Atila-Reviure,LP,1977,Spain

The Catalonian group Atila released three diverse albums in the mid to late 70's. Starting primarily as a raw hard rock psych group, Atila evolved into one of the finest instrumental progressive space rock acts around. They are one of the few 70's Spanish bands to not include a strong indigenous element to their sound.
The Beginning of the End was an inauspicious debut to say the least. Handed out as a promo to guests of their live shows in 1975, the album is a rough mix of instrumental hard rock with an incredibly long drum solo for such a short album. Due to the nature of its distribution, this had long been considered one of the crown jewels of Euro prog. Nowhere near deserved of its lofty reputation, much less the four-figure price tag, the album serves as nothing more than an odd curiosity of the very early post-Franco era. Best avoided except for completists.
Obviously their promo technique worked, as major label BASF signed the group for their second effort, Intencion. This album shows what the band can do if given some time in the studio. Borrowing from classical motifs, Atila added what can only be called a vicious guitar sound with some strong organ/synth playing and quite a bit of drum action. Side two is a rework of the debut album, here titled in Spanish as "El Principio del Fin." Starting with a Phantom of the Opera-like organ, the piece explodes into a Black Sabbath guitar riff before settling into an easy groove with moog, organ, and fuzz guitar jamming. Plus the requisite drum solo. A must for progressive fans who like psychedelic sounds.
After two years, the band delivered their coup de grace, Reviure. Promoted to super label EMI/Odeon, Atila produced another primarily all instrumental album. Now the hard rock/psych edges have been replaced by a smoother cosmic edge. The organ tossed completely for the moog and the biting fuzz guitar for a more spacey one. The complex progressive moves are still here, but now the focus is on long synthesizer drones and atmospheric spacey guitar. The four long tracks on display here are each marked by their superb composition style, changes of tone and mood, and subtle energy. Sounding unlike any other album from Spain, Reviure is a must listen for the fan of Continental European progressive music.
As luck would have it, only the first album has been bestowed a decent CD reissue. Intencion was taken from a crackly record, though there is a very good sounding Japanese LP reissue (of dubious legality) that is very rare in its own right (originals are exorbitant in price). Sadly, Reviure has been ignored altogether in the CD market and originals will set one back about $100(well,now fetching up $200-250)

Tom Hayes
09-Feb-2001 for GNOSIS2000.NET

get this gem here