Angra was going through a period of great internal tension during the recording of the album Aurora Consurgens (2006), with the members in conflict that hampered the album's production work, overseen by Dennis Ward with assistance from Thiago Bianchi .
In an interview with IbagensCast , the Brazilian producer and vocalist described the experience as a true "final year project on how to deal with problematic productions," since a large part of the band didn't speak properly and even producers and managers had communication difficulties.
“I worked with each of them separately because none of them wanted to meet, except for Kiko Loureiro , Rafael Bittencourt , and Felipe Andreoli , and even then it wasn’t much,” Bianchi said. “There was a point when they didn’t want to talk to each other, and I became their messenger boy (…), I was caught in the crossfire.”
Asked if this bad atmosphere affected the final result, Thiago Bianchi agreed, but compared Aurora Consurgens to Metallica St. Anger (2003) , which was also recorded during a period of instability for the band.
“It was an album that really could have been much better, much better. Unfortunately, it’s an album that didn’t quite find its footing, but it’s one of my favorite Angra albums (…), in the midst of a gigantic mess, a mushroom grew that helped a lot of people get really crazy,” the producer continued.
Also in an interview with IbagensCast , the American producer Dennis Ward commented on the band's period of crisis at the time. “It’s like being in a group of friends and two of them are fighting, it creates a shitty atmosphere. You try to do your best and look for solutions, but someone always rebels and disagrees with you,” he commented. “But, in the end, if nobody can agree, I’ll decide, it’s my job.”
Speaking specifically about Angra's conflicts during the recording of Aurora Consurgens , Ward specifically mentioned drummer Aquiles Priester , who would leave the band in 2009. "We had some problems with Aquiles, I also had some conflicts with him, but nothing major. He wanted things one way and I wanted them another, so we argued until something was done," he said.
Watch excerpts from both interviews with the Angra producers from the Aurora Consurgens below.
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