After original singer Andre Matos left Angra, a new voice stepped in for the release of the appropriately titled "Rebirth"”. A solid album I thought, but with a new singer something was missing, nothing against Edu but he had big shoes to fill. Plus, with "Rebirth" you also had a new drummer and bass player to get used to. I enjoyed "Rebirth" and saw it as just that, a new start, so like a new born baby not everything in the machine is working as it should. That’s until now.

With “Temple of Shadows” Angra obviously have hit their groove with the new members and forged another platter of Brazilian flavored Metal with a capital M. After the intro instrumental, 'Spread Your Fire' and 'Angels and Demons' get things off on the right foot. In the past Angra have had a lot of a Helloween influence to their faster songs, but now I am hearing a little more Dream Theater to them especially on 'Waiting in Silence'. Such a strong track. With this element at hand Angra have really defined a solid quality to their sound without losing their originality or trademark style and have broken out of the Helloween stigma.

Guitar leads and solos are fantastic as usual, fancy but well thought out and planned, appropriate to the composition at hand while maintaining emotion and feeling. These guys get it, just listen to those guitar melodies.

‘Wishing Well' has less edge with acoustic guitars and orchestration, something Angra have always done complete with very melodic vocals and chorus. Just another facet to the band that sounds perfect for them. Gamma Ray mainman Kai Hansen makes an appearance on 'Temple of Hate' which has plenty of influence from him down to the guitar parts and rhythm pattern. Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kursh also puts his stamp on a track.

Angra continue to keep themselves as one of the top bands of today and another name to remember when it comes to the next generation of Metal legends along with Stratovarius, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray.