BEGINNING OF THE END

A real top of the Spanish/Catalan prog scene,Atila were formed in 1973 as a trio by guitarist Eduardo Alvarez Niebla,keyboardist Paco Ortega and drummer Juan Panet,hailing from Girona.They were mostly famous for the two full-length lbums they released,but before them it was the live recording ''The beginning of the end (El principie del fin)'',which functioned as a demo presentation of the band.

This was just one track of 30 minutes length,but do not expect a structured superb epic to be heard.''''The beginning of the end'' is more of a live jamming of the band,which additionally sounds a lot more than an early-70's than a mid-70's archive.This lengthy composition can be described as organ-driven Heavy Psychedelic/Prog Rock with a few Classical adapted themes connected with plenty of guitar/organ solos and grooves,cut around its middle by a 3 min. drum solo.The abscence of the bass does not help,despite the generally rich sound.Surprisingly the track flaws easier than expected,as the band changes from smooth psychedelic to heavy organ-driven forms in constant moments.

The album ends up to be a cool archival release of this short-lived Spanish legend with some high but also a lot of low points,yet nowhere near their full-length releases,both in terms of music and production.Recommended mainly to fans of organ-based Proto Prog...2.5 stars.