VELHA GRAVURA

QUATERNA REQUIEM were a five piece from Brazil and this is their all instrumental debut released in 1990. And I remember taking a chance on this purely because of that release year a tough one for me, maybe the worst. The music is a symphonic/ classical blend with the violin and synths usually leading the way.

The synths don't exactly work for me most of the time sounding so modern they should have stuck with the piano and organ that is used less frequently on here. Not much electric guitar but the acoustic on the opener dominates for the first 4 minutes. The bass and drums have a back seat here even if both have their moments. Oh there's two guests both playing on the opener only adding flute and oboe.

This is almost too clean if you know what I mean although "Toccata" has some ripping organ. We have the pretty "Madrugada" with 10 1/2 minutes of mostly piano and violin. The title track at over 12 minutes is the longest and very hit and miss. "Aquartha" sounds odd, almost jumbled the way the violin and synths collide. This track at least has some upfront bass I appreciate.

Not my music but this gets some high grades.