The Benja-man Is Verbose

Prior exposure to this band/record:  Not much.  It's only after I decided to deliberately explore power metal that I heard any Angra songs.  Based on a few listens, I don't get "Angels Cry" (the song), whereas I kinda dig "Carolina IV."  I'm not sure exactly how I'd heard of Angra before that, but I know I knew the name, because it's hard not to.     To be clear, I have no context for the scene they came from; they're one of only two non-Sepultura Brazilian metal acts I can name off the top of my head. *   I don't even actually remember why I picked  Temple Of Shadows  as my representative Angra record; it seems to be a fan favorite and it probably ranked high in Metal Archives when I was browsing.  Most people doing "intro to power metal" lists seem to favor material from when the band was introducing itself to the world - either  Angels Cry  or  Holy Land .  Well, whatever, this is the one I'm writing abo...

I think in previous entries in this series I've established my basic peccadilloes - I like just enough of a veneer of sophistication to keep me entertained whilst I grab on to a big catchy hook.   Epica  doesn't quite fit that, falling more into the category I summarized in the last post - pleasant swells of music that don't leave much of an impression.  I keep wondering if it's going to grab me, like the afternoon I found myself humming a bit of "Farewell" at work.  I consider it a triumph that I can kinda, sorta, remember how that one goes, although all I remember is the vocal part.  "The Mourning After" makes its way into my head fairly often through sheer repetition, but I don't know if that really counts as catchiness so much as just having heard the main lyric three times as often as in most other songs.  The rest... mostly drawing a blank.  Why aren't the songs - songs that, almost universal...