CARAVELA ESCARLATE

Caravela Escarlate is a rather young Brazilian progressive rock band featuring one of the best South American keyboardists - Ronaldo Rodrigues, who has already showed his skills in his previous formations: heavy prog Massahara and symphonic prog Arcpelago. Caravela Escarlate is definitely more similar to the latter one as the guys are playing some truly spectacular symphonic stuff here. However the main difference between aforementioned Arcpelago and this new group are the vocals because this time Ronaldo Rodrigues decided to focus solely on his keyboard duties and left singing to the bassist/guitarist - David Paiva. And even so I'd prefer Ronaldo to continue singing, I have to admit that David isn't too bad either. He's definitely a competent vocalist, too. Anyway, this album isn't actually this band's first recording, as last year they already released 'Rascunho', but frankly, the debut was more like a 'prototype' because they had no drummer back then so it slightly lacked that rock energy necessary in prog-rock. And this 2nd offering of Caravela Escarlate definitely doesn't have this problems anymore as Elcio C'faro successfully filled the void and provided the music with some wonderful drumming. And now let's have a closer look at the songs included on this album:

1)'Um brilho fr'gil no infinito' (5:18) ' everything starts in a truly bombastic manner with exploding, flashy synthesizers and Hammond organ chops in the background. Not far from Gerard or Nexus style! But around the 1:40 minute the music slows down, some acoustic guitar appears and for the first time we can witness David's oneiric, soft vocals accompanied by more symphonic organ and synth flights. The bass is also omnipresent and near the end Roberto plays also something resembling the good, old 'tron. A truly nice song.

2)'Caravela Escarlate' (4:28) ' this one is a bit more vocal-oriented than the previous one. Up to the 3rd minute the music is driven again by fine synthesizer sounds and Hammond support but later also a rhythmic electric piano joins in.

3)'Atmosfera' (6:29) ' this track features even more electric piano (Rhodes?). In the beginning it's very relaxing and resembles jazz, but around the 1:30 mark it gets more spacey or neo-proggish thanks to Roberto's synths. Then step-by- step the tension and the tempo increase steadily. It's a fine instrumental but maybe not very extraordinary compared to other stuff on this album.

4)'Gigantes da destrui''o' (6:53) ' definitely one of the best compositions of Caravela Escarlate. It begins with soft flutes (mellotron?) and equally mellow vocal of Mr. Paiva. I really love the melody, the passion in the singer's voice and the mellotron-like background. Then the music suddenly speeds up, an electric piano joins the fun again and after a while we can also enjoy a wonderful Moog (?) solo followed by another verse and finally a bombastic Hammond organ show-off! Amazing! It has some early Eloy vibe in fact (they also liked to finish songs with organ/bass crescendos in the early 70s)!

5)'Toque as constela''es' (5:21) ' well, this is a totally different song. Very mellow and a little poppish. I'm afraid it's a bit too uninventive. But it doesn't matter because soon after 3 masterpieces come'

6)'Futuro passado' (4:45) ' a surprisingly heavy and fast-paced rocker in the vein of early Eloy (again) or even Uriah Heep/Deep Purple but with some ELP-inspired Moog solos. And for the first time (if I;m not mistaken) David Paiva shows a brief, but good electric guitar solo. Well done!

7)'Cosmos' (8:34) ' space-rockish instrumental with wonderful synth rides and melodic bass guitar lines. I simply love this groove. It lasts for more than 8 minutes but even if it lasted for another 8, I would still love to get even more. And there's one funny thing: 'Cosmos' reminds me quite much of Par Lindh Project's 'Sky Door', and instrumental from their latest album ' 'Time Mirror'. Not like a rip-off, but like a track composed in the same manner, with the same style and instrumentation. But apparently Caravela Escarlate members have never listened to 'Sky Door' and composed it a long time ago! So it's a crazy coincidence! But never mind, it's a fantastic track!

8)'Planeta-Estrela' (11:34) - here comes the opus magnum! It starts with weird noises, enigmatic noises a la Pink Floyd and mellotron 'choir' but a minute later the bass joins in to provide this epic with a groovy line. Then Mr. Rodrigues begins blasting like there's no tomorrow on his good 'ole Hammond organ! Wonderfully Wakemanesque symphonic piece. Then unexpectedly the tempo slows down and we can hear a classic Rhodes piano again, almost The Doors' style. Very dreamy, very oneiric. From the 6th minute mark also the vocal appears again and the drummer gets busy trying to create a very special atmosphere with his varied percussion instruments. After that the melltron takes the lead and builds up a slow tension. But the last word belongs to the organ again, as Ronaldo truly unleashes the beast near the end. The brilliant mini- suite is a perfect ending for this record.

What more can I say? 'Caravela Escarlate' is one of the top 10 best progressive rock albums of 2018. There's no doubt about about it. All fans of symphonic prog (especially the 70s, retro style) simply must give it a try. Especially fans of keyboard trios like Trace, Triumvirat or Refugee can't miss it because they will find a lot to like here. I'm certain that a great future lies ahead of this band

The best tracks: 'Planeta-Estrela', 'Futuro passado', 'Gigantes da destrui''o', & 'Cosmos'.

4.5 starts out of 5 from ozzy_tom

Brazilian band CARAVELA ESCARLATE was formed back in 2011, and I understand that the main composer and creative force in the band is keyboardist Ronaldo Rodrigues. The band released an initial album back in 2016, "Rascunho", while they were still a duo. With all members onboard this album was self-released in 2017. The band have now signed to Norwegian label Karisma Records, who will reissue this production for the international market.

Brazil is one of many South American nations where I suspect a lot more is going on in their national music scene than we ever get to know about, including their progressive rock bands. Caravela Escarlate is a fine example of that, as I suspect not all that many fans were aware of this band until Karisma Records decided to pick them up. And for just about anyone with an interest in symphonic progressive rock, this is an album that deserves to be given a spin or three. This is music made with a similar approach as classic era bands of the genre, but with a more contemporary mode of delivery, arrangements and production making it a subtly different and all the more enjoyable total experience. If they continue to develop, this is a band with a bright future in progressive rock circles.

Last month I got in touch with this Brazilian prog band and asked the musicians to provide me a comprehensive biography, in order to embellish my review, I got a quick reaction, here is the band its history.

'Caravela Escarlate is rooted in the early Nineties: David Paiva had composed songs for many years (inspired by English and Italian progressive rock and popular Brazilian music) and started to experiment making music with several different line-ups. The band Caravela Escarlate name is derived from one of his compositions. The group alternated between active periods and long hiatus. In 2010 David and keyboard player Ronaldo Rodrigues got in touch, David showed some of his compositions to Ronaldo and presented his idea of founding a trio, without a guitar player in line-up. But both musicians were working with different drummers and there was a question about who would occupy the drummer post, the solution was to form two different bands. The new Caravela Escarlate history began in 2011, with rehearsals and their first gig in October 2011 at the Rio Prog Festival. In early 2012 the band began to record their repertoire but the drummer failed to impress and left. Not until 2015 David and Ronaldo looked for a new drummer: Ronaldo contacted the drummer Leandro Pires, who had already played with Marcus Moura (Bacamarte) and the rehearsals re-started. The band evoluted fast and a new recording process started in late 2015. In early January 2016 everything was aborted again and a lot of work was discarded. In late 2015 Ronaldo got in touch with the experienced veteran drummer Elcio C'faro and asked him to give names to fill the job for a new drummer, then Elcio asked why Ronaldo did not invite him! Caravela Escarlate entered 2016 with renewed hopes When David proposed to Ronaldo an entirely new repertoire that could be played and recorded as a duo, resulting in their first album entitled Raschuno, it was well received by the public. Simultaneously the rehearsals with Elcio C'faro took place and the band its debut was July 2016, late 2017 Caravela Escarlate released their second, eponymous album. In 2018 the band signed with Karisma Records, to re-release their second album worldwide (on CD and LP) in March 2019, and for the release of upcoming albums.'

After a few listening sessions I conclude that Caravela Escarlate delivers very melodic and harmonic, mainly keyboard driven and Seventies inspired prog. The 8 compositions (including two instrumentals) are tastefully arranged and shift from dreamy to mid-tempo rhythms and sumptuous atmospheres. The one moment you hear a lush sound with powerful Hammond organ (evoking ELP, Trace or Triumvirat), the other moment a mellow climate with acoustic guitar and warm vocals. Or from a slow rhythm with delicate Fender electric piano to a tight and catchy beat with fat Minimoog synthesizer flights. The music often brings Italian prog band Le Orme to my mind: also ELP inspired but the native vocals add an extra emotional dimension to the music, like Caravela Escarlate does with the Brazilian vocals, wonderful. The fluent and dynamic rhythm-section delivers a very good job, both in the mellow as in the bombastic parts.

The keyboard player colours the music wonderfully with a wide range of vintage instruments: from the omnipresent Minimoog synthesizer to Fender electric piano, Mellotron flutes and violins and the distinctive Hohner clavinet (especially in Gigantes Da Destruicao).

My favourite track is the epic final composition Planeta-Estrela, showcasing the band in its full splendor. After a spacey intro a lot of changing climates follow: from bombastic with Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer to dreamy with Fender electric piano, from compelling with Mellotron choirs to dreamy with Mellotron violins and tender vocals and from a long and sensational Moog synthesizer solo and a majestic Mellotron violin interlude to a final part with a swirling Hammond organ solo, fuelled by a strong and dynamic rhythm-section, wow!

This music will be a delight for those progheads who love keyboard driven prog, like ELP, Triumvirat, Le Orme, Trace, Quill and Ars Nova. And the delicate Brazilian vocals add a special flavour to their pleasant melodic and harmonic sound.

This review was recently published in a slightly different version on Dutch progrock website Background Magazine.