Almah

Almah (a Hebrew word that means "maiden") are a Brazilian prog/power metal band that initially started as Edu Falaschi's (Angra) side-project. Almah evolved into a full-fledged band and Motion is their third full-length release. As the band have come into their own, the releases have become progressively better, but they still display playfulness and disorganization. Motion isn't an aesthetically or conceptually cohesive release, but rather functions as a kind of sampler for aesthetics and techniques that Almah want to explore. "Living and Drifting" has a classic heavy metal feel; "Sound Alight" is a distinctly death metal-ish piece that evokes older Morbid Angel, with clean, high vocals and some spacey keyboards; and "Late Night in '85" has an emotive, almost alternative rock feel. The instrumentation is extremely high quality and Falaschi's voice is undeniably powerful. As a work that defines itself as power metal, Motion competes with extremely sophisticated concepts and sweeping narratives, and comes across as somewhat shallow because of it. This isn't a deep pool to sink into and explore, but is fun to tip a big toe in.