Almah – Fragile Equality

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Produced by Edu Falaschi & Felipe Andreoli

This is the second album from Angra vocalist Edu Falaschi’s solo band. The first album, titled Almah was a project featuring a ‘supergroup’ of power and progressive metal musicians, but it has now evolved into a full band.

Indeed such a project, featuring members of Kamelot, Stratovarius and Nightwish, amongst others, was untourable, so Falaschi put together a permanent band line-up to tour the songs. With the success of this touring they began working on a second Almah album as a band, which also includes his former Angra band-mate Felipe Andreoli on bass.

The album starts in very strong fashion, firmly in the Masterplan vein, with five full-tilt, brilliantly crafted metal tracks showing off Falaschi’s voice and the musicianship of the band at once. Birds of Prey instantly makes the fluid ability of guitarists Marcelo Barbosa and Paulo Schroeber abundantly clear and over the next four tracks the band collectively (it is no longer the Edu Falaschi solo show) deliver plenty of muscular power metal to satisfy any fan of the genre.

The decidedly generic chorus of Invisible Cage (although the heavy verses here make sure it’s not a complete lost cause) and an ordinary power ballad (Shade of My Soul) sandwich the progressive title track, with Falaschi’s most aggressive vocal by some stretch, and the deceptively melodic Torn, which leads with a very heavy main riff.

Meaningless World rounds out what is a complete and coherent metal album which will see Almah continue to tour into 2009, with tentative hopes of some European dates, easily slotting these new tracks alongside the best of the first album and choice Angra cuts.

“ full-tilt ”

Tracklist: Birds of Prey / Beyond Tomorrow / Magic Flame / All I Am / You’ll Understand / Invisible Cage / Fragile Equality / Torn / Shade of My Soul / Meaningless World
Limited Edition Bonus Tracks: The Sign of Glory / Supermind

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Power Metal, Almah