Angra is a progressive power metal formation from São Paulo, Brazil. Formed in 1991, with Andre Matos (vocals), Luís Mariutti (bass), Marcos Antunes (drums), André Linhares (guitar) and Rafael Bittencourt (guitar). In 1992, Linhares was replaced by André Hernandes, later replaced by Kiko Loureiro. They underwent a big line-up change in 2000, when the vocalist Andre Matos, the bassist Luis Mariutti and the drummer Ricardo Confessori, that have entered after Marcos Antunes (now with Sunsarah), left the band and founded Shaman (later renamed to Shaaman and back to Shaman again) together with Luis' brother Hugo Mariutti. ...show more

Angra is a progressive power metal formation from São Paulo, Brazil. Formed in 1991, with Andre Matos (vocals), Luís Mariutti (bass), Marcos Antunes (drums), André Linhares (guitar) and Rafael Bittencourt (guitar). In 1992, Linhares was replaced by André Hernandes, later replaced by Kiko Loureiro. They underwent a big line-up change in 2000, when the vocalist Andre Matos, the bassist Luis Mariutti and the drummer Ricardo Confessori, that have entered after Marcos Antunes (now with Sunsarah), left the band and founded Shaman (later renamed to Shaaman and back to Shaman again) together with Luis' brother Hugo Mariutti.

They were then replaced by Edu Falaschi on vocals, Aquiles Priester on drums and Felipe Andreoli on bass. After being on hiatus for almost two years due to management issues, Angra's website announced their come back with a slight change in it's line-up: Ricardo Confessori returns, replacing Aquiles Priester, who decided to dedicate full-time to his side project, Hangar. Wikipedia about Angra: Angra was formed in 1991 by Santa Marcelina Music College students vocalist André Matos, duo guitarist Rafael Bittencourt and André Linhares, and were joined by former Rafael Bittencourt band mate drummer Marcos Antunes, as well as former Firebox bassist and former both Rafael Bittencourt and André Linhares high-school mate Luís Mariutti. With this line-up, several of the first band hits were composed, mainly by Rafael Bittencourt and André Matos.

The very first song to take form was "Time", which later became part of their first album; "Angels Cry", composed by Matos and Bittencourt came shortafter; "Queen of the Night" was originally "Rainha" and was written by Bittencourt while he played with Marcos Antunes in another band, the song was then revived to integrate Angra's repertoire; and "Carry On" was brought ready to band, composed by Andre Matos. In the beginning of 1992, André Linhares left and guitarist André Hernandes replaced him. In the short time that Hernandes stayed in the band, he changed the existing songs arrangements, giving them body and substance. A lot of his licks were kept by his replacement, Kiko Loureiro. ...show less