Short Reviews [Alfa Serenar - 2022 - "Cobra Sofia E Outras Lendas Amazonicas"]

‘Cobra Sofia and Other Amazonian Legends’ is the third album by Rafael Senra's project Alfa Serenar, with all the lyrics related to various Amazonian myths and legends. Senra is a professor at Federal University of Amapa (Brazil), and I have heard both his previous releases as well. This release contains only four tracks, but one of them is more than 20 minutes long, with a total playing time of just under 40 minutes. As with the others, the real issue here is with the vocals, which are just not strong enough, but with this one there also appears to be some issues with the recording as there is not enough depth or structure in any of the arrangements. Apart from Forlan Gomes (drums) and Betania Hernandez (violins), Rafael undertook everything himself and the overarching feeling is of something which is quite weak in many aspects. It drifts along, never really capturing the imagination, and while I may appreciate it more if I could understand the language there is not enough purpose within this to capture the attention and it probably would have made much difference to my overall enjoyment of the release. All praise to Progshine Records in Poland for continuing to promote music from different parts of the world, but this is not something to which I will be returning.