SOMBRAS

By mid-80's Amir Cantusio Jr. had not only entered his most prolific period, but he also established his own record label to promote his vinyls under the name of Faunus Records.Meanwhile his work becomes more and more a personal case and for his third album ''Sombras'' from 1986 he was helped by Eduardo Furlan on bass/violin, Francisco Beltrame on drums and Michael Lizst Cantusio on vocals.This was also his first release on his own record label.

His style remains a melancholic, spacey but also romantic introduction to both Symphonic and Electronic Rock, split in eleven short tracks.The same problem with the majority of Alpha III releases appears in ''Sombras'' as well.A very muddy and amateur production almost buries the keyboard ideas and the rhythm section, but on the other hand the music is quite interesting with some great floating synthesizers blended with elegant symphonic passages.Nice hypnotic electronics, grandiose organ runs and smooth piano interludes complete an imaginery soundscape of an inspired musical pallette full of deep atmospheres and spacey journeys.Additionally the album also contains some great bass grooves accompanied by solid but cheap-sounding drumming, upon which Cantusio Jr. fully develops his synth mannerisms and comes up with some really virtuosic WAKEMAN-ish moments.

A good effort of keyboard-based Symphonic/Electronic Rock, unfortunately the bad production affects the listening at a significant deegree.Still ''Sombras'' comes recommended to all fans of keyboard-driven Progressive Rock.