Band's List Heavy Metal Aura Azul Beyond the Doors of Time

A couple weeks back I received a digital copy of Aura Azul's new album titled "Beyond the Doors of Time". I really liked their debut album "Aura Azul" so I was really anticipating to hear it. I have not heard much bands from Puerto Rico, Dantesco is the other of Puerto Rico's hard hitters that I can point out. Excellent band by the way,surprisingly Aura Azul comes from Dantesco's Singer(Erico Dantesco) music label Jurakan Records.

The album opens with an instrumental theme called "Heritage" a melodic intro setting the stage for the first real track,Dying Shelter. You will recognize the power metal influence in this track, reminding me of old Angra/Edguy, but still not sounding like one of those, this is one of the most powerful songs in the album. The third track is the title track of the album,this song took me by surprise with a catchy chorus section and sticky riffs, this one is no doubt an anthem, with some incredible solos by Moe and Hommy, the song ends with some Priest high pitched awesome vocals by Edgar, this song is one of my favorites.

Next is "The Tree of your soul",again the band takes me by surprise with another power metal song,this one is a very keyboard driven song with some incredible vocals and guitar work. All their songs in this album are in English except for "Albatross", this is an epic voyage trough a 10 minute track, this is Aura Azul at their best, their Maiden influence is truly shining in this one, again I have to point Edgar's awesome job and guitar work with big solos and guitar harmonies.

The album closes with "We are back" and "The Penitent Man" this first one is a raw speed metal song filled with high pitched vocals heavy drumming, and fast guitar picking,The closing tittle is another epic 10 minute song,and my favorite song in the whole album,this mixes very well all the band influences,its like a Maiden meets Mercyful Fate meets Aura Azul.


The production on this album is much better than the first one, and you can hear a more focused band, with lots of potential, these guys can really play, and they don't over do it with boring 20 minute songs and solos. You can tell high quality musicianship in each one of these songs,is clearly obvious why they were handpicked by Iron maiden to open for them in San Juan.

Aura Azul is clearly one of the best metal acts from Puerto Rico and this album proves it, they sound hungry, sharp, and heavy. They come very recommended for fans of Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Helloween, and Primal Fear.

Zac