SIGNUM REGIS – Post ANGRA Cover

Slovakia’s progressive/power metal act Signum Regis have unleashed a video for the track “Stand Away”, a cover from brazilian band Angra and recorded as a tribute to the late Andre Matos, who passed away in 2019.   You can view the video above.

A post by Angra read, in part:

“André was indispensable for the success and consecration of this band. The contribution of his talent and presence is invaluable. There are no words right now that describe the size of the void left in the hearts of those who loved him closely, and Brazil loses an irreplaceable talent of heavy metal.”

After leaving the band Viper, Matos formed Angra in 1991, and released three full-length albums with the band before leaving the group in 2001. He then formed the band Shaman (also known as Shaaman) with other members of Angra who had also left the group. Upon his departure from Shaman in 2006, he pursued a solo career, releasing three albums under his own name. He reunited with Shaman in 2018, and was a current member of that band at the time of his death.

Current Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who joined Angra in 1992 and was bandmates with Matos until the singer’s departure from the group, wrote the following on Facebook:

“What a sad morning. A phone call and the news that André Matos passed away. Life is too fragile. I cried. Since I was 14 years old back in the Rio Branco school, André was already a benchmark. We all wanted to be like him. The unparalleled voice, the talent for the piano. Luckily, the destiny united us for nine years.”

“In the years we spent together, we have created and lived incredible things which are kept in the most special place in my memory. The crazy dream of having a world-famous heavy metal band that we talked about while sitting on the bus going to rehearsals. The songs he wrote are timeless (play ‘Carry On’!), the albums… from our first precarious shows to the big tours in Europe. Everything is coming back to my mind now. From his peerless high notes to the glance over the round glasses. André, you were and will always be so important to us all.”