ALMAH - review added 22nd September 2011
Album Review: Motion (2011)
For fans of: Progressive Metal
Brazilian metal 5-piece Almah, though nowadays a proper band, is the pet project of vocalist Edu Falaschi. Formed several years back as a solo endeavour, and with two albums already completed - S/T (2007) and "Fragile Equality" (2008) - "Motion" potentially marks the moment this band will cross over into the collective consciousness of the world's metal heads...especially those with a penchant for progressive music.
The Almah sound is something that's hard to pin down. The basic vibe is one of crushing heaviness mixed with clever timing changes and big melodic vocals. You can add to that soft rock, screaming, dance music and more. "Motion" is a varied beast, but it doesn't suffer for its multiple personalities. The result is by no means perfect, but there's enough character lurking throughout to impress even the fussiest listener.
The musicianship across the album is superb, and when these guys grab the heavy guitar they make a sound like Satan's roof caving in. Edu's vocals are a mixture of the mostly successful and the utterly magnificent. Some of the sounds he makes are merely average. Some are very good indeed. Some are up there with the finest metal vocals you'll ever hear. You could argue that more consistency would be nice, but I get the feeling if he sounded at his best the whole time the album would be one dimensional, so the peaks and troughs of vocal quality are a necessary evil.
Song wise, this is an album that works equally well as a single entity and as standalone tracks. Best moments include the opener 'Hypnotized', the super-fast 'Living And Drifting', the almost chart-sounding 'Bullets On The Altar', the bad-ass-ly heavy 'Zombies Dictator', 'Trace Of Trait' with it's spine tingling vocal segments, and the disco-meets-death-metal 'Soul Alight'.
In Summation:
This is a brilliant release. I've heard it a shed load of times now (10+) and it still has more to reveal. If you love prog metal you can't afford to miss this.
Entertainment/Enjoyment:
Musicianship:
Vocals:
Song Writing:
Production:
Overall (Not An Average Of The Above):
Track List:
01. Hypnotized
02. Living And Drifting
03. Days Of The New
04. Bullets On The Altar
05. Zombies Dictator
06. Trace Of Trait
07. Soul Alight
08. Late Night In ´85
09. Daydream Lucidity
10. When And Why
Band/Performers:
Edu Falschi - vocals
Marcelo Barbosa - guitars
Paulo Schroeber - guitars
Felipe Andreoli - bass
Marcelo Moreira - drums
Other Info:
Recorded in São Paulo, Brazil, at Norcal Studios
Pproduced by Edu Falaschi and Felipe Andreoli
Label: AFM Records
Artist's website(s): Almah | MySpace | Facebook
