ESPÍRITU III

After the demise of 70s-era Espíritu, guitarist Osvaldo Favrot and singer Fernando Berge kept on working together, forming a new band called Aspid. This band never got much further than recording a few demos, and after a couple of years spent in pointless struggling, Berge and Favrot dissolved Aspid in order to reform Espíritu in early 1981. Some of the new repertoire that the reborn Espíritu was to perform and record had already been written during the Aspid days. Three new members came into the fold: Claudio Cicherchia (bass), Ángel Mahler (keyboards), and Rodolfo Messina (drums). The five of them got along well and quickly, and ended up recording 'Espíritu III', which was released in 1982. Given the fact that many years has passed since their last album, it is no surprise that this album didn't sound like the first two. While still symphonic in nature as an overall key, you can note the presence of a wide array of latin-jazz touches, and even some occasional funky elements in this album. This factor is undoubtedly based upon the entry of new ideas from the new members: it is specially noticeable in the styles delivered by the bassist and the keyboardsman that their penchant for jazz and funky oriented stuff was crucial in the formation of Espíritu's refurbished sound. The compositions are not focused on a unitary concept this time: this is just a collection of separate songs. The eerie "Lento Juego de Luces" and the amazing instrumental "Guardianes en Pie" are the finest and most inspired examples of the sound Espíritu is achieving at this point. Similarities can be found with their fellow bands Pablo El Enterrador and Seru Giran. On the other hand, the evocative, high-spirited "Un Viaje por los Recuerdos" bears some clear hints of their earlier style. In the poppier side of things, "Antes Tal Vez" is the most attractive song since it maintains a somewhat semi-prog spirit in its structure, while "Elemental" and "Policolor" stand too close to new wave. The last two tracks are acoustic ventures, filled with melancholy and introspectivness: pretty songs, nothing more. A very good album, with some bright moments, but not that great really: anyway, it is nothing to be dismissed either, since a nadful of songs (specially tracks 1 and 4) are full of beautiful musical ideas.