Review by Aussie-Byrd-Brother — Casa Das M'quinas released three LP's between 1974 and 1977, their debut and third album
offering hard-rock songs, but smack-bang in the middle of those two in 1975 was `Lar de
Maravilhas', their most interesting and dynamic work that has since come to be recognised as
something of a minor classic of prog-rock originating from Brazil. While adventurous rock would
probably be a more accurate description than full-blown progressive rock, their hard-rock style here
was loaded with spacey keyboards, symphonic arrangements, intricate direction changes and
great variety, all driven by strong melodies sung in Portuguese with confident vocals and skilled
instrumentation.
Opener ` Vou Morar No Ar' swaps acoustic guitar-lifted verses for soaring group harmonies and
funky electric guitars over swirling spacey synths in place of a chorus. The title track `Lar De
Maravilhas' has plenty of passionate plucked acoustic guitar and sweet group harmonies that float
like a soothing breeze, but it also jumps back and forth between doomy slow-burn electric guitars
and a distorted, other-wordly treated vocal. `Liberdade Espacial' is an addictive smouldering
grooving rocker with nice thick bass and a cool melting synth break in the middle, there's traces of
Yes throughout `Astraliza''o' with its rolling electronics, buoyant bass, weeping guitars and
restrained symphonic Hammond organ finale, and lethargic echoing voices and cooing chorus
harmonies of `Cilindro C'nico' get blasted with fiery electric guitar wailing and up-tempo rattling
drums in the second half.
With its lengthy instrumental bookended passages, `Vale Verde' is the big pure prog moment of the
disc, not far removed in parts from the sounds of German bands Novalis' `Sommerabend' and
Epidaurus' `Earthly Paradise' albums. A positive whirling Moog theme, E.L.P-like Hammond bluster
and eventually soft falsetto harmonies glide through the piece, and the dramatic symphonic ending
is legendary. The pretty `Raios de Lua' is a dreamy and romantic acoustic ballad that warmly
embraces, but `Epidemia de Rock' is nothing more than a throwaway (if still well performed) rock 'n
roller that would have been more at home on the debut or follow-up album `Casa de Rock'. The
band close on the two-part `O Sol/Reflexo Ativo' that opens with a lengthy narration delivered by a
drifting psychedelic voice (almost reminding of a similar introduction on the closing piece
`Encyclopedia Terra' off German band Mythos' debut) before surging into a triumphant Hammond
and Mini Moog-laden symphonic climax.
The mix of hard and acid rock, spacey instrumentation and progressive inventiveness with pop
smarts throughout `Lar de Maravilhas' proves to be very addictive, and the sumptuous vocals and
harmonies just lift this wonderful album even higher. It's well-worth picking up if you've already got
plenty of the `big' bands and albums in your collection and are looking to expand it with more
obscure yet equally worthwhile releases, so you can't go wrong with Casa Das M'quinas' defining
musical statement.
Four stars.