Brazilian metal... ever since Sepultura, has struck a chord with me.  With no nonsense fury and explosiveness, Brazil has offered up some of the most extremes in metal... and then there are others that you cannot categorize into one pigeonhole. One of these acts that you cannot pin down is a band called Of the Archangel.

Of the Archangel is a band that is seriously very hard to actually describe, but that is my cross to bare. With so many styles and influences go into this bands sound. I here shades of Progressive, odd ramblings into a bleak vortex that is Avaunt-guard and all stirred up with an injection of blasphemous and cold hearted symphonic Black Metal. Sounds really interesting, does it not?  If you ask me, I just have one reply - Hell fucking yeah!

With nine solid and well made tracks in this album, it is hard to pick out the best. I would have to pick two that really stood out. The first was "With The Dragon's Hand", a song that had the wickedest riffs going, not to mention the nastiest of lyrics.  The other was the dark and brooding power of the epic "Black Raven", where it swirled and pounded your very soul... while the vocals pull you into that forbidden netherworld of pain and fears.

I cannot deny that Of the Archangel is by far the sing most impressive debut in a long while... what is more impressive is that I can tell that they have more talent to spare. I can't wait to hear the progress that the band will no doubt will go on to. This album blows me away like none other - just think of the possibilities that are still there to discover.