Hangar

Hangar was born in Porto Alegre in 1997, with the initially modest aim of playing covers of Stratovarius, Helloween, Dream Theater and other giants of metal. The modesty did not last long. Led by drummer Aquiles Priester, the group quickly abandoned the safety of cover versions to build a repertoire of its own, debuting live in July 1998 and opening for Angra within its first year of existence. *Last Time*, released in 1999, revealed a young, fast and ambitious band, determined to compete for space well beyond the circuit of Rio Grande do Sul. With *Inside Your Soul*, in 2001, Hangar began to find a heavier and more elaborate identity. The arrival of guitarist Eduardo Martinez and Fábio Laguna's keyboard arrangements widened the group's language, while "The Massacre" trilogy dealt with Brazil's colonisation. In that same period, Aquiles Priester joining Angra raised his international profile but created a paradox: Hangar's main engine was now part of one of the busiest bands in Brazilian metal. The group stayed alive at a distance, between tours, lineup changes and long gaps in writing. The real artistic rupture came with *The Reason of Your Conviction*, released in 2007. With Nando Fernandes on vocals, Hangar left behind much of traditional power metal's innocence and plunged into a darker, more progressive and psychologically charged sound. The compositions took on intricate structures, unsettling atmospheres and an aggression controlled by almost surgical execution. The album was mixed and mastered by Tommy Newton in Germany and placed the group in a category of its own within Brazilian metal: technical, heavy and cerebral, but without turning every song into a spreadsheet for musicians to impress other musicians. The arrival of Humberto Sobrinho led to *Infallible*, in 2009, preserving the high instrumental level and deepening the band's progressive side. Hangar could no longer be summed up as "the side project of Angra's drummer". Aquiles was obviously its most recognisable figure, but the group's strength lay in the interaction between drums, guitars, keyboards, bass and voices capable of keeping up with demanding compositions without losing impact. In a scene often split between sterile virtuosity and predictable melodies, Hangar found a more dangerous — and for that very reason more interesting — zone. The group even dismantled part of its own armour on *Acoustic, but Plugged In!*, in 2011, revisiting its repertoire with new arrangements and showing that its songs survived without depending exclusively on distortion and speed. The following phase brought Pedro Campos on vocals, the return of founding guitarist Cristiano Wortmann, the retrospective *The Best of 15 Years, Based on a True Story* and *Stronger Than Ever*, released in 2016. The title read like a declaration of resistance, though the band ended its activities after that album's tour. Hangar officially resumed in 2025 with Pedro Campos, Cristiano Wortmann, Nando Mello, Fábio Laguna and Aquiles Priester. The return came with "Prisioneiro do Alvorecer", a Portuguese-language reworking of a song originally written by Marco Di Martino for the band Spartacus, and with a return to the stage after eight years. In April 2026 the group performed at Bangers Open Air, reaffirming a history that refused to end merely because the industry had made its continuation financially inconvenient. Hangar occupies a peculiar position in Brazilian metal. It never reached the commercial exposure of Angra or Sepultura, but built a body of work respected for its technical consistency, its discipline and its willingness to evolve. Its trajectory also exposes a less romantic reality: musical excellence guarantees neither stability, nor support, nor proportional recognition. Even so, the band persisted. More than a showcase for one of Brazil's greatest drummers, Hangar is the record of musicians who chose the difficult path when a simplified version would probably have sold more. Between power metal's speed, progressive complexity and an increasingly heavy approach, the group built an identity without shortcuts. And in heavy metal, where many people confuse difficulty with depth, Hangar managed to bring both together.