Cosmiclava where the lava flows

XARHANGA was a Portuguese 70's progressive rock band, who recorded two 7"'s and one concept album named 'Bota Fora' during their short-term existence. Needless to allude that all three releases are extreme rare nowadays and that's the reason why the new record label Portuguese Progressive Pearls did a complete re-issue in 2008 of the band's discography. Originally the album 'Bota Fora' has been released through the small label Orfeu/Arnaldo Trindade in 1975, and it occupied thematically with the war in the Portuguese colonies in Africa at that time. The musical realization is a combination of art- and progressive rock, how it was played in the mid-70's. Though the opener 'Pedro Soldado' sounds like early Atomic Rooster, but after this the progressive elements become stronger and the guitar isn't so much in the foreground. Fittingly for the theme one can hear a lot of African percussion and a lot of piano and organ, so that some cuts have more in common with classic music than with rock. Other tracks like 'Sachilemo' are more jazzy, so that  XARHANGA sounds more like a fusion band here. That's really not my cup of tea, because I miss loud and heavy guitars, although the production and the playing skills are very good. The two 7"'s are right up my alley, because there the band delivers powerful guitar-driven hardrock. Both singles have been released in the year 1973 by Zip Zip, and especially 'Acid Nightmare' and 'Great Goat' are my favourite songs here, where the band knows to convince me with a heavy proto-metal sound. Fans who are searching for obscure and unknown groups from the 70's should buy this remastered CD, which also contains some infos about 'Bota Forta', but if you prefer heavy guitars then it's better to give it a pre-listen.

(KK)