Angra
Fireworks

THE REVIEW

Complicated twists of strings or keyboard do not make a masterpiece, but only heavy and difficult sounds to "assimilate." Using delicacy and harmony is much more complicated. "Fireworks" makes clear the difference between cognitive music (made with the brain...) and muscular.

We start immediately at a fast pace with "Wings Of Reality," which we can define as a typical Angra song, with a strong progressive component. In the middle, a piano accompanied by orchestral instruments is introduced, making everything even more melodic, then we return to more metal rhythms without ever exaggerating in riffs and solos. Excellent opening. The following "Petrified" starts calmly; with the entry of the singer, the track becomes lively while remaining in precise timings, without fully entering power. Varied and with few repetitions of riffs or choruses.
"Lisbon" is unmistakable with its prog intro. The orchestral component is still strong in the background, and the following duet with Loureiro and Bittencourt is appreciable. The sung parts are a bit too "slow," and the ending is repetitive in my opinion, but overall everything flows well. It fades into "Metal Icarus", which opens with a typically power sound, fast drums accompanied by riffs a bit monotonous in repetitions. It doesn't impress much more, and we remain in the same "theme" as the previous ones without significant changes except for a few good solos in between.

"Paradise" is the extra march of the work: the initial guitar riff and especially the background that accompanies it, give a mysterious atmosphere that is worth the price of the CD. The sung parts are excellent, as is the chorus that resumes the starting sound... one is enchanted by this simple melody. Perhaps in the instrumental part, it goes a bit off "theme," but still, this doesn't detract anything from the whole. Deep and beautiful. "Mystery Machine" doesn't have particular noteworthy cues, perhaps in the non-sung part we can appreciate some good riffs, but nothing special in my opinion. So we arrive at the Title track "Fireworks": sweet notes welcome us, it would seem the beginning of a ballad, but it is not so... it doesn't fall into the "sugary," remaining in dreamy and never obvious atmospheres. The presence of power and progressive elements makes the track (respectively) lively and melodic. Delicate and never virtuosic, not even in the instrumental parts. Everything fades gently. Nothing to say.
"Extreme Dream" wakes us up with more rhythmic music; the melodic part that has accompanied us until now disappears to give space to Matos's voice and the strings of the Bittencourt Loureiro duo. With "Gentle Change," we do not enter a true ballad but a simulacrum made lively by the guitar. The piano follows us throughout the song, making it even more catchy. And to conclude, "Speed": already from the title, we can understand that power will dominate. It closes with very fast riffs and an incredible vocal peak.

We reach the finale with great simplicity. A light and flowing work, embellished with excellent orchestral parts. Angra once again gives us a CD of rare beauty, delicate but also fast, a sweet but powerful character with "outbursts" of Power and alternations of progressive/metal. I would finally like to draw attention to the voice of Matos, who delights us throughout the album with exceptional peaks: an impressive vocal power with a vast range. Spine-tingling.

I cannot consider it a masterpiece, as it lacks some flexibility in sound... to be clear, it always remains in their typical sound, not venturing too far outside the "lines." It still remains an excellent work. It's impossible to give less than 4.