A mythical entity in what is most essential in this country, the urgency of their music has been a constant over more than a decade. With a variable line-up, but always under the direction of Pedro Gomes, the quality and pertinence of the members have kept the curiosity and the flame burning. The concerts are synonymous with experience; an experience that happens on stage and leaps from it, exorcising the specter of rock into something visceral, beautiful, and transcendent. In a time crawling with shadow and uncertainty, in sinuous post-pandemic delirium, there are few imaginary forms of ideal therapy. A reunion long desired – and now made a reality.

It took about four years of labor, maturation, and alignment of paths for an album to become possible. Not by choice, but by principle. In essence, the physical translation, and as faithful as possible, of a sound notion that had long hovered in Gomes’ imagination. In a counter-current mode of a present full of speed and information excess, this logic is not only rare, but also announces itself as vital for bigger leaps. Between stories of everyday life, meetings and mismatches, the Namouche studio became the natural space for this process. Not only for the technical possibilities that such a noble workspace makes possible, but also for the involvement of people who crossed paths along the way. A sonic purification that feels unique.

In 2021 Caveira’s sound is necessarily different from what it was in the past. Beyond the above, the present – and its future – is a passage of eternal discovery and fascination. The resonance of the guitar remains the basic element where everything seems to gravitate. The magnetism is real and offers a desperately volcanic and deeply delicate musical expression. Far beyond the boundaries of noise, jazz, or the molds of free improvisation, there is here a genuine sense of where to go – and how to make that journey a metaphor for life. CAVEIRA’s sonic body is a portent of ineffable things, or if you prefer, an elevation guided by volume, electricity, and heart in the right place.

In this awaited presentation at ZDB, Gabriel Ferrandini, Pedro Sousa and Miguel Abras join Pedro Gomes to put us on the edge of a fabulous abyss; without fear and with the right to a beatific elevation. One of those we find ourselves remembering one day later. NA