CRIATURAS DA NOITE

As we know, and the same also happens with my country Portugal, Brazil never was a hot bed for the progressive rock music. However, the progressive Brazilian route, which also began in the end of the 60's, was of quality with a market not so open to this genre of music with few events, festivals and record companies investing exclusively in this style. But, in spite of all those problems, the style in Brazil didn't leave the quality owed of the European bands. So, some names appeared with interesting works, such as, Os Mutantes, Som Imaginário, A Barca Do Sol, O Terço e Bacamarte.

So, O Terço was one of the most important Brazilian progressive rock bands of the 70's. The band was formed in 1968 and put together several different styles like gutsy rock & roll, prog rock, folk rock, heavy metal, and funk. O Terço was born with Sérgio Hinds (guitar), César das Mercês (bass) and Vinícius Cantuária (drums). In 1970, with the replacement of Mercês by Jorge Amiden, the band released their eponymous debut album. Two years later they released their second work, also homonymous, which brought a more progressive sound. In 1975, their third work "Criaturas Da Noite" was the album that would definitively enshrine the band. It will be their third work the object of my review today.

So, "Criaturas Da Noite" is the third studio album of O Terço and was released in 1975. The line up on the album is Sérgio Hinds (vocals and guitar), Flávio Venturini (vocals, piano, organ and synthesizers), Sérgio Magrão (vocals and bass) and Luiz Moreno (vocals and percussion). The album had also the participation of Marisa Fossa (vocals) and Cezar de Merces (vocals and percussion).

Although O Terço be regarded as one of the leading progressive Brazilian rock bands in the 70's, on "Criaturas Da Noite" the band presented a mix of musical styles. If in their first two albums the band made a more oriented rock with at most some progressive influences, on "Criaturas Da Noite" they took a huge leap, producing what is one of the most important progressive rock albums from Brazil. Probably it was the entry of Flávio Venturini in the band, as a fixed keyboardist, which made the most important difference for the band to achieve such a more refined musical result. He composed three tracks in partnership and "1974" alone, which would become one of the greatest classics of the band.

"Criaturas Da Noite" has eight tracks. "Hey Amigo" is a dancing energetic rock and roll with a striking bass, drums and organ and a nice guitar solo at the end. This is a good straight starting for the album. "Queimada" shows a more folk side of the band. The electric and acoustic guitars are basically the instrumentation used here played in a beautiful way supported by a beautiful vocal work. "Pano De Fundo" begins with a dark atmosphere, but the vocals give another type of humor to the music, making it more cheerful. The final guitar solo is great. "Ponto Final" starts with a beautiful piano structure next to a very subtle choir. The synths are a perfect filling, bass and drums make a comfortable and solid aid and the distorted guitar adds more sparkle to the music. "Volte Na Próxima Semana" is the heaviest track on the album. It's pure rock and roll with great guitar riffs, striking solos, edgy bass lines, powerful drums, poignant organ work and hard rock vocals. "Criaturas Da Noite" is the title track. It has a vocal on the piano made by Venturini enriched by a nice orchestration work. This is a simple and beautiful song, one of those songs that more than listening, we can feel it due to its emotional charge. "Jogo Das Pedras" has a pleasant initial melody. Again it presents a very well structured vocal work. Sérgio Hinds makes another excellent guitar solo, certainly one of the best of his career. "1974" is a straight full blown, complex symphonic progressive rock track. It's undeniably the most progressive song on the album. It starts with a delicate and sentimental piano. It has more than twelve minutes of an instrumental symphonic progressive rock, despite some vocalizations. The drums and bass can put the necessary mass on the sound walls, while the guitar and the keyboards paint the necessary vibrant and varied colors in every second of the music. This is a true timeless masterpiece, undoubtedly the best track on the album. It shows the amazing quality of Flávio Venturini as a composer.

Conclusion: I must confess that I'm not a great connoisseur of the Brazilian prog. I only knew very well "Depois Do Fim" of Bacamarte and "Sete Cidades" of Mário Neto, both already reviewed by me. And I was deeply impressed with the first one. If we compare it with "Criaturas Da Noite", I must say that both are two different works. "Depois Do Fim" is better and proggier than "Criaturas Da Noite" that is more a mix of different styles. Still, I like very much of this album. O Terço is a specialist of mixing genres and allow themselves wander in the immense universe of prog to arrange their time musical space. As a final result, "Criaturas Da Noite" is a very uneven album but that is very interesting and nice to listen to. Probably due to be quite uneven, I think it cannot please all progressive rock fans. But, in what concerns to me, despite "Criaturas Da Noite" is far from be perfect, is representative of the Brazilian prog as flamboyant as it's rare.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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