ALPHA III

I'm almost totally convinced that this work won't find admirers among most of the genres of progressive rock. His works aren't shared not even between the brazilian prog listeners that I know. Maybe some fans of progressive electronic may enjoy this work, but it would be very surprising for me.

Quality sound of the CD is poor, the compositions are very repetitive and monotonous. Drum programming is present on the majority of the tracks, but it's so simple that very soon becomes irritating and stressful. The few moments that he assumes the drums, the lack of mastery is predominant. He is self-named multi-instrumentist (I don't know if he plays the bass, which seems to be present on this recording), and has knowledge for recording, mixing and producing. Nice features to make an album, but to make a good or an excellent prog work, just gotta have much more than that. This album is a proof that a musician can have many abbilities, as he does, but if he doesn't have domain on composing, on execution and/or mixing/producing, and/or if his resources are too limited, the results are disposable.

1,3 stars on a five-star scale.

— First review of this album —

FRACTURE The Magic Book 1993 AMYR CANTUSIO JR: lead bass guitar (tracks 2 and 4) and lead guitars (tracks 1 and 3), Mellotron M.GOLLIAN:bass guitar(tracks 1 and 3) J.MADDINI: drums LINK YOUTUBE REMIX CD:

In 1990 I started composing excerpts of Acid Rock...JAMS Sessions with hours left over from the studio and completely analog equipment. These included an old Mellotron that worked halfway, but could be orchestrated, an old Luthier drum set, some bells old tubes, an old Gibson Les paul guitar and a Fender Jazz Bass bass. In the beginning I recorded and composed the bases by myself, then I went to other instruments and played. Afterwards I met 2 North American musicians in this studio, who alternated with me the guitars and bass and a drummer. Everything was done rudimentary, without excess or virtuosity. lots of atmospheres and experimentalisms like the bass connected to a Noise Fuzz pedal (I played on tracks 2 and 4) I played guitars on tracks 1 and 3, some rare synths and a lot of Mellotron in all. 12th century) and gathered 3 other friends in the same year to record VOYAGE TO IXTLAN (released in Italy by Mellow). The studios I recorded were Juratel and Krunner in Campinas. Subjects of occultism and spiritualism, metaphysics have always fascinated me. This, like the Grimorium Verum CD, was kept in an MD, and later went to Germany to unpack with Klaus Schulze's sound technician (at At that time I think Tobias Suddhoff). Spektra and brought all noises, noises, experiments out. Anyone who enjoys Psycho Music/ Symphonic Acid or Kraut Rock will love it. The orchestral Mellotron beds are dramatic and I was inspired by Sibelius in her orchestrations in "Tuonela's Swan" In literary art, the bedside book "Paradise Lost" by John Milton (themed) Myself Notes:Amyr Cantusio Jr Brazil 2021

— First review of this album —

It's a great hard progr.brasilian albun, with strong vocals and very good musicians, the band was led by amyr cantusio jr around 1995. The initial idea was to form something heavier in the line of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, in parallel with the ALPHA III project. There were 2 years of rehearsals, concerts and the release of the first independent CD. by the record label Musea /France. Amyr left the band for personal reasons and financial problems, heading more to ALPHA III. After a year, Amyr returned to form a similar band with ex-members of the progressive metal band called Saint-Brandan(Campinas SP) With a line one a little more worked with keyboards, more pompous vocals and a digital recording, he recorded 5 songs, of which he composed only 2 and arranged the other 3 tracks of this group. Saint Brandan was very similar to Acron and later, in independent CDS, the 5 tracks were added as a bonus.Of course are long tracks with up-time drums like Rush or Uriah Heep old school.

The track names: Ligeya(Amyr)/ Saint Brandan(Marcel/Khüll)/ The Vortex(Amyr/Marcel/Khüll)/ Legends of Steel(Marcel/Khüll) Time to Love (Amyr)

Some tracks (less Ligeya) Amyr plays all drums/lead vocals and synthesizers.

The band was formed by: AMYR CANTUSIO JR: lead vocal/drums/synthesizers/some lyric parts MARCEL: lead guitars RICHARD KHÜLL-bass guitar/back vocal RUDOLPH KHÜLL- keyboards and harmonica ROBSON GONÇALVES: Live Drums and special drums on Ligeya .

Unfortunately Saint Brandan could not survive more than a year, and record a CD. A divergence in the group shook the foundations and again Amyr returned to ALPHA III.

ALPHA III LP Temple of Delphos 1988 Brazil AMYR CANTUSIO JR: Music and Composition. Keyboards( CS-60 Yamaha Synth/Farfisa Strings/CS-30 L Yamaha synth/Yamaha RX-5 Drums/ CS-15 Yamaha synth/V-50 Yamaha Strings synth/SY 77 Yamaha Synth) ROMANO FERRARI: acoustic drums

The opening of the original LP is with the track Temple of Delphos (here the second track of the CD posted in full) It is based on a dense orchestration with no defined melody, like contemporary classical music such as Schoemberg and Koechlin. There is no concern with "form" but with content. There is no addiction to wanting to copy bands like Yes/Genesis or Marillion, but a new way of orchestrating.Despite the references, the music performed here goes more to the impressionist and experimental avant-garde. Tracks like Orpheus and Serpenth address fields of electronic and serial lineage ,in this order. It is difficult for ears that are stagnant and prejudiced to listen to avant-garde music, without associating with the old models. If music stops its development, there would be no future. As Debussy would say, music is made in the "moment" It can never be repeated exactly. Anyone who listens to Chopin or Mozart, and is suddenly introduced to Webern or Debussy, is shocked. As well as in Progressive Rock, German strands such as Faust (Kraut's experimental atonal) or a Univers Zero (Rock in Opposition/atonal ...chamber music with a mix of synths and jazz rock) or even a Magma (Zeuhl operatic avantgarde in the line). Stravinsky mixed with fusion) will often displease Camel or Yes fans. You can't compare. You can't make anyone listen. But you can't put defamations either. Art goes on for infinite transformations.Goste or not.One moment the strange person, the next he becomes an ardent fan! This is how a work like Temple of Delphos is. It offers a wide range of complex and subtle variations, but different from the traditional one. Conceptually it was inspired by the Eleusinian Mysteries (Ancient Greece)

Conceptually the work is not evangelical or with religious foundations. But it was inspired by Occult and Esoteric books such as Urantya and books such as the Testament of John and The Rebellion of Lucifer by J.J.Benitez. The dense and hidden history of our Planet and Civilization, hidden and strange, perhaps a mixture of extraterrestrial beings, angels and demons. In the musical part, a large number of Yamaha Synthesizers were used, which Amyr had access to at the time, as he was a representative of Yamaha Corporations Keyborads in Brazil. DSR 1000, DSR 2000, CS-30 L Mono Synthesizer, CS-60, V-50, SY-77, Drum Machine RX-5 in first line were used. Recorded in 1/2 track on Roll recorders with speed 15 RPM ,Ampex/Fostex/Teac. Yamaha 24-channel analog table with analog mixing. The cover art was made by journalist Joaquim Daldin Miguel (Jornal Correio Popular/Campinas S.P.) Sound Engineer Gérson and Moisés Leite. Recorded at the Pan American Juratel Estudios. Only 1,100 LPS were made.

GHOST RANGE IN LIMBO/ FANTASMAS NO LIMBO : LP track and full LP RUINAS CIRCULARES recording details holistically. The entire base was recorded on a Yamaha Grand Piano with 8 contact microphones. Then orchestrated with 2 synths/drums and percussion. Much of the LP was composed on the acoustic Grand Piano. Then it was orchestrated with synthesizers, keyboards, bass, drums, some synth guitar, effects, etc... The music ranges from vintage electronics to Shoemberg's serialism on the track Fantasmas no Limbo. There are also influences from Vivaldi, Handel and J.S.Bach in the organ part. Many and varied synthesizers were used, including the Korg DW8000, FD 01/w, Poly 61, Poly800, and a Yamaha CS-30 (big lead mono synth). The Recording: Full Master Analog Recording/Ampex Band. 24 Channels Board/Analog Recording and Mix Engineer-Moisés Leite Campinas S.P. Brazil Juratel American Studios

NOTE OF COMPOSER: It is very pejorative to criticize a work of art (here I address the music area). Especially when the critic is used to listening to only one type and style of music. If the guy loves opera, and especially Verdi or Mozart, he will find it difficult to appreciate works by Monteverdi or Alban Berg. In progressive rock there is an addiction to wanting to buy musical works with bands like Genesis, Yes and Pink Floyd. Everything that is different, or does not constitute a "band" in the literal sense, or solo works, are relegated to the background. Worse is the critic to know that a Pink Floyd recorded with tons of resources for a year a piece, with equipment and sophisticated production structures, wanting to buy the work of an "independent artist". And to finish each work corresponds to an individual inserted in a atypical context, at a time, conditions and proposals totally different!!.

NOTE OF COMPOSER: It is very pejorative to criticize a work of art (here I address the music area). Especially when the critic is used to listening to only one type and style of music. If the guy loves opera, and especially Verdi or Mozart, he will find it difficult to appreciate works by Monteverdi or Alban Berg. In progressive rock there is an addiction to wanting to buy musical works with bands like Genesis, Yes and Pink Floyd. Everything that is different, or does not constitute a "band" in the literal sense, or solo works, are relegated to the background. Worse is the critic to know that a Pink Floyd recorded with tons of resources for a year a piece, with equipment and sophisticated production structures, wanting to buy the work of an "independent artist". And to finish each work corresponds to an individual inserted in a atypical context, at a time, conditions and proposals totally different!!.

Progressive Rock ? 20th century classical music Progressive rock has crossed borders and barriers between the worlds of music, mind and soul. It sought its spice in the roots of antiquity. Direct inspirations from classical, baroque, medieval and ancestral music. A fair fusion with styles such as Hindu ragas, jazz, folk and blues, combined with the classical technique, with great tracks, long and experimental, are the psychedelic request in this style that began in mid-1966. Many people ask me - how did the progressive style come about? Or, who was the first? But there is no first. Progressive rock is the result of an evolution and musical research, post-development of electronic music and jazz. However, the first traces of the mix and evolution of the style we will find with the Beatles mainly, within rock. More exactly from 1966. Obviously, in the 60's we already had a lot of artists breaking out, like Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd's psychedelia, for example. But it wasn't until the end of this decade that metaphysics emerged in music. Existentialism and the constant questions about the worlds beyond Earth, the Cosmic Space and the afterlife were part of it. Of course, I quote here the insertion of variant themes in the literature of Fiction and Oriental Philosophy. Large letters, elaborated, permeated with existentialism ,whether revolutionary or dreamlike. And it was around 1968 that countless bands erupted at once, such as Jethro Tull, Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Nice (keyboardist Keith Emerson) Van Der Graaf Generator, Moody Blues, Procol Harum and the last one Beatles' grandiose album: Abbey Road. It was an explosion of feelings in people's heads. Hippies and revolutionary movements were spreading to the four corners of the planet. It was the time of great festivals and concerts. Woodstock,Monterey and the Isle of Wight. A vast ocean of bands emerged that would create everything that could be created in terms of sound: Grateful Dead; King Crimsom; Gentle Giant; ; Tangerine Dream; Aphrodite Child (by keyboardist Vangelis); E, L & P; Electric Light Orchestra, etc... as well as the phenomenal German experimental movement called Kraut Rock. In Europe the scene was on fire. Many think that the English scene was the main producer of progressive musical masterpieces. But it was not. Bands like Premiata Forneria Marconi (known as PFM); Le Orme; Bank; Rosembach Museum; The Trip; Loccanda delle Fate and Maxophone make the Italian cradle one of the most appreciated in the genre to date. In Germany, Grobschnitt; Gila; Novalis; Anyone's Daughter; Electra; Eloy; Cornucopia; Stern Combo Meissen, Can and Embryo performed their theatrical performances. In France, Gong emerged; Ange; Atoll; Edhels; Mona Lisa; Shylock, etc... In Brazil? Yes.wonderful bands like Moto Perpétuo (Guilherme Arantes), Waste Land, Engine Room, The Third, Mutants in the second phase, Module 1000, Spectro and later, Alpha III, Quantum, Sacred Heart of the Earth, etc... did the head of the gang in our country. Remembering that Progressive Rock also flirts with contemporary classical music such as minimalist (Steve Reich and Philip Glass) and Serial Dodecaphonic (Arnold Schoemberg), as well as electronics and concrete by Stockhausen Varèse and Pierre Schaeffer. Everything flowed like a great esoteric current, as in the Baroque, Renaissance or Classical period, giving birth to great musicians and their works. Today, the movement persists in Neo and Progressive Metal with great vigor and intensity. See Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Enchant, Marillion, Pallas, etc. I compare the 1968-1978 period of Rock, with the great Baroque, Renaissance and Classical cycles in Europe. Great works, extremely complex and intricate, creepy things, were built and elaborated in this bizarre and spiritualist decade. The big hint in progressive are literary works and names of philosophers (many underground bands of this style have names of great philosophers) inserted in almost classical music mixed with rock and psychedelia. I believe that Aldous Huxley, Edgar Alan Poe, HPLovecraft, Carlos Castañeda, John Milton and Dante Alighièri were often cited in the works, in addition to the great influence of Indian philosophy with bands immersed in books such as Vedas or the Hare Krishna Movement, among others. The occultism of Madame Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley idem. Finally, despite great moments, the progressive was practically fought and almost eliminated from the history of music and Rock itself, by prejudice, ignorance and total lack of inner vision, by many mindless critics and poorly informed people, with little soul. Today in the heat of the LPS Revival a lot has come to light. And with the CD industry itself in the 90s, many things came out of obscurity. But Progressive Rock is not for many or any mind. , requires a certain commitment from the listener, whether in the intellectual or spiritual area. It is not a simple rock with 3 chords. Best wishes forall!!

During the summer of 1987 Amir Cantusio Jr. recorded the fourth album of Alpha III, it was the second time he performed a work entirely by himself, playing bass, drums, piano and keyboards.Titled ''Ruinas circulares'', this one was inspired by the tale ''The circular ruins'', originally written by Argentinian writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges in his ''Ficciones'' book.This was also the last work released by Cantusio under the Faunus label.

After the dreadful ''Agartha'' Cantusio couldn't do else than provide better and more convincing musicianship, having already an experience as a solo multi-instrumentalist.''Ruinas circulares'' is a largely instrumental album, still retaining many of the symphonic values of the previous Alpha III releases, not helped however by the below average, almost basement-like production.The music sounds decent enough with strong RICK WAKEMAN and TANGERINE DREAM influences, passing from Classical piano interludes to cosmic/Electronic acoustics and featuring a highly symphonic flavor inbetween.I doubt Cantusio played all the drums on the album, because these sound mostly like drum beats than natural performances, except from a few of pieces, but his keyboard executions are quite interesting, lots of organ and piano are delivered next to his standard synthesizer vibes.The varied atmospheres are the most acclaimed aspects on this album with melancholic themes followed by cinematic soundscapes and from Classical auras ending up to virtuosic keyboard pyrotechnics.Tracks are rather short, completing apparently a long, concept suite.Strange thing, I hear some hard guitars on ''Holocausto final'', although not credited in this album, while the 11-min. closer ''Danca para a eternidade'' shows Cantusio moving further into cosmic electronics, this is a slow-tempo synth-drenched suite, supported by light drumming, with depressive and spacious soundscapes and a heavy TANGERINE DREAM source of inspiration.

Decent Electro/Sympho Rock from the darkest 80's days.I admire Cantusio as a composer, although productionwise his works sound like B-movies fighting the budget of Oscar-winning films.Rock Symphony has reissued the album with a different tracklist plus a couple of bonus tracks.Recommended.