I've always been a fan of live albums. I'm sure owning KISS Alive allowed that to happen. Not all live albums are worth their weight, but there are many I enjoy listening to more frequently than others. Angra's "Holy Live" EP is one of them.
Fortunately, I jumped onto the Angra boat early on when their debut album Angels Cry was released in 1993. I was writing concert and CD reviews for a local music fanzine and their label had sent me a copy to review (still thankful to this day because I also interviewed guitarist Kiko Loureiro - Megadeth anyone?).
I'm skipping past Angels Cry, Evil Warning EP (1994), and Holy Land (1996) for now because this little pitbull of a recording has a huge bite. First, it's a short one clocking in at 35 minutes, but it's a pretty powerful snapshot of a band gelling so well. The musicianship is Dream Theater-Rhapsody-Helloween level. Not bad for a young band at the time. And vocalist Andre Matos....kills it live. Why he's not considered one of the top vocalists in the world is beyond my thought capacity.
I wouldn't go so far to call Angra just power metal, because they're a bit prog too. Every time I listen to this, I crank it up loud and it feels like I'm transported back to this show in Paris in '96. My only complaint is that it's only 35 min and not maybe an hour. But their studio albums made up for that. Plus, Angra released a proper live album much later after a few members left (including Andre - ugh)....but I digress.
Short, sweet, and to the Brazilian, prog-power metal point.
Angra - Carry On [Live Ludwigsburg 1996]
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