It goes without saying that the vast majority of metal bands will never feature
Milton Nascimento or any other major Brazilian pop star on one of their albums. But Angra did exactly that when, in 2004, they featured none other than
Nascimento himself on "Late Redemption" (from the
Temple of Shadows album). And the fact that
Angra, like
Sepultura, have been willing to incorporate Brazilian elements at times has made them stand out in the metal world. But while the brutal
Sepultura are known for alternative metal and thrash metal,
Angra have favored a melodic power metal/thrash metal approach -- and that outlook generally serves them well on
Aqua. This 2010 release is mildly uneven, but when
Aqua really gets going, the results are quite satisfying. There aren't a lot of bands out there that have been influenced by
Queensrÿche,
Iron Maiden, and
Helloween as well as
Dream Theater,
Kansas,
Yes, and
Marillion but could also tell you who
Ivan Lins,
Gilberto Gil, and
Djavan are;
Angra, however, really are a band with power metal, prog, and Brazilian pop influences, and while
Aqua doesn't beat the listener over the head with those Brazilian pop influences, they can definitely be found if one is paying close attention. The more
Queensrÿche/
Helloween-ish parts of
Aqua pack plenty of power metal muscle, and
Angra's prog instincts flow freely on nuanced tracks such as "Spirit of the Air," "A Monster in Her Eyes," "Hollow," and "Lease of Life." It should be noted that
Aqua is a concept album that was inspired by William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (which is believed to have been written around 1610-1611, roughly five or six years before his death). One thing that can go wrong with concept albums is that songs can have a problem standing on their own, but thankfully, that usually isn't a problem on
Aqua. Most of the selections work well as individual songs even if one is unaware of the Shakespeare concept, and hasn't heard the entire album. In other words, "Hollow" is meaningful even if one hasn't heard "A Monster in Her Eyes" or "Ashes," and "Spirit of the Air" is a success regardless of whether or not one has listened to "Weakness of a Man" or "Awake from Darkness."
Aqua is not
Angra's best or most essential album, but all things considered, it is a respectable outing from this Brazilian power metal/prog metal combo. ~ Alex Henderson