A GAZE BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE

Since I'm really into progressive Rock music for a few years now and I have a Brazilian wife I though I should explore more Brazilian Prog-Rock bands and till now I'm not disappointed at all! Even though Progressive Rock is probably one of Brazil smallest musical genres, all instrumentation is great! Those guys really know how to play prog- rock like they invented it. Let me review this album track by track.

1. Exit from Calcutta (10:43)

Great instrumental opening containing many instruments like guitars, bass guitar, drums, mandolin and flutes! The flutes remind me of the Dutch band FOCUS a bit. Vocals are all sung in English and voice is easy to listen to. This is probably one of the best (and one of the longest) tracks of the album. 5 stars.

2. You Want The Real Me (6:32)

Again all instruments are represented on this track along with the flutes. After the first two verses there's a great drum section followed by the chorus and flutes. 4 stars.

3. Fragments from Dies Irae (5:30)

Soft piano intro followed by great electrical lead guitars accompanied by bass and drum. The guitar is played like it is "singing" the chorus already. Vocals are a bit more "rough" than on the previous tracks. Is this also Valdir Zamboni singing or is it one of his fellow band members who's normally one of the backing vocalists? If it is Valdir he really knows how to change his voice! Instrumentation on this track is all superb again! 5 star track.

4. Blue Light (5:42)

Soft acoustic guitar intro followed by flutes. Not a very long track, but probably track with the most lyrics of this album. Vocals are sung again "normal". This is a very soft track, almost a ballad. I must say I enjoy their somewhat heavier and complex tracks more. Nevertheless a nice track to take a breath. 3 stars.

5. The Raft of Medusa (12:36)

According to Greek Mythology Medusa used to be a beautiful girl, who lived in a country where the sun wasn't shining. She begged Athena to let her sail to a sunny continent. But when Athena refused, Medusa said this was only because the she would not be the most beautiful woman anymore when people would see her! Great instrumentation on this track capturing the dramatic mood of the story. 5 stars.

6. Hold Me Now* (6:32)

Starting out as a softer track in the same style of "Blue Light". Acoustic guitars, flutes accompanied by soft vocals. Later on the song gets more up-tempo ending and slipping away softly. 4 stars.

All instruments are played really well by TARKUS especially the flutes. The flutes are really nice on the entire album and almost a "Tarkus trademark" like they used to be a trademark of FOCUS. All and all a very nice album indeed.

My rating: 5 + 4 + 5 + 3 + 5 + 4 = 26/6 = 4,3 stars.

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