OPUS I

After having reviewed two of the three EP's of this excellent Brazilian band, it's turn to review the full Prog album called "OPUS I", the record that caught my attention because of the excellent blend of Neo Classical, Symphonic Prog and a bit of Folk and Jazz, in my opinion one of the best recordings I heard in the past years.

The album starts with "Diapasao" (Tuning Fork) and it's frantic introduction with synth, harpsichord and drums, pure Symphonic Prog, well elaborated and demonstrating from the start the band members are virtuoso musicians, but without even noticing, the music changes into a melodic Neo Classical passage and then morphs into a restless jazzy tune with a fantastic piano display by Rodrigo Lana and superb drumming by Fabiano Moreira. Pure Progressive Rock.

"Som do Brasil" (Tune from Brazil) begins with an extremely beautiful piano melody and soft but elaborate percussion, while in the background Gustavo Amaral gives the Brazilian folk sound with the acoustic (probably 7 chords) guitar, a bit short but amazing.

"Sonata" as it's name indicates is practically a Classical piece where again Rodrigo Lana gives a flawless performance, changing from soft and melodic to strong and vibrant, but as the track advances the band progressively moves towards a jazzier atmosphere with a strong rhythm section to support them.

"Do Ceu ao Inferno" (From Heaven to Hell) begins with a heavenly melodic section where the violin has the lead, but constantly supported by the piano performance and amazingly adequate percussion. But as I suspected the song changes radically towards a Symphonic - Fusion aggressive passage that probably represents hell, again DIAPASAO hits the nail in the head.

"Fuga" (Fugue) begins with a typical Brazilian tune played with acoustic guitar which soon allows the harpsichord to take the lead, an excellent Baroque atmosphere created by a band that keeps surprising with their versatility.

"Noite a la Caiprinha" (Night to the Caipirinha) is hard to describe, jazzy and Symphonic simultaneously with Rodrigo Lana demonstrating his virtuosity in the piano, but as usual they have some dramatic changes to strong and pompous, back to melodic and at the end a martial closing.

"Rock Espanhol" (Spanish Rock) begins with a piano solo while the drums create a march atmosphere, but when the percussion stops again another wonderful melodies and almost hypnotic performance captures the listener.

At last Gustavo Amaral has the chance to open a track with a bass performance supported by percussion and later piano, even in the name of the song wasn't "Jazz", would be obvious we are in Fusion territory. But still the closure is missing and it comes with "Piccolo Finale" (Tiny Finale) which consists of 59 seconds of the band playing a frenetic 12 bar tune.

After my review, it is obvious how impressed I am with "Opus I", but I believe they earned this respect, because the album is flawless, absolutely versatile and with virtuoso performances, so I have no other alternative than rate it with 5 solid stars.