By Jonny Bakes
Although I’ve been in this game for a few years now, I’m still constantly discovering new bands and finding myself diving into an album that represents the latest step in what can be a lengthy career. This does have its advantages though, as I can appreciate the album with a fresh perspective and have no preconceptions of what to expect, but it means that I can miss out on continuing threads between albums. However, while today’s album is album number three for Caravellus, it is a neatly packaged concept album meaning that I can fully appreciate what’s on offer.
Hailing from Brazil, Carvellus blend together a whole host of elements into their own power/prog metal sound. Hidden within the music you’ll find influences from Brazillian folk rhythms, jazz and classical that bring an extra level of intricacy to the already progressive metal sound. But this isn’t just your technical progressive metal, no, Caravellus chucks in all the energy and bombastic nature of power metal to craft an epic atmosphere within which they can tell their story. But what is the story of this, their third full length release – ‘Inter Mundos’?
Well, band founder Glauber Oliveira tells us that it’s a love story between Ateiro and Aurora that takes place in an unnamed mystical village in northeast Brazil and covers universal issues like class conflict, religious intolerance and death. So perhaps you could liken it to ‘Romeo and Juliet’? Musically, there’s a whole host of things to unpack due to the complex nature of the music but if I were to broadbrush the sound, I would liken Caravellus to some of the big names in prog metal such as Opeth and Dream Theater (coincidentally, the album does feature a guest appearance from Sons Of Apollo who, of course, include drummer Mike Portnoy). Each song twists and turns in a different way with plenty of shining examples of individual instrument prowess with guitar and keys solos galore! The vocals were a little harder to pin down as they seemed really familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on why until it hit me that it was David Coverdale I was thinking of!
The standout track for me is nestled in the middle of the album – ‘Triumvirate’. It starts out with a heavy riff to grab your attention before slipping into a gentle verse that makes you move and sway, but the real highlight for me is the chorus. The rhythm created by the rhyming couplets makes each line hit with real emphasis and also makes it very catchy. So much so that I found myself humming this chorus long after I’d worked my way through the whole album.
All in all, I really enjoyed ‘Inter Mundos’ and I think it will find a place in the hearts of prog metal fans across the board, particularly those who like Dream Theater and Opeth (unless of course, you only like early Opeth…). Being a concept album, it’s definitely something that deserves listening through in full as opposed to just picking out a track here and there. Although if you were going to do that, then I would recommend ‘Triumvirate’ as one that stands well on its own. I certainly feel that it’s time to dive into the Caravellus back catalogue to see how the previous outings measure up to this, for which I have high hopes!
- ‘Inter Mundos’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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