#Edu falaschi vera cruz plus
#Edu falaschi vera cruz professional

Most of the other brisker numbers slap just as hard 'Mirror of Delusion' leaves a mighty impression with its gripping choral arrangements, infectious chorus and hyperactive guitar wizardry. The cynic in me understands how calculated such an approach is, but sometimes you just can't help it, so by the time the slightly less rambunctious 'Sea of Uncertainties' came up, I already had the previous track's hooks glued to my head. It's all deliciously wonky, a thing made to put even the most jaded power metal fan in a tizzy. If the clichèd chord progression of the chorus isn't as thrilling, then the sheer velocity of the leads beneath it should do the trick as they seem to hold the poor frontman hostage, leaving him just enough breathing room to yell the title of the song as the harmonies gnaw at each other like a swarm of maddened bees. Track 01, 'The Ancestry', seems tailored for such shock-and-awe tactics during the verses, even Edu himself seems slightly taken aback by the guitar acrobatics surrounding him, because there are some fucking FAST guitars licks at work here.

This is built from the ground up to impress, and sweet-mother-of-Gary-Stu-protagonist-named-George, impress it does. Thematically, it's a love story between Angra's Holy Land and the 'Chosen One' storytelling trope hardly original or too daring, but yours truly can guarantee you won't get much time off from the hectic double bass and hypersonic leads to get pensive or spot plot holes. Yes, of course, it's a concept album, complete with corny vignettes and all. For the majority of its duration, Vera Cruz is frantic, boisterous and theatrical. They may never catch lightning in a bottle again, but this is, I'd wager, the closest anyone will ever get. I'm more of a Rebirth guy myself, but there's no denying the impact of Angra's fifth full-length a smorgasbord of high-level musicianship, explosive hooks and folk influences that impressed fans worldwide and catapulted the quintet to a higher level of recognition. Vera Cruz is basically Temple of Shadows 2: Falaschi's Bugaloo.

#Edu falaschi vera cruz plus

After a successful comeback tour which culminated in a juggernaut of a concert showcasing a live rendition of the entire Temple of Shadows album, plus an orchestra, the singer seems to have taken that to heart. In Falaschi's native Brazil, a country as obsessed with football/soccer as Finns and Swedes are with obliterating each other at ice hockey tournaments, there is a common saying that roughly translates to 'One shouldn't mess with a winning team's lineup'. He then got a band together, comprised of former colleagues Aquiles Priester and Fabio Laguna plus new blood in the form of virtuosi Roberto Barros, Diogo Mafra and Raphael Dafras, and set out to write an album that would, hopefully, show the world the man still had it in him. Years of soul-searching ensued, in which he kept on playing with his former side project, Almah, with diminishing returns, until an eventful conversation with Joe Lynn Turner (Ex Deep Purple) apparently made the guy realize that his future lie not in Almah's modern trappings, but sticking with the formula that made him successful in the first place: Fast-paced, dramatic power metal with a Brazilian folk tinge. After a particularly disastrous concert at Rock in Rio, Edu departed from the band in, let's say, not the friendliest of terms.

Add that to a nasty case of acid reflux, and by 2011 his voice was all but dead. Having to sing Matos' demanding material during constant touring took its toll on his mental health and, of course, on his instrument of choice.

His meteoric rise in the power metal scene after taking up vocal duties in Angra (replacing the much-lauded late Andre Matos) saw him go through periods of much joy, and tons of hardship.

#Edu falaschi vera cruz professional

Edu Falaschi's journey as a professional musician is one fraught with tough challenges.