VITRAL

In previous reviews, I spoke about the fertility of the Brazilian fauna and flora, well known and even recognized in terms of their importance. However, the breeding ground of Brazilian progressive rock has not produced with such abundance. However, no one doubts the quality. Just mention SAGRADO, BACAMARTE, QUATERNA REQUIEM, APOCALYPSE or more recently CARAVELA ESCARLATE, TEMPUS FUGIT, KAIZEN or VITRAL. This last group constitutes an interesting case. The release of the second album, "Os Loucos", forty years after the creation of the group allows us to speak of the quality in question.

It was in 1983 that the group appeared in the musical world. Is it necessary to specify that the 80s were not those of progressive rock and that the tree was not able to produce fruit despite the presence of the leader and co-founder EDUARDO AGUILLAR and ELISA WIERMANN, in particular, who will be at the origin of QUATERNA REQUIEM with the original VITRAL drummer, CLAUDIO DANTAS. This first version will remain fallow, and we will have to wait until 2015 for VITRAL to reappear in Brazilian musical gardens. Two years later, the two co-founders of the group, AGUILAR and DANTAS offered the fruit of their efforts to the progressive musical tree, "Entre As Estrelas". My colleague Philippe André then underlined the high quality of this work. I totally agree with this assessment. The group was very kind to allow ProfilProg to use one of the pieces for the CD produced for the benefit of the radio show and the website. However, the new pieces, then in development, will have to wait for changes, those of the group and those of the world in which it operates.

After five years of gestation and on the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the group, here is the new VITRAL and the eight freshly bloomed flowers that it offers us to embellish our listening hours. Like the previous album, "Os Loucos" or The Crazies, is an instrumental album. The evocative force of the music and the titles, if we translate them, allow us to create our images, our landscapes. And this strength is very present!

The last original member, EDUARDO AGUILLAR, composed and arranged the music. He is also the keyboardist and bassist. The new guitarist is BRUNO MOSCATIELLO. While Philippe was talking about VITRAL, I was talking about the group KAOLL and BRUNO's solo compositions in a column on ProfilProg. I also said a lot of good things about it. That's why I was pleasantly surprised when he contacted me to tell me that he was now part of the group. His fluid and melodic style, think GILMOUR or LATIMER, is perfectly suited to VITRAL's music. A worthy successor to LUIZ ZAMITH, of whom I also had the opportunity to review his very good solo album, "Introspecção". Since everything is in everything, I would like to point out to you that EDUARDO AGUILLAR, CLAUDIO DANTAS and even KLEBER VOGEL, violinist of QUATERNA REQUIEM, participated in Mr. MOSCATIELLO's solo escapade. The flutes, so important on the previous album, are now played by MARCO AUR�H. Although he is less well known than MARCOS MOURA, formerly of BACAMARTE, the fact remains that his playing is superb and his interactions with his colleagues prove delightful. I consider his presence invaluable on "Os Loucos". The drums and cymbals are the responsibility of a guest drummer, GUSTAVO MIORIM. His talents, he teaches the instrument among others, combined with the bass playing of EDUARDO AGUILAR provide a versatile foundation, both flexible and powerful for the eight pieces.

"O Grande Exército Pagão", The Great Pagan Army, sets the scene of "Os Loucos" very well. A flute and keyboard exchange here, a few nicely offered guitar notes there and a gentle break after a few minutes. There we find this clever mix of symphonic flavors, alternations of rhythms and a warm fluidity of interactions between the musicians and their playing which characterizes this bouquet of pieces. The group knows how to offer more up-tempo moments like on "Ciclopes" or the title track, for example, where the sound of AGUILAR's organ evokes that of a certain EMERSON without becoming a copy, rest assured. The symphonic progressive rock of VITRAL offers the elements that characterize the Brazilian sound if I may say so. This musical flavor is very present and not only because of moments with more typical sounds like on "Reinos do Norte", The Kingdom of the North. Fans of VITRAL and the previously mentioned groups know this style which, on occasion, evokes Mediterranean warmth.

"Montezuma" is the longest piece at just over eight minutes, while "Entre Es Estrelas" offered an epic suite lasting more than fifty minutes. How well these minutes of "Montezuma" are used. An intro where BRUNO's guitar gives you chills and where you will understand what I was saying about his style. Gently, the flute and a keyboard pad join the dance. After two minutes, the rhythm section changes the atmosphere and, of course, the tempo. But that only lasts for a while and the music named after an Aztec emperor continues to offer multiple variations and moments of great beauty, particularly on the flute. Halfway through the guitar transcends the song and the rhythm picks up again. The piano calms the playing joined by the flute and an acoustic guitar. Beauty when you hold us! Suddenly, a sense of urgency animates the song via the drums and keyboards. It is on this rise that the guitar returns more gripping than ever until the conclusion. The ballad that follows, "Nas Asa de Horus" or On the Wings of Horus, offers us a respite and even more beauty thanks to the acoustic guitar, piano and flute.

With "Os Loucos", VITRAL returns to offer us the richness of their country when we were no longer expecting them. The album clearly has the sound we knew and loved but with a different approach. Breaking the instrumental offering into eight pieces can make it easier to pay attention to people who find it more difficult to listen to a very long suite. But be careful, this does not mean simplicity. Each piece offers a musical anthology in which it is good to nourish one's love of well-made music and the subtleties that one discovers with successive listening. The guitar is more present and often highlighted, which is a notable asset. These moments of wonderful contrasts between beauty and softness, often embodied by the flute, the piano and layers of keyboards as well as the more symphonic flights which represent VITRAL well are still there. The energy transmitted via the rhythmic work, the electric guitar, the organ, and the synthesizer add to the power and allow you to savor these all too rare moments of Brazilian prog. Let's hope to receive a third bouquet more quickly than this one and hope that such music can also be offered on a physical medium because only a digital version is offered now but at a very friendly price I emphasize. It would be crazy to do without it!

Listening to Vitral's new work, one can notice the large-scale insertion of synthesizers, much more than the previous album. It also sounds heavier and more epic. It's a totally instrumental record, well recorded, pleasant to listen to. You can notice a more Brazilian touch in some nuances where the flute and piano enter, with more nationalist chords. In general, today with thousands of bands recording works in different areas of Rock (not just progressive) it is difficult to stand out as "best" or "authentic". Everything is very globalized, including the formula of traditional progressive (in this case more digitized) than analog).In my concept of a musician, and as a listener, I listen and listen to hundreds and hundreds of works, both in the area of ​​vintage progressive, neo-progressive and progressive metal. So it all seems very repetitive to me. The formulas are the same. I believe that the most radical progressive does not attract fans or listeners who appreciate the avant-garde, with rare exceptions.I believe that bands that sound more like Kraut Rock or King Crimson, or even Van Der Graaf, are not as appreciated as Yes or Genesis, which are the most imitated. The school of Emerson Lake and Palmer ditto. There are few enthusiasts of this style.Addicted ears, and listeners who are addicted to hearing the same thing, don't bother trying to hear different things. In this way, many bands choose to make the sound more tonal, conventional and that pleases and has references for the listener of what he always wants to hear.This is bad for the development and future of music. In the sense that if evolution and daring stop, the art sinks and disappears. I'm not saying this work is bad at all. It's very good. But it fits well in the fad prefabricated by other bands that have already widely trod this path. Just like traditional Heavy Metal and Speed ​​Metal are repeated with thousands of bands sounding exactly the same. I believe that the most daring and atonal progressive opens much more space in the mind metaphysically speaking. You don't assimilate the sound at first, but you slowly taste the music and assimilate it with each section. This is the difference. The complexity, the up-time, the different wave forms.In this work the symphonic sum synthesizers. They are not experimental synthesizers, creating different nuances. It would be more like listening to classical music played with a contemporary rock band. This has already been said. Making classical music with current electronic equipment and instruments is still making classical music. Is it good? In a way when you feel like listening, it is! Now, if progressive is limited to being a parody of classical music played with current electronic instruments, it's just a change in the label, but the content is the same. I believe and prefer bands that are more daring (again I make it clear that this is a technical analysis, not that the work is bad or good) In conclusion, listeners who are looking for something different, avantgarde, daring and sui generis, this work is not recommended. But listeners who are comfortable listening to traditional progressive rock will be very pleased. Art is complex and life goes on!

VITRAL - OS LOUCOS (2023)

BRUNO MOSCATIELLO - electric and acoustic guitars

EDUARDO AGUILLAR - bass, keyboards and additional sampled percussions

MARCO AURÊH - flutes transverse and recorder (contralto, soprano and sopranino)

Guest musician: GUSTAVO MIORIM - drums

High-caliber, full on instrumental symphonic prog from Brazillian veterans; bombastic without being overly so; great guitar work and perfectly subtle keyboard support and the pleasurable inputs of a talented, often-inspired flute player. The sound is quite nice--nearly replicating that of 1990s COLLAGE on their monster Moonshine, only, truly, better: warmer and clearer. The instrument sounds, melodies, and shifts in tempos and movements are excellent-- timed perfectly well (never overblown or drawn out for too long): true signs of intelligent prog veterans.

1. "Pétala de Sangue" ( 6:49 ) nice mid-tempo Neo-Prog with Nexus (organ) and Mike Oldfield sound and feel (lead guitar & tubular bells) to it. (8.5/10)

2. "Entre as Estrelas" ( 52:22 ) a truly epic song that the band has worked on in live situations for over a year--and it shows: this is a highly thought-out, well-constructed song with little or no fluff. Reminds me of some of the nicer, more melody-oriented NeoProg coming out of RPI or the Netherlands. Not quite as sophisticated or bombastic as the music of Arjen Lucassen or Roine Stolt but much more easy on the ears. I'm actually reminded a lot of some of the music that PFM or NEXUS did in the previous decade as well as some of the English folk-melody-tinged music of early BIG BIG TRAIN (minus the vocals, of course). The flute, of course, is such a wonderful addition to the tapestry. Plus, the keyboards are never over-the-top showy or attention grabbing, always tasteful and perfectly supportive to the whole and to the other instruments, which is quite extraordinary, in my opinion. (9.5/10)

3. "Vitral" ( 5:12 ) opens with Baroque sound with "harpsichord," celeste, wooden flute, and organ sounds playing in a classical time construct. Quite lovely. Becomes more bombastic with Arp synth taking the lead at 2:10 in a Chip Davis/MANNHEIM STEAMROLLER kind of way. Then back to Baroque instrumental sounds--with some modern synths and electric bass and, later, electric guitar mixed in. Baroque and modern seemlessly melded together! (9.5/10)

Five stars; a masterpiece of symphonic NeoProg.