O TERÇO II

I remember quite clearly - it was 1970, I was just entering my teenager years and together with some cousins and friends (I was probably the younger then) I went to a Music Festival with several Brazilian stars and a bunch of new artists. It was then that I listened to for the very first time O TERÇO playing live and they really made the head of a 13 years old kid (me). I didn't know (and didn't care too) the style or genre of music they were gigging but I was sure that that MUSIC fitted completely my taste. So, when doing a review for any O TERÇO album my heart speaks as loud as my mind!

However, aside the fact that emotions flow accordingly "O Terco II" is truly a great output. Although released in 1972, the album contained songs they had presented since the previous year. Band line-up also changed when compared with their first album, with Cezar das Mercês replacing Jorge Amiden and keeping Sergio Hinds and Vinícius Cantuária from the original line-up - Hinds would later become a kind of O TERÇO's Robert Fripp or Dave Brock, being the band 'owner' with all other members gravitating around him. However, just like they did when at gigs they certainly counted with some guess musicians and in this case, even not informed, Sergio Magrão and Sergio Moreno (either to join O TERÇO later) and the replaced Amiden probably participated in the tracks' recording.

"O Terço II" presents a much more solid beat and a very professional production but the blend of symphonic and psychedelic sound, with beautiful pastoral passages, a clear influence of Mutantes, Moody Blues and early Pink Floyd stuff, observed in their first output gave room to a more hard and guitar- oriented sound, now more influenced by King Crimson or even Led Zeppelin and Sabbath.

'Deus', the opening track, starts with heavy guitar (for 70s standards) soon to be accompanied by keyboards and vocals, the brand mark of O TERÇO appearing with the three voices singing harmonically. Song theme is fine and could be better explored giving this song an extended length. Guitar solo is bluesy, a bit in the Jimmy Page style, and very catchy too. Song closure shows the grandeur of a typical prog-rock.

'Você aí', is funk-like and samba-like, the band informing musically that they never forgot their roots. Drumming beat is great and again guitar sounds hard, together with brass instruments, a novelty for the band records.

'Estrada vazia' starts with pleasant vocals, a real O TERÇO feat but soon Cantuária is doing a singing solo, a rare deed for the band. Instrumentation is soft a bit folk. Pitifully the song is short because once again the agreeable theme could be extended.

'Lagoa das Lontras' is a typical guitar oriented track with heavy drumming but the result is only average. The following 'Rock do Elvis' has a rockabilly touch and funny lyrics, but looks more like filler. These 2 songs are the weakest in the album even though they are reasonably audible.

'Amanhecer total', the final track, is the great album moment - in fact a collage of fine themes, lasting 19+ minutes. Intro is bucolic and nice, with noted female vocals (unfortunately, the singer name isn't informed) where a kind of Mutantes' Rita Lee vocals are emulated. The first section shows O TERÇO's characteristic vocals, synth tunes, acoustic guitars and percussion effects, which provide a fair atmosphere. Second section is very psychedelic with keyboard now supplying a series of effects that together with fading voices, send the hearer to a dreaming ambient, very floating, indeed. Next segment follow the album general rule with dominating guitar riffs and low-profile keyboards; the sometimes aggressive vocals are also noticeable. The final part starts with soft piano that resends the song to the original tunes, this time with synthesizer follies coloring the mantra-like chorus, where a rainbow sensation is intended with its continuous mutations solely to be the same. A grand finale for a good song and a good album.

This album, one of my preferred, is another landmark when talking about Brazilian prog-rock, however filler tracks are responsible to remove one star from the masterpiece podium but it is doubtlessly an excellent addition to any music collection. Final rating: 4.

This is definitely more "Rock oriented" then the followup "Criaturas De Noite" which I like a lot more. Still this is a good album with some great moments.

"Deus" is uptempo with distorted guitar leading the way early. Vocals and organ come in before a minute as it settles. It picks up again when the vocals stop and the guitar returns, then the organ takes over. "Voce Ai" becomes uptempo with vocals and percussion, the latter brings a Samba flavour to the mix. Sax comes in late. "Estrada Vazia" is a ballad with acoustic guitar and some harmonies. "Lagoa Das Lontras" has a heavier sound with distorted guitar, drums and vocals. "Rock Do Elvis" is rockabilly with Elvis-like vocals. Yikes !

"Amanhecer Total" is the 19 minute closer. The band gets help on synths and organ from former MODULO 1000 member Luiz Paulo Simas. This really feel like they've joined different tracks together to make one. It has it's good and not so good moments in my opinion. It opens with a mellow mood and guest female vocals. Soft male vocals come in around 2 minutes. A change after 8 minutes as the guitar and drums take over. Vocals are back before 10 minutes. Lots of guitar and organ after 14 minutes. It changes before 15 minutes as piano takes over then vocals and drums join in.

This isn't as good as I had hoped but please check out the follow-up album "Criaturas Da Noite".

After the EP O Visitante. Jorge Miden, founder member and until then the main-man behind the name O Terço, had disagreements with the other members and left the group. Sérgio Hinds decided to register the name O Terço to avoid future legal actions by Amiden. For all intentions and purposes Hinds now "owned" the name and all other members would gravitate around him from that moment on. Following a new single ("Ilusão de Ótica" and "Tempo é Vento") the group decided for a much heavier rock approach, that is reflected on their second album called simply Terço (without the "o", a.k.a. O Terço II). The group had the help of some heavyweight guests for this release like the celebrated saxophonist Paulo Moura, percussionist Chico Batera and Luiz Paulo Simas (ex Modulo 1000), probably the best rock keyboards player in Brazil and one of the country´s first expert in the then groundbreaking moog synthesizer.

Side A is mostly a heavy rock/power trio effort, in songs like Deus and Lagoa Das Lontras, while the acoustic Estrada Vazia is their link with their former work backing several brazilian acts. Você Aí showed some surprising blues/funk lines and Rock Do Elvis is wistful little rocking track. Side B is an ambitious 19 minute suite divided in five parts. A mix of psychedelic ambiance, heavy rock guitars and progressive leanings. While quite daring and totally novelty in Brazil at the time, it´s not entirely satisfying. You can tell a lot of influences here, specially of english bands of the period like Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin and Cactus.

On the plus side you can say the production here is way better than all their previous recordings, with a very professional sound recording and very well balanced overall. A real feat for the time. Their vocal prowess continued to grow, being better than 95% of all brazilan bands then. Hinds proves himself as a brilliant guitarist too. He could play just about anything. But obviously the band was lacking a strong sense of direction (heavy rock? progressive? Psychedelic? Acoustic?). Rather than showing versatility, O Terço II presented us a group that could handle all those styles, but didn´t know where to go yet. Of course the band would solve this problem by the time they recorded their third CD, the groundbreaking Criaturas Da Noite in 1974. But that´s another story

All in all I found O Terço II a good rock album. It was very well recorded, written and performed. Not entirely convincing as a whole, but a sure step forward in their career. Looking back is obvious that something was still missing. Like Uriah Heep´s first attempts, this a tentative work.

Final rating: 3 stars.