Amazon is a new female fronted band from Brazil. I can tell you right from the start that huge lovers of female vocals should really like their debut 'Victoria Regia', as vocalist Sabrina Todt (who also plays the flute) has a very pleasant voice. She's not in the operatic range, but her somewhat high-pitched voice is in that direction. Musically, they play pretty straightforward melodic power metal with some keyboard and symphonic parts, but the symphonic element is mostly in an atmospheric (background) method. So the band fits well into the popular style of Visions of Atlantis, Nightwish, Lunatica, Magica and especially Edenbridge. There's a very slight influence from Within Temptation and Xandria, but Amazon has more speed than these bands, so the first list of comparisons is far more accurate.

The CD has an excellent start, as "Dawn" is an ear-grabbing faster song with great melody and may even be the best song on the CD. Track 2 "Destiny's revenge" is also one of the faster songs, but one of the 2 (track 6 "Growing" being the other) that has a lot of keyboards present. Track 3 "The shadow" is the heaviest song the band offers and it has a sweet guitar solo recalling Edenbridge's material. The CD continues nicely with track 4 "The phantom in the mirror", which has a few changes in tempo, atmospheric symphonic parts, and I really like the flute midway that leads us to another strong guitar solo. Track 5 "We were all" is a great piano oriented ballad where Sabrina shows off her pretty voice, but this is also the point where the CD changes course and the fast pace almost completely disappears, as the remainder is filled with slow to mid-paced songs (with just a few faster moments), but all are well written and Sabrna's voice remains superb.

So we end up with a solid CD, and although the first half is much faster and those seeking constant speed will be disappointed with the 2nd half, I think the band's smooth style will leave Visions of Atlantis and Edenbridge fans quite happy. And one important thing that has stood out as a positive with this CD is the frequent guitar solos from Renato Angelo, as some bands in this style unfortunately leave them out. Coupled with Sabrina's voice, it's hard not to like this CD. The songwriting could be a little better, thus the less than "excellent" rating, but for a debut this is great, maybe at the level of the earlier Edenbridge CDs or Visions of Atlantis' 'Cast away'. Surely recommended to lovers of the female voice.

CLINT