Angra has finally announced the official title of its seventh full length. Aqua will be the first material released in the last four years and after the return of the drummer Ricardo Confessori (Shaman) to the band. Below is the official press release:
Aqua is a Latin word and means "water" in English. It represents the unique style that presented Angra to the world. Its incredible ability in mixing various music genres, transcending from Classical to Metal, Folklore to Modern, Pop to Experimental, has an unquestionable relevance nowadays and it is described in each detail of the new work.
The whole composition of the album was directly inspired by "The Tempest" - the last play written by William Shakespeare and shown here through an epic vision compared to its dark side.
"We really dedicated ourselves to the last work of Shakespeare to create Aqua. Besides all the qualities of the text, we founded out that the element "water" is one of the main characters of the history. It transforms itself during the cycles and changes the things around. It represents the rage of high tides and tempests, and then the forgiveness and wisdom in calm. Everything happens after a violent storm that occurs in the sea, in an island hill. While the wild waters come from up and down, a ship and the entire crew are fighting for surviving. As from this point, we developed one very interesting narrative that will get the attention of the listeners", said the guitarist Rafael Bittencourt.
Aqua was produced by a new team that confirms the actual renovation purpose of the band. The album was entirely arranged by the musicians, co-produced and mixed by Brendan Duffey and Adriano Daga, from Norcal Studios, and mastered by Maor Appelbaum at Maor Appelbaum Mastering Studios, in California (EUA).
The art concept was created by the renowned Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes supervised by Rafael Bittencourt and Kiko Loureiro.
Aqua will be released in Japan on July 31st by JVC/Victor and will be distributed in Europe by SPV/Steamhammer afterwards. In Brazil it will be self-financed and released on August 17th. "We need to have a support for the international market and the SPV and JVC have always been done an excellent work related to the promotion of our last records. But in Brazil we will make it different this time. It will be self-financed so that we can control everything referred to the CD", said vocalist Edu Falaschi.
After Aqua is officially released, Angra will start a new world tour.
Aqua [
cover art] tracklist:
01. Viderunt Te Aquæ
02. Arising Thunder
03. Awake From Darkness
04. Lease Of Life
05. The Rage Of The Waters
06. Spirit Of The Air
07. Hollow
08. A Monster In Her Eyes
09. Weakness Of A Man
10. Ashes