Felipe Andreoli, bassist for Angra since 2001, has recorded all of the band's albums since Rebirth and has chosen the most difficult one to play. Unlike Rafael Bittencourt , who chose Temple of Shadows (2004) as the most complicated of his career due to the band's current situation, Andreoli chose a different album when it comes to technical complexity.
During an interview with Thales Queiroz , the musician first answered about the challenges in Temple of Shadows , as transcribed by Wikimetal . “There are very challenging moments, all albums have them: Aqua has them, Aurora Consurgens has a lot,” he said. “But there are moments that are universally difficult and always will be, because it's not just difficult to perform, it requires a lot of stamina and that you're in shape, you know? Which is something that now, for example, after two years without doing shows, I absolutely am not. If I had to play 'Temple of Hate' today, I would have to prepare for a week to record the video.”
Despite the challenges of their fifth album, Andreoli pointed to another album as the most difficult. “There are many difficult things everywhere, the last two Angra albums are full of extremely challenging things ( Secret Garden and Ømni). Temple of Shadows is a whole, it's that old cliché: the sum of the parts is greater than the individual value of each song,” he explained. “If you analyze Angra's discography, I think the most difficult album to play is probably Aurora .”
According to the bassist, this difficulty was the same for all the musicians, not just the bass players. “Because it’s an album where Kiko Loureiro was very involved in the composition, and during a phase of composing alone at home, letting his hand fly, there are many extremely challenging things (...), which is somewhat symptomatic of when someone took the lead and didn’t have that collaboration, like there was on Temple of Shadows , for example,” he continued. “Aurora is much more direct in many aspects, and ended up depending on these difficult parts to complete the songs.”
The reason for so many technical challenges is a mindset shared by the musicians of Angra – and also present in Ressonance , Andreoli's album. “When you're creating, we have – I have this habit, my album was exactly the same thing – of always creating beyond what we can do at that moment. I don't like to stay in my comfort zone, only playing what's easy for me,” he said. “I want to challenge myself and use the album as a springboard for a better Felipe in six months, when I'm playing this show. And every Angra album is like that.”
READ ALSO: Rafael Bittencourt on musical prejudice: "Rockers like to feel segregated in order to feel special"
