Search - Shaman :: Reason

Shaman had a good Reason to come back, no innocence!

Gustavo D. | Rio de Janeiro , Brazil | 09/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After the excellent masterpiece Ritual (debut),

with this second release,André Matos(vocals and keyboards) and his 3 mates(Luís Mariutti on bass, Ricardo Confessori on drums who are former Angra members plus Hugo Mariutti on guitar)proved that their band are right alternative for people who are Angra fans and hate Eduardo Falaschi (Me, for example). I still don't know why a colleague from my college hated it until today .He liked "Reason" and "Innocence" only. I totaly disagree with him.

To me Reason (the cd)is almost as good as the debut.

The only bad track here is "More", which is an 80's cover. It didn't sound well. Hugo used some more heavy riffs than in "Ritual", but the melodic metal traits were mantained, happily.

Like the previous one, the band didn't attach to the double bass drums(Trail of tears is the exception). The song variety continues.

"Innocence" will always be my favourite overall: as outstanding as "Fairy Tale", I love the melody set up for these lines " I held my tears, one day comes after another", undiscribable.

The title track is amazing too: there is a beautiful and well peformed solo by Hugo in 2:37. Check it out.

"Turn away" is the heaviest, but still melodic.Hugo's work calls attention here too. I think that he's as skillful as Angra's Kiko Loureiro.

Trust me,this cd isn't a waste of money.

André Matos and partners: keep this efficience and you will continue as my today's Angra replacement. Thank you.





"

This is just... amazing!

Matt Stoessel | Tolland, CT USA | 10/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In American music, there's maybe 2 great songs per album. Even in European metal, not every song is good on every album (there's some exceptions). Shaman's Reason has 10 songs. 10 of them are amazing.



I'm not what you would call a "fan" of Shaman (or Angra), but I listen to both and enjoy both. So I'm not gonna go into massive amounts of detail.



What I will say is that I enjoyed the overall feeling of "melodic metal influenced by gothic rock." To me, that's what this sounds like. So if you enjoy bands like Sentenced or Katatonia, you'll enjoy this - even though the instruments don't follow the gothic style. The music is more hard-rockish with lots of keyboard intros to enhance the emotions the listener will feel.



There's several sad piano sounds, especially in the 3 "ballads" - Innocence, Rough Stone, and Born to Be. These 3 and the 80's cover song "More" are some of my favorites. Its kind of a funny album; sometimes, the ballads will act as your favorite songs, but at other times, you're gonna crave to listen to the faster Trail of Tears (another of my favorites).



For anyone who's a Highlord, Dark Moor, or Rhapsody fan, you're not gonna hear tons of orchestral arrangements or super fast songs on here. This album is more so where gothic rock meets melodic metal.



Though most of the songs are around the same speed and the same emotions, you still won't get bored. Think of Heavenly's Dust to Dust album, if you will. For some reason, these 2 albums just do a better job of holding the listener's attention.



Even for fans of classic rock, alternative rock, etc. - this would be a GREAT starting point for people wanting to listen to European metal. Soilwork, In Flames, Mnemic - the screaming/growling/grunting can easily turn people off.



Bottom line - make an effort to listen to and enjoy this album. It's a lot different than most of what's out there. Try downloading samples someplace if you're the picky kind. This is one album that'll always have to come with me on my one-week vacations. (I have over 400 CDs - most of which are European metal. See my other reviews to get a sense of who I listen to.)

"

This is something unexpected

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 03/16/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If Andre Matos and the rest of Shaman's goal was to distance themselves from the Angra sound for which they are best known, then they certainly accomplished it with Reason. Shaman's excellent debut album, Ritual, was very much an Angra-style power metal album, so I thought I knew what to expect from Reason. Instead, the band has taken its sound in a totally new direction.



Reason is definitely not the power metal we're used to. It's still quite heavy at times, but it tends more towards a melodic rock sound. And I'm not talking about Journey-inspired, Frontiers Records melodic rock either. Yes, keyboards are prevalent, but this isn't a big hooks and catchy chorus kind of album. Call it a "serious" hard rock album with an obvious appreciation for melody. It reminds me at times of some of Threshold and Vanishing Point's less metallic moments. The band's inclusion of South American musical elements is, as always, a nice touch that helps set them apart from the crowd.



I have mixed emotions about this album. On the one hand, it's good to see the band challenge themselves and defy expectations, and it's hard to argue with the results - this is a very impressive album. On the other hand, knowing that the band is capable of recording a top notch power metal album yet chooses not to do so is frustrating.

"