AQUA

Back in the mid 90's, the album "Holy Land" was a real earopener for yours truly. At the time I wasn't a big fan of neither power nor progressive metal. Today, "Holy Land" still stands as a timeless classic as far as progressive power-metal goes. In between, Angra does have a few other brilliant releases behind them. Sadly the last two is but a shadow of former glory.

The "Aurora Consurgens" album was okay. But still, after a monster release such as "Temple of Shadows" it was a major letdown. "Aqua" follows in its predecessors footsteps. The brilliant incorporation of classical instruments and Brazilian folk themes is all gone. Progressive elements in the music is tuned down to the benefit of cheap power metal clichés that we have all heard a 1000 times before.

The opening riff on the first song "Arising Thunder" reminds me of Stratovarius. And as most Stratovarius songs, it appears as a cheap rip off of Nokia cell phone ringtone. To be fair, "Arising Thunder" does turn out okay with some hefty riffing and solo work, but it is also by far the best track on the album, and it never is much better than okay.

All over "Aqua" appears a bit mellower than other albums of Angra, but that isn't a big problem in itself. The biggest problem is that the melodies just aren't good enough. Most of them are very similar to earlier works by the band, and I catch myself losing interest on almost every song.

I might be a bit hard, as I consider myself a diehard Angra fan. Nevertheless, one should really be able to expect more of a band of such a caliber, much more. This is their second album in a row where things just don't seem to work. Another strike for Angra, and they are out of the game as far as I am concerned. Don't start with this album. If you just read about the band, pick up "Holy Land", "Temple of Shadows" or "Reborn" first, and be amazed by this, at times, fantastic progressive power-metal ensemble.

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