Truth is that my first ‘touch’ with Angra back in 1993 with their debut album “Angel’s cry”, had not left me with the best possible impressions. The reason for that was that I was not able at the time to accept their “weird” at some point (comparing to my experience up to then) elements of their progressive/power metal sound. It took me several years to appreciate their charismatic compositions and sound, a thing that occurred almost at the same time with the departure in 2001 of the band’s former vocalist Andre Matos and his replacement with their up-to-date singer Edu Falaschi.

So here we are now in 2010 with Angra’s 7th studio album release, 4 years after “Aurora Consurgens” of 2006. This is a concept album and it is based on William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest”, while since 2009 Ricardo Confessori has returned behind the drum kit. The album starts with the atmospheric orchestral instrumental “Viderunt Te Aque”, which is followed by “Arising Thunder”, a typical and fast power metal track. The rest of the album however is far more complex than that, since it contains songs with a big variety of fast neoclassical songs, as well as slower and more atmospheric songs, like the sentimental piano orientated ballads “Lease Of Life” and “Ashes”. The melodies and the technique of Kiko Loureiro’s solos and riffs give for once more a progressive trademark, especially in moments like “Hollow”, with its complexity and variety in its orchestration, which is among the album’s best songs. Some other very beautiful songs are "The Rage Of The Waters”, with its very interesting break in the middle of the latin/jazz bass guitar, which continues with an also inspired and technical guitar solo. “Weakness of a Man”, is a Dream Theater-like song, which is followed by a memorable refrain, as is also “Awake From Darkness”. One of my favorites is the imposing “A Monster In Her Eyes”. Of course all the compositions are filled with lyrical and emotional moments. Falaschi’s performance is very satisfying, while his vocal lines at some moments resemble Bruce Dickinson’s (like in “Arising Thunder”). Some people might think that this album in general is mostly slow and atmospheric, but this is not the case, since it is only the first impression. Most of the compositions include many different and diversiform elements, which are not so easily heard at first hearing. The 11 total tracks (along with the remixed version of “Lease Of Life”) have an average duration of 5 minutes each, and they keep the listener’s interest undiminished.

Summarizing, Angra’s latest work proves us that in 2010, it is no longer necessary to have songs with an extremely long duration and a gathering of too many unnecessary elements, in order to create a very good progressive/power metal album that will make the difference. All of Angra fans, and fans of progressive/power meta in general, should not let “Aqua” pass unnoticed.