Fifteen years into their career, Angra brings forth their latest album “Aurora Consurgens.” Unlike its predecessor “Temple of Shadows,” the new album is not a concept album and displays a couple of changes in their trademark sound. The Brazilian percussion that could be found often in their music is kept on a low key this time around and the band uses orchestral arrangements to give their songs a little more depth. Apart from that, the usual prog-power attitude is still there and the band exceeds in showing their full range as musicians.

The first three songs of the album don’t differ too much from one another. “The Course of Nature” as the name implies starts off with some ethnic tribal rhythms that are somewhat reminiscent of Sepultura. The song follows a more progressive structure as it isn’t very fast and focuses more on a very enjoyable guitar groove. The first track is followed by “The Voice Commanding You,” and it’s more of a straight up power metal song, it has fast guitar work and nonstop double-bass drumming. Half-way into the song operatic vocals are used that give the song a very bombastic feel. Track three comes in the form of “Ego Painted Gray” with a steady build up and a good vocal performance by Edu Falaschi. Traces of Dream Theater can be found throughout the song, although not as complex.

“Breaking Ties” is the first filler this album contains; the song is a ballad that tries to create a sort of uplifting vibe but it ends up being very dull and dated. The band comes back up with “Salvation: Suicide.” With a fast guitar riff and thrashing drums the song is classic Angra and highlight of the album. Diehard fans will probably look down memory lane after listening to this song.

The second half of the album follows the same patterns that are often found in power metal, fast and mid-tempo rhythms, virtuoso guitar playing and constant double-bass, all of the above honed down with melodic and intricate vocal passages. This album isn’t as ambitious as their previous, but the band is clearly comfortable with the result. Their skills as musicians are obvious in songs like “So Near So Far” and “Passing By.” The end result is an album that is very generic in nature, as it doesn’t create any type of groundbreaking music, but the high quality of musicianship and production save the day for Angra.