ANGRA

Anyone else dig this speed metal band ?  A bit of Maiden and Judas Priest influence - for fans of Theocracy too.
I understand they're one of those "bands with Christian members" but not a "Christian Band"... whatever they wanna categorize themselves as, they ROCK !

Encyclopedia Metallum lists them as power/progressive metal.

Never even heard of them.

Angra was one of the first metal bands I ever discovered.  Love 'em!  They've got some absolutely amazing albums... and they have a few stinkers too.  I'd describe them as:

-Angels Cry - CLASSIC, awesome, mandatory to own
-Holy Land - same as above
-Fireworks - good but not great; a few excellent songs though
-Rebirth - good but not great
-Temple Of Shadows - most fans love it, I don't particularly care for it (also I don't like some of the lyrics)
-Aurora Consergens - pretty terrible, for hardcore Angra fans only
-Aqua - MUCH better than AC... but I still rarely listen to it; lacks much of the magic from their earlier stuff
-Secret Garden - haven't bought it yet but I hear good things of it and I like what I've heard so far!

Also, after Fireworks, Angra got basically a whole new lineup, with the majority leaving to form Shaman.  Shaman's first two albums are extremely good and remain two of my favorite power metal albums (though Reason is more melodic metal than power...).  Then the majority of Shaman left and some went on to play in Andre Matos' solo stuff which is pretty good too.

One of my faves! I like everything from Rebirth through Aqua...never been a fan of Andre Matos vocals.

Really?  Edu is a competent enough vocalist for sure, I just couldn't connect with the music on those releases as much.  I've heard Andre is a bit of a jerk though; I read an interview with Edu and he seemed like a real good guy.

Andre has this odd little squeak in his voice when he cuts off a note.....I find it very irritating.

Felipe Andreoli is also one of the best bassists in metal...always playing something cool and fitting to the song.