On its third release, Motion, Almah continues its progressive power metal with harmonized vocals, guttural guitar riffs, fiery leads and a dynamic rhythm section. Falaschi and André Matos, Angra’s original vocalist, are constantly up for debate as the ultimate Angra vocalist. After replacing Matos, Falaschi was heavily scrutinized but he has come into his own as a talented power metal vocalist.
But then again, Angra is not this aggressive and Almah is a great outlet for Falaschi to say the least. Falaschi uses an edgy, aggressive, melodic, cutting edge voice — sort of a mid-range Bruce Dickinson — that compliments the almost thrashy riffs on Motion.
CD opener “Hypnotized” is a scorcher and hits you square in the face right off the bat. There are loads of aggressive vocals, blistering guitar leads, heavy, down-tuned riffs and crisp drums — unmistakably head-bangable stuff. By the third song in, “Day of the New,” it’s still ultra heavy and the listener hasn’t lost any interest. “Zombies Dictator” is fast and furious — If this isn’t thrash, I don’t know what is.
CD closer “When And Why,” with its acoustic guitar intro and valiant vocal delivery is awe-inspiring to say the least. It’s not a blaster of an ending but more of a reflective piece a good way to conclude the power metal anthems that preceded it. There is not one clunker in the batch of 10 songs.
Everything about Motion is way above excellent. It probably won’t get the recognition it deserves in the U.S. as it will in Europe and South America, but it’s an exceptional CD nonetheless.
(released January 17, 2012 on AFM Records)
