After the superb Tales From A Forgotten World which initially was released unnoticed in '97 but was given the re-release treatment last year, these fantastic Brazilian friends release one of the absolute highlights in the history of symphonic rock! In between, The Official Bootleg - Feb '98 was released, a live album which only got some minimal distribution. But now there's The Dawn After The Storm, an album which holds all of the typical symphonic elements with a strong emphasis on the guitar playing of Henrique Simoes and the fantastic Wakeman-like playing of keyboard player André Mello. Armed with Roland XP50, JV30, SH2, Korg Polysix, ARP pro-soloist, Korg Monopoly, Fender Rhodes Piano, Alesis quadrasynth and the wonderful Mini-Moog, Mello makes sure the album is covered with analogue sounds from start to finish. Six of the songs are instrumental whilst Mello's vocals in the other three are very good, no South-American accent, and very complementary to the music. A song like "Never" sounds divine leaning towards the better Camel compositions. In fact it's bands like Camel, Quidam, Solaris and Tisaris that spring to mind when listening to these superb arrangements which give room to all of the instruments also incorporating some nice flute in "O Dom de Voar." Personally I would love to hear more acoustic instruments such as flute, violin, cello without the band having to go over the top. But for the time being all of the music on this new album is very lyrical, even what I would call "typical South-American" whatever that might mean. All of the South-American bands to me have this laid-back element incorporated in their rootsy music. Take "Tocando Você" with its splendid acoustic guitar in the introduction evoking a combination of the best Steve Howe and Steve Hackett all in one! If you have been looking for that typical Moog sound only Wakeman seemed able to create on his Journey To The Centre Of The Earth album, then look no further as this superb sound is all over the place on this album. The acoustic flamenco-like guitar in "Preludio de Sevilla" emphasizes the southern roots of this band. This is a gem of a symphonic rock album a true caress for our polluted ears! Reviewed by: John 'Bobo' Bollenberg |
