It’s hard to get out of bed, Your Mind is blank, Your heart is black”, there’s no better match than him.
When it comes to albums that can speak to a listener’s mind and they say “I can relate”, this is the one. It shows how Angra are not afraid to take risks and test unexplored waters. Due to the progressive nature of it, high concentration is a must. Like Philip Glass’ soundtrack for Koyaanisqatsi (film), it’s a huge nonstop hypnotic maze where once you enter, there’s no turning back. Thanks to the genius of producer Dennis Ward, Cycles of Pain doesn’t just become a piece of music but like a 4D roller coaster with an immaculate recording quality, which makes you feel like you’re truly inside the album, reliving all those traumatic experiences of the past and present haunting you inside out.
The off-beat rhythms add the element of confusion and disillusion while the arpeggios, solos and complicated guitars further solidify the idea that when you’re in a cycle, it’s repetitive and nearly impossible to see any end in sight. However, Felipe Andreoli on bass reiterates that not all is lost and that there is always hope “despite the endless cycles, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel”. ‘Here in the Now’ mirrors that message “Lose the mask we’ve worn for ages, Now you just know where we stand”. Cycles of Pain flows like a river where it starts fast from the spring and stream and then slows down until it speeds up again before it reaches the sea only to slow down once more.
When you add all the parts together it’s a similar structure to a classical music piece: a dramatic intro, adventurous middle and a climactic ending. Avid prog power metal fans may fall in love with the record at first but with so many layers in each track, those who aren’t familiar with this style could feel some mental fatigue and may need to listen to it more than once in order to grasp its concept.
Angra have, like many other artists dipped their feet outside of their comfort zone and however difficult it might sound, I think this is a great sign of a mature group willing to expand their horizons.
Cycles of Pain comes out on November 3rd via Atomic Fire Records.
