DEPOIS DO FIM

"Depois Do Fim" is the debut full-length studio album b Brazilian progressive rock act Bacamarte. The album was released through Som-Arte in 1983. Bacamarte was originally formed in 1974 by three school friends but soon disbanded. Guitarist/bandleader M'rio Neto reformed Bacamarte in 1977 with a new linup and recorded the material for "Depois Do Fim" in 1978. Sensing the timing wasn't right in the progressive rock hostile climate of the late 70s, Neto opted to shelve the recordings, and therefore it wasn't until 1983 that "Depois Do Fim" finally was released. It's debatable if 1983 was a much better time than 1978 to release a progressive rock album, but at least Neto felt the time was right.

Listening to the album it's quite obvious that this is a 70s recording and not an album recorded in 1983, as the sound production is organic and warm, and doesn't feature the trademark 80s reverb abuse. There's an authentic organic quality to the performances on the album, which also puts "Depois Do Fim" firmly in the catagory of 70s progressive rock. Stylistically the music is in an eclectic progressive rock style featuring jazz rock/fusion oriented drumming and bass, both lush and more dominant synths, flute and accordian, percussion, and classical influenced acoustic guitar playing and more fast-paced and busy distorted ditto.

The material is predominantly instrumental but some tracks like "Smog Alado" and "'ltimo Entardecer" feature female vocals performed by Jane Duboc (delivered in the band's native tongue). The tracks on the album which feature vocals, typically also feature longer instrumental sections, so while there are vocals featured on the album, they are not the main focus. Instead it's the many lead melodies, the intriguing rhythmic playing, and the memorable compositions, which take the prize as the dominant features. While the music is hardly that original sounding given that it was recorded in 1978 (and quite a few other artists had done something similar during the 70s), there is still great quality compositions and performances to be found on "Depois Do Fim". The well sounding production is another great asset and upon conclusion it's a high quality progressive rock album, and it's certainly not audible that it's a debut album. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.