So, back with their third album in 2015, the band had again made some changes in personnel, one of which being the loss of some of the founder members, including flautist Ulisses, although there is uncredited flute and saxophone on the album. Violinist Sidarta Guimarães was still there, and for the first time it felt as if the band had jumped forward in time as although this still contains Seventies influences, it no longer feels as if it was recorded during that decade. It also feels less British, and more Italian, while the production is also much better and even the artwork has been brought more up to date. This was a self-release at the time, and again it has now been made available by Progshine. Three albums in more than thirty years of existence certainly doesn’t sound like very many, but given that they come from an area of Brazil where this music is rarely played, let alone recorded, perhaps it isn’t surprising.
The opening song, “Viajantes Do Tempo” is one of the longest at more than eight minutes, but contains some passages that feel muddied, as if the arrangements weren’t totally thought through properly, and this is something that unfortunately does happen at various places during the album. The result is something that feels brighter and more modern than before, but also doesn’t have the musicality of the others, which means that the listener starts looking for faults and flaws instead of sitting back and letting the music wash over them. Of the three, this is the one I enjoyed least, and would still point to ‘O Tempo’ as being the album to start with.
