Marcelo Panzardi

Marcelo Panzardi — Brazilian keyboardist — was part of Symbols's classic line-up, responsible for the records Symbols (1998) and Call to the End (2000). In late-1990s Brazilian melodic metal the keyboard had a defined function: it supplied the symphonic dimension separating European-derived power metal — Helloween, Stratovarius, Angra itself — from traditional heavy metal. Symbols worked precisely in that band, with the addition of a progressive streak demanding keyboard arrangements more elaborate than the genre's standard accompaniment. This is the line-up that had Edu Falaschi on vocals, before his move to Angra in 2001, and the one that reunited in 2012 to revisit the repertoire. Symbols never had great commercial reach, but it occupies a precise place in Brazilian metal history: it is the band of origin of one of the country's best-known vocalists.