Drowning Steps are a Brazilian band, and I was first alerted to them last year when reviewing Caio Claro’s solo album, Fear: The Voice of Your Soul, the link to which is at the foot of this band review.
The Bravery of a Tireless Mind: Book One has its full release October 2nd. It is a rock opera inspired by titans of the progressive rock genre such as Pink Floyd, Marillion, Pure Reason Revolution, and the album is the first of a planned trilogy.
We have five tracks, two of which have official audio videos, and you can see them at the foot of the review.
An ambitious start to proceedings is always a good sign, and The Angels and the Playground is only a slither short of sixteen minutes in length, so plenty for progheads to get stuck into. An additional bonus here is the guest vocalist, one of my favourite modern artists, Robin Peachey, of course from Returned to the Earth. After some effects, there is a sumptuous pastoral sound, the vocals delicate, the whole opening passage dreamy, and I do especially love the acoustic guitar work. As we progress, we delve into the past of the subject, the meandering mellotron interrupted by a furious Hammond, and immediately we are taken into a far more dangerous place, the guitar riffs furious, a great pace provided, and the rhythm section of Fabricio Mendonça & Leonardo Gonçalves show their mettle. In the playground fight scenes, there is an interesting sort of post-punk vibe going on, so stylistically, the album already provides for operatic themes in the best tradition, because this gives way to a classic rock feel, albeit with the type of prog complexity we love to hear, with some superb atmosphere from the organ of Tiago Pierucci and electric guitar riffs. Pierucci is very good at creating moods, his solo piano interlude touching before the sound explodes again with some great complex percussion work noteworthy. The final minute takes us back to that pastoral theme – there are, as with all lives, a range of moods in memories. This is a very strong start to proceedings.
The video for the brief Fragments of a Lifetime is at the foot of the review. It has the female vocal of Laís Gonzalez, a conversation with the friend trying to persuade him how beautiful it is in the real world, outside of the dream state. I like the jazzy percussion grooves as this opens, Claro’s vocals dreamy, and as it moves on, we get a decent pop/rock track, the guest vocalist playing the outside friend very well, the synths pushing matters along, the closing section featuring some nice ghostly guitar, fusion sensibilities taking precedence.
The Nod seems to reference a return to the start of awareness of the life and man he became, trying to reach for the light to banish a sense of darkness. The guest vocalist here is Erlend Viken of Soup/Giant Sky. The video for this is also embedded at the foot of this review. There are some nice soundscapes created here by the synths above the lonely, questing voice. The internal confrontation is spoken, a piano and synths forming the backdrop alongside percussion before the mood darkens once again, and the riffs rumble beneath dissonant swirling synths. The final minute has a fine guitar solo from Marcos Duran, and there is a lush rock sound emanating from the speakers. I really like this track.
Waiting for Redemption is just short of the epic length, is in three movements, and visits the core internal struggle of a life designed by an angel, but ultimately a fantasy, the past designed by evil and reality, the internal demons rising a la Pink from The Wall, an album referenced as an influence on this work. The track opens in a gorgeously bright manner, a confident voice backed by a light piano, Freedom the cry stuck in his throat, wanting to escape, but the second movement takes a darker turn, the drums on this exceptional, and the track marks a great operatic rock turn, racing along at a fair rate of knots as our hero faces the dark, the pieces of his life left along the passage of time. The guitars, synths, and a boisterous rhythm section take us into a prog metal place of wonder, with some distorted vocals cascaded in a cinematic dream, Mendonça providing the drum performance of 2026 for me, a real find. The third movement is presaged by a great noise, the confrontation with reality not a pleasant one.
We close with Life Handed Me the Map (what a title), the journey through a life coming to an end, the protagonist and the listeners alike looking forward to the next part of this journey, the vocals and whole tone lighter with a sense of acceptance of who he is, the vocals very emotive on this, with the album closing as it began with quill against paper.
This is a very impressive album. I have always enjoyed rock operas, and this is worthy of being discussed alongside the artists who provided inspiration, and I look forward very much to the next part.
Caio Claro Fear: The Voice of Your Soul Review https://lazland.org/album-reviews-2025/caio-claro-fear-the-voice-of-your-soul
Drowning Steps Bandcamp page: https://drowningsteps.bandcamp.com/
Key Personnel:
Lyrics: Caio Claro
Songs: Caio Claro (tracks 1, 2 & 5) and Tiago Pierucci (tracks 1, 3 & 4)
Mixing/Mastering: Tiago Pierucci
Performers:
Caio Claro: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar (track 1), Electric Guitar (tracks 2 & 5), Arrangements and Sound Manipulation
Fabricio Mendonça: Drums
Leonardo Gonçalves: Bass Guitar
Marcos Duran: Electric Guitar (tracks 1-4)
Tiago Pierucci: Keyboards, Synthesizers, Effects, Organ, Piano, Wah-Wah Guitar (track 2), Background Vocals (track 4), Arrangements and Sound Manipulation
Guest Vocalists:
Robin Peachey from Returned to the Earth (track 1); Laís Gonzalez (track 2); and Erlend Viken from Soup/Giant Sky (track 3)
Artwork: Hajo Müller