DEPOIS DO FIM

Bacamarte's Depois De Fim is one of those albums that many newcomers to Prog Archives find on the Top 100 and wonder, "What could this possibly be?" Among the RPI, Harmonium, and a few extreme albums, Bacamarte is one of those obscure gems that is the reward of digging for obscure records. Like those others, it requires becoming comfortable with a foreign language (dragonvoice in the case of extreme metal), in this case Brazilian. And like those other foreign language gems, once the mind starts to register the voice as simply another musical instruments and lets go of lyrics, still there remains a remarkable piece of work.

Depois de Fim was made during the death throes of prog, 1978. In fact, because disco was pushing prog steadily out of popular circulation, the album was held until in 1983, when a true vacuum existed for the very RPI-like music it contains. The sound combines classical, acoustic guitar (with Brazilian flavors), soaring romantic vocals (female here), and prog keyboard textures with excellent electric guitar work to produce a delicious helping of prog, well deserving of its high place on PA's charts.

The mastermind behind this album is multi-instrumentalist Mario Neto, who provides the primary guitar, some keyboards, and background voices. But the band itself is quite accomplished with singer Jane Duboc's voice matching any of the male RPI singers in grand expression with a strong clear tone. She is a great finishing touch on a complex music that relies primarily on composition and instrumental flavoring for its power. Neto takes the sound of Steve Howe and expands the classical-flamenco ideas more authentically, along with a few more modern (especially for the time) electric techniques. The band is especially adept at stomping the gas pedal and pulling out frenetic, fast instrumental sections that satisfyingly dazzle. At the same time, the sense of composition shows through with good use of light and shade, busy and open mix, slow and quick, variation on multiple levels. There are no low points on this album that I can find. "UFO" and "Ultimo Entardecer" are some highlight tracks, but all are good.

Basically, I think all RPI fans should own this album, as they will not be disappointed. Certainly the Brazilian lineage adds some new flavors, but the overall sound will feel very familiar. For American / English fans, this is as good as any album to venture into classic world prog as any. IMO, it matches anything by PFM or the Italians, who usually form the entry point into that new world. The closest album I own to this is Semiramis, who matches (or eclipses) the dark, energy-packed taste for speed and skill, but doesn't incorporate pastoral or classical elements to quite the same degree, and whose male Italian vocals are not as singular as Bacamarte's Brazilian diva.

One of the obscure masterpieces of 70's prog. Should be in any prog hound's library.

Share this BACAMARTE review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Negoba
• Report this review (#236171)
• Buy BACAMARTE music online with PA partners
• Show all BACAMARTE MP3/Stream
• Go to BACAMARTE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Depois do Fim page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for BACAMARTE related discussions