I was completely unprepared for Papangu‘s Holoceno when it was released. Sweeping through my musical circles like the fires of its namesake, Holoceno was a furious blend of sludge, zeuhl, progressive rock, and metal. And so, I opened the link to listen to their follow up, Lampião Rei with trembling fingers and let me tell you, my reverence and trepidation were one hundred precent justified. Lampião Rei sees Papangu unfurl their sails to the tightest position, adding three new members and diving even deeper into jazz, progressive rock, and psychedelic music, all the while maintaining their fierce dedication to heaviness and force. Scroll on down below to stream the whole album in full!
I wish I had something intelligent to say but all I have is “holy shit, this album is so good”. Just tune in to “Acende a Luz: II. O Encandeio / III. Sagüatimbó”, the first “proper” track of the album. You can instantly hear how “open” the sound is, taking more influences from something like Gentle Giant than King Crimson, which Papangu has commonly been compared to. But there’s, as always, something intensely unique about Papangu’s sound, like the harsh growls which mark the track’s beginning and the overall, underlying intensity to the sound.
These influences, ideas, and compositions are all over the album, making it an even wilder and more challenging than Holoceno. It’s not as “punishing”, though it has those moments as well, but it’s more fractal, fragmented, and whirling in its approach to structure and sound. Grounded in a Brazilian story of a famous bandit king, and citing influences from Brazilian musicians as wide as Hermeto Pascoal and Edu Lobo to Sepultura, Lampião Rei continues Papangu’s journey towards one thing: a unique, powerful, and ambitious take on progressive music.
Don’t miss it when it drops tomorrow; head on over to the band’s Bandcamp to pre-order it right now!
Eden Kupermintz
Published 8 days ago