ANGRA To Release 'Arising Thunder' Single

"Arising Thunder", a brand new song from Brazilian melodic metallers ANGRA, will be made available on the band's MySpace page tonight (Friday, July 9). Guitarist Rafael Bittencourt comments: "'Arising Thunder' is a strong, fast and captivating song. We didn't want to choose the most commercial track. Our fans will certainly be impressed with its fury and speed that end up in one of the strongest refrains of our entire career. It describes clearly the water element cycles showing the tenuous line from the tempest to the calm."

Vocalist Edu Falaschi, who came up with the initial concept for the track, says: "This song was originally composed to be a ballad but along the process I realized that it would be better to change for a power metal style. Fortunately, I was right and this new direction is the most correct to represent the heart of the Shakespeare story! It is violent, dramatic and vigorous in the first lines of 'The Tempest'! 'Arising Thunder' sounds perfect to an epic start connected to the lyric by a vibrant way showing all the Prospero fury and vengeance wishes. I am sure that our fans will enjoy it and sing with us in our next tour."

"Arising Thunder" comes off ANGRA 's seventh studio album, "Aqua" (a Latin word which means "water" in English),which will be released on September 29 via SPV/Steamhammer. A conceptual effort, the follow-up to 2006's "Aurora Consurgens" was recorded at Norcal Studios in São Paulo, Brazil.

For the first time since its inception, the band self-produced the new CD, which was 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. The art concept (see below) was created by the renowned Brazilian artist Gustavo Sazes, with input from Rafael Bittencourt and Kiko Loureiro.

"We [had] worked with Isabel de Amorim since the 'Fireworks' album, so we wanted to change the artistic style in this new CD and the work made by Gustavo Sazes was exactly what we were looking for," said guitarist Kiko Loureiro. "Actually, he is already our website designer and it was a natural choice."

"Aqua" track listing:

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

According to a press release, "the concept and the musical atmospheres of this new record, as well as the main classics of ANGRA discography are based on a rich and involving history. 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'," states guitarist Rafael Bittencourt. "Besides all the qualities of the text, we found 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."

"Aqua" will be issued in Japan on July 31 by JVC/Victor. In Brazil it will be self-released by the band and made available on August 17.

"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," said vocalist Edu Falaschi. "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."

ANGRA's current lineup includes drummer Ricardo Confessori (SHAMAN),who returned to ANGRA following the departure of Aquiles Priester (HANGAR).

The band took part in a massive Brazilian tour with SEPULTURA in May 2009.

ANGRA 2010 is:

Eduardo Falaschi - Vocals
Kiko Loureiro - Guitar
Felipe Andreoli - Bass
Rafael Bittencourt - Guitar
Ricardo Confessori - Drums