TR3S

When I say it is a passion, you can actually see it very clearly in the history of the band. They actually started playing together in 1981 and even if they have 35 years of history they only have 3 albums under their belt. That's what I call passion. You're not playing for money, you're not playing for success. You're playing because you love music!

However, for a band like Trem Do Futuro, that comes from a part of Brazil (Fortaleza) that has no tradition at all in Progressive Rock, having reached the point of a third album is a victory. Many other bands were created, especially in the 90's, and most of them disappeared without ever recording or disappeared after having recorded one album.

This band released its first album in 1995, the great self-titled debut album and only after a 12 years period they were able to release the excellent O Tempo. Another 8 years had passed before they were able to put their third album out, Tr3s, in the end of 2015.

Even after all this time between the records, the core of the band is pretty much still the same: Paulo Rossglow (vocals), Marcelo M. Leitão (guitars), Sidarta Guimarães (violin). The diference in Tr3s is that the original drummer Marcelo Bye Bye was replaced by Felipe Valentim Ribeiro, bass is now played by Dudu Freire and keyboards by Julinho Silva.

Tr3s has a good production and have great musicianship all over the record. But in my opinion the album is not as strong as O Tempo. If in the previous record they had many upbeat moments with a more traditional Prog approach, in Tr3s the band decided to calm down a bit and let the folk side of their music take over. This makes the album a bit more contained. Rossglow's teathrical vocals are still there, well sung all over. Marcelo is a smart player and works with the songs, Sidarta is an important element to the band's sound, especially in this record. Drums, bass and keyboards are very competent but they don't really shine.

But the fact that the album is calmer doesn't make it bad. Tr3s is a very solid record and have many great moments like the opening track 'Viajantes Do Tempo' and the following track 'Folhas Secas Sobre A Tarde'. The closing track 'Lã Do Sol' is also very unique. Everything surrounded by the poetic atmosphere of the lyrics in Portuguese.

I think that the path Trem Do Futuro follows (love for music) is intact with this record and if you enjoyed their previous effort you should definitely check Tr3s too!

So, back with their third album in 2015, the band had again made some changes in personnel, one of which being the loss of some of the founder members, including flautist Ulisses, although there is uncredited flute and saxophone on the album. Violinist Sidarta Guimarães was still there, and for the first time it felt as if the band had jumped forward in time as although this still contains Seventies influences, it no longer feels as if it was recorded during that decade. It also feels less British, and more Italian, while the production is also much better and even the artwork has been brought more up to date. This was a self-release at the time, and again it has now been made available by Progshine. Three albums in more than thirty years of existence certainly doesn't sound like very many, but given that they come from an area of Brazil where this music is rarely played, let alone recorded, perhaps it isn't surprising.

The opening song, "Viajantes Do Tempo" is one of the longest at more than eight minutes, but contains some passages that feel muddied, as if the arrangements weren't totally thought through properly, and this is something that unfortunately does happen at various places during the album. The result is something that feels brighter and more modern than before, but also doesn't have the musicality of the others, which means that the listener starts looking for faults and flaws instead of sitting back and letting the music wash over them. Of the three, this is the one I enjoyed least, and would still point to 'O Tempo' as being the album to start with.