RecordedJuly-September 1993 Angels Cry
(1993)Holy Land
(1996) Release date3 November 1993
StudioHansen Studios and Horus Sound Studio in Hamburg, Germany LabelVictor Talking Machine Company GenresHeavy metal, Power metal, Progressive metal, Symphonic metal, Traditional heavy metal, Neoclassical metal ProducersCharlie Bauerfeind, Sascha Paeth SimilarAngra albums, Heavy metal albums
04 angels cry angels cry 1993 angra 320 kbps
Angels Cry is the debut album of Brazilian metal band Angra. It was released in 1993 and recorded in Germany at Kai Hansen's studios in Hamburg.
The opening track is a short rendition of the first movement of Franz Schubert's "Symphony No. 8", commonly known as his "Unfinished Symphony". In addition, the title track features a brief arrangement of "Caprice no. 24" by Niccolò Paganini, whereas "Evil Warning" features a brief arrangement of "Winter" by Antonio Vivaldi. The opening of the track "Never Understand" features a brief arrangement of the song "Asa Branca" by Luiz Gonzaga.
Production and recording
When commenting on the production and recording of the album, vocalist Andre Matos said that recording the album was difficult due to the inexperience of him and his band mates, and also due to the difference of musical influences between them and the producers. He also referred to the recording as "an exile":
Producer Charlie Bauerfeind was not confident that drummer and co-founder Marcos Antunes would be skillful enough for the music he expected to put in the album, so he told the band they could either fire him and hire Alex Holzwarth as a session musician or use electronic drums - or otherwise he would leave the project. The band decided to do as he said and replaced Antunes with Holzwarth, a decision Matos regards as being very difficult.
One of the songs, however, was performed by a different drummer: Kate Bush cover "Wuthering Heights", played by then Gamma Ray drummer Thomas Nack. Matos said Nack was a big fan of Bush and "could play those lines perfectly".
The inlays and photo shoots for the album display drummer Ricardo Confessori, but he would only join the band after its recording. Antunes appears on the back sleeve and inlays of the Japanese first press of the album instead of Confessori.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Andre Matos except Stand Away by Rafael Bittencourt and Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush.
Personnel
Band Members
André Matos – Lead Vocals, Keyboards, Piano
Kiko Loureiro – Lead and Rhythm Guitars
Rafael Bittencourt – Rhythm and Lead Guitars
Luís Mariutti - Bass Guitar
Guest Musicians
Alex Holzwarth – Drums, Percussion
Dirk Schlächter – Lead Guitar in Track #6
Kai Hansen – Lead Guitar in Track #6
Sascha Paeth – Acoustic and Lead Guitars in Track #6