Glory Opera - Equilibrium 3.5/5
Reviewed: 6-29-07
Tracklist:
1. Tucandeira
2. Ants of fire
3. The darkest fear
4. First hunting
5. Tempest of fury
6. Drowning into madness
7. Spirits of sorrow
8. A leaf on the wind
9. Manhunt
10. Sunset in glory
11. Sunrise in disgrace
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Glory Opera introduced themselves in 2002 with their full-length debut 'Rising moanga', a solid slab of Brazilian power metal in the style of Angra. 5 years later, they offer up their 2nd CD 'Equilibrium', and it remains in the same style and is not only comparable to Angra, but Arwen, Endless, Aquaria, Eyes of Shiva, Orion Riders, Sagga (Holy) and Wizards can be thrown in as well. Glory Opera doesn't have the strong Italian influence (with a lot of keyboards) that Endless and Sagga (Holy) have though, so consider the other bands to be closer comparisons.
Although 'Equilibrium' is standard Brazilian power metal, complete with some of the signature percussion, symphonic parts and Matos/Falaschi-like vocals (courstesy of Humberto Sombrinho), the CD has a few different aspects that have stood out. These are all minor differences (when compared to the CDs from the previously mentioned bands), but they're certainly worth mentioning. For starters, the CD is a massive 75 minutes long, due mostly to the 25-minute track 6 "Drowning into madness", which contains 8 parts. But even though this is way too long for a song (generally speaking), it has many changes in tempo, some lovely female vocals at the slower parts, some nice symphonic moments, and is rather interesting overall.
Another different aspect to 'Equilibrium' is the rough vocals that pop up a few times throughout the CD (there's even a portion of death vocals), specifically at the end of the aforementioned "Drowning into madness" and they're present on a few other songs too. I find these rough vocal parts to be neither a positive or a negative aspect; there isn't enough of them to deter those who aren't into rough vocals, and there isn't enough of them to add anything special for those who do like rough vocals. Still, Angra (for example) has yet to experiment with rough/death vocals, so this aspect is worth mentioning.
Besides the long "Drowning into madness" (which varies in tempo), the remainder of the CD contains faster songs, crunchy songs with heaviness at the level of Angra's 'Aurora consurgens', and slower songs as well. Really, if you're into the Brazilian power metal style and CDs from bands listed in this review are part of your regular listening rotation, 'Equilibrium' is a worthwhile purchase. All of the songs are at a strong level, but I do find CDs from Angra, Sagga (Holy), Aquaria and Endless to be more memorable and overall better. Regardless, I'm happy that Brazil continues to plug out high quality power metal CDs, and just like Italian power metal, I hope it sticks around for a long time.
CLINT
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