''Ritual'' is the debut album by the Brazilian heavy metal band

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

. It was first released in 2002, and it is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

about many cultures, mainly

indigenous cultures Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

and

shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...

. The album has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide since its release and appears on the list Top 100

Power Metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

Albums of All Time by metalstorm.com.

Track listing

# "Ancient Winds" (

André Matos Andre Coelho Matos (14 September 1971 – 8 June 2019) was a Brazilian singer and musician. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaman and Symfonia. Since 2006, Matos had been dedicating his time to his solo career. In 201 ...

) – 3:16 # "Here I Am" (Matos) – 5:56 # "Distant Thunder" (

Hugo Mariutti Hugo Mariutti (born 18 December 1975) is a Brazilian musician, best known as the guitarist of Henceforth, Viper and Andre Matos' solo band and also as the guitarist of Shaman, in which he plays with his brother Luis Mariutti, who is also the fo ...

) – 6:22 # "For Tomorrow" (

Ricardo Confessori Ricardo Confessori (born January 25, 1969) is a Brazilian drummer and a former member of the Brazilian power metal band Angra. After leaving the Brazilian thrash metal band Korzus, Confessori was invited for assume the post of drummer of Angra ...

) – 6:47 # "Time Will Come" (H. Mariutti) – 5:32 # "Over Your Head" (Luis Mariutti) – 6:37 # "Fairy Tale" (Matos) – 6:56 # "Blind Spell" (Confessori) – 4:34 # "Ritual" (Matos) – 6:37 # "Pride" (Matos) – 4:11

Personnel

Shaman *

– vocals, piano *

– guitar * Luís Mariutti – bass *

– drums Additional personnel *

Tobias Sammet Tobias Sammet (born 21 November 1977) is a German musician, singer, songwriter, music producer and radio host best known for being the singer and primary songwriter of the power metal band Edguy, and the founder of the metal opera project Avant ...

(

Edguy Edguy is a heavy metal band formed in Fulda, Germany in 1992. History Demos, AFM years (1992–2003) Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch and Dirk Sauer. The name "Edguy" was an affecti ...

) – vocals on "Pride" *

Sascha Paeth Sascha Paeth (born 9 September 1970 in Wolfsburg, West Germany) is a German guitarist, bassist, musical producer, and mixer known for working with heavy metal bands such as Avantasia, Edguy, Angra, Shaaman, Rhapsody of Fire, Kamelot, After For ...

– guitars on "Pride" * Marcus Viana – violin on "Over Your Head" *

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

– keyboard solo on "Over Your Head" * Ademar Farinha – wind instruments in the introduction of "For Tomorrow" * Ancient Winds was made by Miro.

References

2002 debut albums Shaman (Brazilian band) albums Concept albums {{Brazil-album-stub