Sea Of Tranquility recently caught up with ANGRA bassist Felipe Andreoli to discuss the band's new album, Aqua. An excerpt is available below.

Q: Can you tell our readers about the new CD's theme and why it was chosen?

Felipe: "The concept of the album is based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. We heard of it through a friend of ours that works with comics, and he was planning to do a comic book based on the play. He told us all about it, and we were fascinated by it. The Tempest was the last play written by Shakespeare, and some believe that it is cursed, because he died shortly after. There's also a view of this play as the author's final statement, for it is the only play he wrote where the avenger forgives his enemies in the end. Apart from that, the story unfolds in an island, and the water is the means of transformation for all the characters. That's why we chose the title Aqua."

Q: Given that it has been a while since Aurora Consurgens it must feel great to finally release a new album, and let everyone know Angra are still very much around?

Felipe: "Definitely! And not only is it great to be back with new material, but we think this is one of our best albums ever. We dedicated all our minds, bodies and souls on this record, and we feel it was all worth it."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

As previously reported, Angra recently confirmed a live date in Taipei, Taiwan at Y17 on October 19th - click photo left to enlarge a flyer for the show.

Angra are now streaming their new album, Aqua, in it's entirety. Check it out at this location. Aqua will be released on October 12th in North America via SPV/Steamhammer.

This is Angra's first new album in four years, following up their 2006 release, Aurora Consurgens. The album will be available in four formats: a limited edition digipak that includes a bonus CD featuring a career spanning overview of the Edu Falaschi-era, a standard jewel case edition, a double LP edition that includes 3 bonus tracks, and as a digital download.

Guitarist Rafael Bittencourt recently spoke at length about the concept and recording of Aqua:

"Here we are again. Doing what we love the most, which is to bring our music to the world. That amazing feeling of having our ideas spread among the fans like seeds that will be growing, as people get more involved with the album. Finally, after four years of no work released, we are bringing what in our opinion is one of our best pieces ever composed... Aqua.

There is a very interesting guideline to the play. After reading the text a few times we've discovered that the element water is the main character of the story. It changes in cycles, transforming itself; transforming things around it, representing the wrath in the surges, then the forgiveness in the calm. Everything happens after a huge storm that took place on an island shore. While the wild waters are coming from above and below, a ship and its crew are fighting to avoid a shipwreck.

Maybe by coincidence, this year we had strong storms that caused floods, landslides and other problems to many Brazilian cities. We could see that the same thing was happening in different countries almost at the same time injuring and killing people. It seems that the waters are representing a time of change. The upcoming of the Age of Aquarius, the apocalypse, the prophecies about 2012 and other matters were flying around our conversations.

We wanted a title that would describe in a very concise way, that concept.

Aqua is the Latin word for water and summarizes the whole idea behind the Shakespearean play and our feelings at this remarkable moment.

The Tempest is also a very mysterious and unique work from Shakespeare. It was the very last play that he had written and it is full of personal statements. Every time you read you discover some new aspect of the construction or some hidden curiosity within the lines.

The story is about a king named Prospero and his Daughter Miranda. They were left exiled on an island that was supposed to be a wasteland. The Island was not so deserted and they've built a life together with the magic creatures of that very enchanted place. Prospero plans revenge against his betraying opponents and raises, by means of magic, a huge storm upon the ship that carries them. He finally forgives the evil acts of his enemies when he realizes that those acts haven't harmed him like they were intended to.

So, the water is representing the coming of Prospero's maturity and all the transformations and cycles that led him to that point. We were also going through a lot of renovation processes and we wanted to express the idea of being renewed. Letting go of bad feelings and thoughts is a common theme between this Shakespeare's text and Aqua. The Tempest helped us to describe more clearly our emotions at this moment.

Although this album sounds very different then our previous album Aurora Consurgens, there are not many musical differences between Aqua and our last three albums. We tried to keep the idea of combining metal with progressive, classic, Brazilian, ethnic, pop and many other styles. The big difference is that this time we were really hit by inspiration. So we wrote almost thirty good songs, and we ended up picking the best ten out of the big list. All the atmosphere of companionship and teamwork was captured in the tracks. We really helped each other on every detail and that's what made the songs so powerful and special.

Another important difference is that the drummer Ricardo Confessori is back in the band. This was only possible because, after the recording sessions of the Bittencourt Project's Brainworms where he performed on a couple of tracks.

Since then, we have regained our trust and friendship. We had a few rehearsals with Angra where he jammed around songs from the old and new era of the band. Also, we presented some new ideas for him to arrange and he showed that he had kept his creativity and graceful musicianship. We had good laughs remembering things we've done together in the past and how the Brazilian-mixed kind grooves were a very significant quality of our pre-Rebirth Era.

So, Aqua represents where we are now. And we hope that it will be remembered as one of our great classic albums, because it was done with great passion, focus and dedication. We expect that every detail of these carefully crafted new songs may help you out through your own times of change. So, get prepared to dive deep into an ocean of new sensations and float away with the various liquid atmospheres that keep changing as you listen through and it will always keep changing as you listen to it more times. Welcome to the revolving waters of Aqua."

Aqua tracklistings:

Limited Edition Digipak:

CD1

'Viderunt Te Aquæ'

'Arising Thunder'

'Awake From Darkness'

'Lease Of Life'

'The Rage Of The Waters'

'Spirit Of The Air'

'Hollow'

'Monster In Her Eyes'

'Weakness Of A Man'

'Ashes'

CD2 (Bonus CD with a career spanning overview of the Edu Falaschi era):

'Nova Era'

'Rebirth'

'Hunters And Prey'

'Spread Your Fir'

'Waiting Silence'

'The Course Of Nature'

'Salvation:Suicide'

Jewel Case:

'Viderunt Te Aquæ'

'Arising Thunder'

'Awake From Darkness'

'Lease Of Life'

'The Rage Of The Waters'

'Spirit Of The Air'

'Hollow'

'Monster In Her Eyes'

'Weakness Of A Man'

'Ashes'

LPL

Side 1

'Viderunt Te Aquæ'

'Arising Thunder'

'Awake From Darkness'

'Lease Of Life'

Side 2

'The Rage Of The Waters'

'Spirit Of The Air'

'Hollow'

Side 3:

'Monster In Her Eyes'

'Weakness Of A Man'

'Ashes'

Side 4:

'Nova Era' (bonus track)

'Spread Your Fire' (bonus track)

'The Course Of Nature' (bonus track)