TANTRA

The highlight here is the first track. What a great moment of beautiful symphonic prog! A five star song for sure! Unfortunately the rest of the album simply doesn't mantain that high level, the remaining the tracks being listenable but not really captivating (they are too unfocused IMO). The other above average feature of Misterios E Maravilhas, apart from the beautiful fantasy cover, is track 2 ("Aventuras De Um Dragao Num Aquario") which, despite being very very short, connects very well with track 1, making a sort of perfect ending to it.

In sum, "À Beira do Fim" is great (a must-have indeed) but the rest of the album, apart from some short sections (like track 2), seems quite unispired (well, of course, not necessarily bad). 3 stars it is. Make it 5 if you're talking about lusitanian prog only, because you really can't find anything better than this, excluding Jose Cid's 10000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte.

A very promising point score in PA meant a purchase from me.

Unfortunate, I do not come to the same conclusion. A rather tiresome first sympho pop track leads into a more fusion landscape. The latter is pretty good music with a lot of references to Return To Forever, Gilgamesh and Soft Machine. This fusion landscape is lead by a bass which has been pushed pretty much to the foreground of their soundscape. The fusion is good though and the best thing about this album. There are also some references to symphonic prog on this album with the typical grandeur sound and gusto. This is an unusual album which does not go home in my world. Listen without prejudice and take my views as what they are. I do not like this album as much as I wish I did. The sound too is not great and it passes me by. Not my cup of tea, I am afraid.

2.75 stars

01. OM The top 'synthesized' already gives us a hint of what will come! A layer of copper keyboards all 'corners of the sound' (if that is the sound has corners). Ledo mistake! The introduction of the keyboard does not give us the real picture of what was, a high-technical prog (impressive battery of Tó Zé), then the voice of Manuel Cardoso melodicamente perfect enter into the proposal of the band. Excellent instrumental lines ... and if everything breaks again at the piano to take along all the 'sounds floating' possible, start this way, the staff was not kidding. Line bottom and back of sensational voice (which as I said in the release of Jose Cid who is also Portuguese, is wonderful to hear the voice in Portuguese native). The final section is full of broken and soils of keyboards and bass. This track is the guitar 'timid'.

02. Último Raio Do Astro Sol Apocalyptic! Those of creepy. Sparse guitars, drums beating and a lot of vocalization. Totally Yezda Urfa and the disconcerting that follows, I do not know where they took of all the madness. Then a voice pretty well, strange and bottom line of battery, and an almost classical piano in the background. The band has an impressive technical change in the question of time and melody of the songs, that is presented, and much! The keyboards have always timbre and Jasons. A little after the middle of the song guitar and keyboard solos divided almost in a duel, and once again the band radically changes as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Extremely competent and complex the instruments of the guys.

03. Zephyrus Zither and madness, some strange sounds that I have not the slightest idea of where you left! The zither come loose in the middle of the 'noise', battery Gong, and sets up a melody soturna, low solando next to the keyboard, and some background Vocalizations cause everything is even more bleak. And once again highlight the excellent work of Tó Zé Almeida on drums.

04. Talismã The guitar has a nice arpegio with the keyboard, while the band makes a house without walls arpegios pros of both. Here's the track that gives a guinadae turns into a race against time and the wind for a short time, the piano brings back the calm voice Pros (which are sporadic, but excellent!) The arsenal of keyboards for that signal is well used makes an enormous difference. The vocal melody that follows is emotional, at that low among highlights soon after. Peter Luis is the king of keyboards and ... unknown. SPT, SPT, SPT ...

05. Ara Here the guitars and guitars are a bit, just to face the initial voice is very nice. Plus a little dark (but this time with the guitars taking key role), a symphonic session without equal and around the original theme. Suíngue enter into a field, almost dancing with a nice timbre of keyboard and battery solando extremely broken, low? Of course it follows, and well, the battery. And he sung on top of it

06. PI This is the classic guy! Piano, guitar plates and a bow-and if I am not mistaken and suingado low but in a time very different from all the rest (Americo Luis miseries with Precision makes it), the falsetto voice in eternal are very good! Solo guitar and keyboard together! The band has a nice way to compose with two instruments solando in various parts. Here is the total quebradeira and jazz-fusion.

Tantra (and this disc) I drew much attention, because the disc is excellent and quality business. This disk has a face the same mixing several influences. The guys are good.

www.progshine.com

— First review of this album —

This is the first Tantra compact. Novos tempos is a normal song, not so progressive. I give two stars for this song. In other side, Alquimia da luz is a wonderful song, the mellotron is amazing. One of my prefered by Tantra. Five stars to that song! So I have to give three stars for this album.

I'm not sure about the first Portuguese progressive rock band... I think that would be Tantra! Only a few know that in Portugal exist progressive rock... only a few heard about Tantra... In 77, the recording conditions in Portugal were near to bad! Tranta has one of the best sound recordings at the time! Armando Gama starts his career in Tantra, but art brings no bread and he's still falling... ...Great names like Pedro Ayres Magalhães worked in Tantra, and many other!... The economy and music industry didn't support them! Talking about music: Great drummer, good keyboard lines (Armando Gama had classical formation), interesting guitar parts and good bass work! I'll not say that Tantra's music is a wonder... but it's a must for any Portuguese rock fan! (and any prog fan). Very turned to Genesis stuff but with a special feeling, the lyrics are in Portuguese which is a victory to the country! Is difficult to sing in Portuguese cause the poems should be in the highest level (no one will accept "I love and I love you"), the phonemes are more difficult to pronounce in melody (the words are longer)... They were constructing the rock scene in Portugal!

As a prog musician/composer I'm interested in research for prog roots in Portugal... this kind of art must be known "outside ghetto". We can not let the dreams and geniality of many musicians fall in time and disappear!!!

That's why we have prog archives! Thank you!!

This is the real Tantra experience. Great musicians and great ideas. Throughout all of Tantra's works, on this recording I found some of the best progressive rock sequences, matching those of genesis, yes, pfm, etc.. but in it's own way. Their influences are not so clear, but their compositions are of an amazing freshness throughout all of the larger themes. An essential album for any classic ProgRock Fan.

For a portuguese listener of the portuguese group Tantra, this is one of Manuel's poorest contributions to the Tantra career. Ideas are lacking, and good musicians are lacking (The drum sequences are of the poorest I have ever heard on progressive rock). The ultimate Tantra experience can be found on the yet underrated Holocausto, which presents a set of excellent musicians on all instruments (specially drums). Their first recording, with a slightly different set of musicians Mistérios e Maravilhas, and Live Rirual are also excellent works.

This band almost turned out to be the support act for Peter Gabriel in the early Eighties but sadly for them it became The Simple Minds. What a pity because I have seen Peter Gabriel with The Simple Minds and I'm sure that Tantra would have been embraced by the crowd with their stunning live-act that was a tribute to the early Genesis including masks and pyrotecnics! But their music was also interesting.

1. Om (8:47) : First a soaring keyboard intro, then a fluent rhythm with a lush keyboard sound (synthesizers, strings, piano). The Portuguese vocals sound strong and emotional. Halfway the climate truns into more jazzrock featuring Moog runs and Fender Rhodes electric piano.

2. Holocausto / Ultimo Raio Do Astro Dei (10:53) : This long and alternating piece delivers lots of exciting moments: fiery, jazzrock-like parts, wonderful piano and vocals, flowing electric guitar, an electric guitar/clavinet duel and great soli on the synthesizer and clavinet (Mid-Eastern-inspired).

3. Zephyrus (2:50) : The climate is dreamy with first a sitar and weird sound during the intro.

4. Talisma (8:44) : This was has strong echoes from the symphonic jazzrock from Collosseum II featuring fluent rhythms, howling electric guitar, powerful Fender bass, lush keyboards and a grand finale with fiery electric guitar and great choir-Mellotron waves, EXCELLENT!

5. Ara (4:54) : A very alternating piece, from mellow with emotional vocals to moving with howling electric guitar and up-tempo with a swinging Minimoog solo.

6. Pi (7:29) : The intro features acoustic guitar and piano, then lots of shifting moods with often a jazzrock climate and great keyboard work.

A VERY GOOD ALBUM FROM PORTUGAL!

www.progwalhalla.com

Portugal was never a country flooding with prog rock. Likely because the country was under two right wing dictatorships, that is Antonio Oliveira Salazar and Marcello Caetano. But one of that country's big pop stars, JOSÉ CID made good with prog rock in the mid to late '70s with the last efforts of his old band QUARTETO 1111, and his two solo efforts (the EP Vida and the LP "10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte", from 1977 and 1978 respectively). TANTRA was also wanting to explore the world of prog rock, and they gave us "Mistérios e Maravilhas" in 1977 on the EMI label.

The album gets more hype than it really deserves. A lot of the album is that tiresome fusion-influenced noodling that bothers me, often just to show off the talents of drummer Tózé Almeida. But there are two killer cuts with mentioning, "Á Beira do Fim" and "Sempre Partir". The former features some great keyboard work and goes through several changers. The later features some great drumming, phased keyboards, and a totally mindblowing middle passage. The vocals only appear on those two cuts, and the rest in instrumental. If you like fusion-influenced prog, get this album, if you don't at least you'll like the two songs mentioned. Not essential, but still worth having.

Without a question TANTRA's "Misterios e Maravilhas" is a classic and rightfully considered by this progressive rock fan as one of those albums which you must own if you are a lover of 70's Prog rock. Songs are truly wonderfully written and performed with the greatest of precision and emotion. Instrumentation is full with heavy analog keyboard/piano flavours and dreamy - chocolate layered symphonic landscapes, guitars both acoustic and electric and just dripping with expression and cloud soaring aspects. Bass and drum interplay is just too clever with some lovely supportive runs and even a spotlight on a fantastic percussion/drum interlude. Stunning and highly emotional music.