After two months of its release on Metalfest 2010 -which for work reasons I didn’t attend :-/ – at long last I got the new Angelus production, the album called “Dos” (Two), that is also the second production of this salvadorean Heavy Metal band.
On purpose: Too bad… after the concert it was available only in ONE place, and the guy of the store was never there when I went to find him for buying the album -_- at the end I left him my contact card under his door for him to call me and tell me when he was going to be there… Jeez! Let’s search for another distributor, guys!! -_-
Well, let’s proceed with the review:
Hancelh… it’s not a song that I can “love”, it has some riffs during the song that are surplus and actually these only make song longer and worsen it. Didn’t minded if it was a little shorter, but I guess some parts were unnecesary… even so it’s not a bad song, it has a powerfull starting and nice lyrics.
In the album art, fonts used are a little hard to read, but I liked the idea of arrange lyrics in a different order than track list. I think it looks better than if they were placed in track order, and it’s more original.
There are one or two misspellings on lyrics but it’s not a big deal, I think spell check is pretty good, cause I’ve seen some cases where lyrics are incomplete, or don’t say what song says, or have missing paragraphs and that kind of things, things that you don’t see in this booklet. So in that way, this is a well done work.
Lyrics per se are also pretty good: Hancelh and Angel are such tragical love and betrayal stories, we also have a couple of instrumental songs, other songs talk about fear and dementia, and some more about social themes. So this album is nicely “assorted”, but the first prize is for track 2 “Esto es Heavy Metal” (“This is Heavy Metal”) that for me -and surely for many others- is whole a Metal anthem.
About sound and mix, I just can say: Man, at long last! This is what I always wanted in a salvadorean production, pure international quality! No hollow sound, no drums sounding like an old saucepan, no lack of coordination on instruments execution, and I like that the voice has a proper volume for the music, and something that also helps is that Joel -vocalist- is acompanied with second voices in some phrases, and that helps songs to not sound “empty”.
In general terms and to conclude my review, I give this album a 9… and not a nine compared with all those bad recordings that I’ve listened in another salvadorean productions, but an international nine, that can be compared with world-quality Metal bands.
Congrats to Angelus for their new album, and we wish there be more, much more in the future! ^_^
Listen to a sample of this album (LQ)
“Esto es Heavy Metal”
Bajo un velo negro
se esconden y ríen
criaturas del mas allá,
eternas luces que brillaís
sobre vuestras almas.
Guitarras en la oscuridad
sonando para ti están,
como un ser viviente
se apoderan de tu mente
y de tu inconsciente.
Chorus:
Cantas y danzas
en la oscuridad,
llevas la luz en ti.
Libres, sin pensar
volando en una atmosfera de Rock.
Cantas y danzas
en la oscuridad.
Multitud de voces,
estruendos de Metal,
a un solo coro
las cuerdas hacéis vibrar,
dioses de la oscuridad.
[chorus]
~ ~ ~
English translation of “Esto es Heavy Metal”:
“This is Heavy Metal”
Under a black veil
hide and laugh
creatures from far beyond,
eternal lights that shine
over your souls.
Guitars in the dark
are playing for you,
Like a living being
they take power of your mind
and your unconscious.
Chorus:
You sing and you dance
in the darkness,
you bear the light inside you.
Free, no thinking (about anything),
flying into an atmosphere of Rock.
You sing and you dance
in the darkness.
Multitude voices,
Metal thunders,
at the unisone
they make the strings vibrate,
gods of darkness.
[chorus]
