DEPOIS DO FIM

I heard this band a long time ago when I saw them on TV in 1977. Since then I had never a clue about what happend to Bacamarte unitl I became a member of ProgArchives. Fortunatly Depois Do Fim was not a difficult CD to find in Brazil. And I must say that after many spins, and as good as it is, it didin´t really strike me as much as it did on so many other people here.

Ok, let´s be fair: the musicians are terrific, Jane Duboc has a beautiful voice (and a solo career of her own), the production is good and the songwriting is quite strong. The main problem here seems to be the fact that the songs don´t really make a very cohesive whole. It seems that Depois Do Fim Is like a collection of tunes written through the years as it often happend in Brazil during the late 70´s and early 80´s (recording facilities were expensive and not nearly as easy as they are today, let´s face it). But that´s the CD only real weakness. Other than that I found the tunes to be inspired and strong, even if a bit uneven in terms of style and identity here and there. The playing however is always brilliant. All led by the brilliant guitarrist and leader Mario Neto.

There are no real fillers to be found. and I believe that anyone who likes 70´s classic prog will love Bacamarte´s sound and textures. There are many references to the great icons of that decade (most notably the italian prog scene, but also from the likes of Jethro Tull, Rick Wakeman and even Jazz rock/fusion plus strong classical and brazilian popular music influences).

All in all I found Depois Do Fim a powerful collection of songs that any prog lover should listen to. Not really a materpiece in my humble opinion, but excellent anyway. Four stars.