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Angra have been through some difficult years, business problems forced them to take a break. Now they are back with a new album and their former drummer Ricardo Confessori.
Lyrically the Brazilians combine their ideas which are based on the latest natural disasters and inspiration taken from Shakespeare's The Tempest. Btw, you can download The Tempest from Angra's website, if you want to read the story.
The sound of thunder, a bell and someone shouting, that's what you hear first. Then a choir sets in and Vinderunt Te Aquæ leads you into Aqua. Then Angra storm off into the melodic speed metal tune Arising Thunder which many will already know as it was the first single. A heavy mid-paced tune is Awaken From Darkness which shows Ricardo Confessori and bassist Felipe Andreoli as a tight union which delivers the basis for guitarists Kiko Loureiro and Rafael Bittencourt. This track shows the band combining ethnic elements, progressive parts, heavy riffs and melody. A break leads into a slow, symphonic passage, but then they speed up again. Songs like Awake From Darkness make Angra differ from genre colleagues. At the balladesque track Lease Of Life singer Eduardo Falaschi can shine, as the slower tunes give him more space to express feelings. The melancholy tune is enchanting. At The Rage Of The Waters Falaschi sound more aggressive which fits well to track which is based on fast double-based drumming and melodic riffing, but also offers symphonic elements and progressive parts. A track full of twists and turns - incl. up-tempo parts and ethno elements. And somehow this describes the album, too. Fans of their early releases might be disappointed as Arising Thunder is the only fast one, even if they have some fast passages embedded into other tracks. But in my opinion it's the mix of different sounds which makes Angra special. Listen to Hollow and you will know what I'm talking about.
One of the highlights is A Monster In Her Eyes which kicks of slowly, then the tune becomes a heavy rocker - with a melancholy touch. And with Weakness Of A Man they deliver a killer tune before they close this chapter with Ashes. At Ashes Edu Falaschi once again can show his talent, the opening is piano-based and focuses on his vocals, but even when they head into the heavy mid-paced part he can shine. But he's not the only one who can show off his skills, everybody gets his time to shine on Aqua.
Kudos! It seems that the break they were forced to take did them good, coz this is a really strong album and I hope they can present it live soon!
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