Almah
E.V.O

Now lets see how things are unfolding for Brazilian band Almah who are back with their fifth album, I think Unfold that was released a couple of years ago was really great and had some high hopes for this one as well. Edu and his guys usually create interesting things for Almah, even though they certainly remind one of another Brazilian band called Angra. Five letters and starting with A, it doesn’t seem like he is particularly innovative Mr Edu but even though Almah certainly plagiarise Angra in many regards I think they have always done it better so this one could certainly be exciting. The cover art is most interesting though and promises much.

And I think Almah delivers once again, one can always trust that they make good stuff – they are a reliable band. They are unfortunately a bit too reliable stylewise and they haven’t really taken any step forward since last time around. Power metal with progressive and classical touches, just like they have been doing since its inception, is how I would describe this album. I think Edu Falaschi is something of a double edged sword here, he sings very good for most part but not always and in some parts I am annoyed by the accent and I would say that along with the lack of a hit track the vocals are the weakest part of this album – not that it really have any weak point but they are the weakest points.

Good album is my conclusion after giving this album ten spins in my music players and that is what I thought at first and the album neither grows nor shrinks on me, it feels somewhat above average every time I listen to it. It is an album of neither, nor all the time, it has neither weaknesses nor strengths and so on. I think that it is slight disappointment compared with Unfold that came before it and just a solid power metal album that may appeal to the band’s most hardcore fans – the rest of us can look for something else.

I think that the lack of a strong hit song and somewhat poorer vocals than the previous albums is what makes this album feel a bit less interesting than the albums they have released before this one. I would have liked them to bring out something a little more exciting than this, in the end though I cannot deny that it is still a good album and that Almah keeps delivering solid albums.

HHHHHHH