Petrus Castrus -

Petrus Castrus was a Portuguese symphonic-rock band that included musician/composer Júlio Pereira. They released two EPs in 1971/72 on Decca, followed by the 1973 Música longplayer Mestre. In 1977, they returned with a single on Imavox, followed by the 1978 Decca release Ascenção e Queda.

Members: Pedro Castro (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals, kazoo), José Castro (piano, xylophone, vocals), Rui Reis (piano, keyboards, harpsichord), Júlio Pereira (guitar), João Seixas (drums, percussion)

Background

Petrus Castrus took shape in Lisbon in 1967 when guitarist Pedro Castro began home rehearsals with his pianist brother, José, and the latter’s keyboardist schoolmate Rui Reis. Pedro had already passed through the Liceu Francês beat-group circuit with The Sharks and spent a year in The Chinchilas. By the late 1960s, traded covers for originals built on keyboards, tape experiments, and a broader English pop vocabulary. Reis brought conservatory training into the fold. After the brothers caught local beatsters The Playboys, they recruited guitarist Júlio Pereira and drummer João Seixas.

Marasmo (EP)

Petrus Castrus released Marasmo in 1971 on Decca/Valentim de Carvalho. Rui Reis centers the EP with organ, piano, and harpsichord above João Seixas’ measured backbeat and clipped guitar figures from Pedro Castro and Júlio Pereira. The title piece opens with sea sound and closes with harpsichord.

A1. “Marasmo” [Stagnation] (5:39) — José Castro, Pedro Castro, António Sena
B1. “Ovo de Chumbo” [Lead Egg] (2:44) — Castro, Castro
B2. “Batucada Vulgaris” [Common Batucada] (2:59) — Rui dos Reis

Petrus Castrus cut Marasmo for Valentim de Carvalho with José Cid in a producer role at the label’s Paço d’Arcos studio operation, where two-track equipment and staff inexperience with rock instrumentation narrowed the recorded sound.

Tudo Isto, Tudo Mais (EP)

Petrus Castrus released Tudo Isto, Tudo Mais in 1972 on Decca/Valentim de Carvalho. The second EP extends the first record’s keyboard-led profile.

A1. “Tudo Isto, Tudo Mais” [All This, All the More] (4:53) — L.F. Castro, Castro, Castro
B1. “Familiada” [Family] — Castro, Castro
B2. “Moscas, Sol e Gente” [Flies, Sun and People] — Castro, Castro

Mestre

Petrus Castrus released their first full-length album, Mestre, on December 15, 1973, on Sassetti.

Pedro Castro shifts between 6- and 12-string guitar figures and bass. José Castro and Rui Reis handle piano and organ, with harpsichord and xylophone on select passages. Júlio Pereira adds acoustic and electric guitar. Across eleven tracks, the album alternates compact satiric songs with longer keyboard-led sections.

The title track opens in an elegiac, processional register, then broadens into a fuller, hymn-like swell with chamber turns at the cadence. “Pátria Amada” cuts sharper, with brisk accents, clipped phrasing, and a more volatile sectional profile. “Porque” stays intimate and suspended at the outset, then breaks that stillness with abrupt surges. “País Relativo” carries a light pastoral gait that rises toward a larger, more ceremonial close.

“S.A.R.L.” snaps into a fast shuffle with taut momentum and a busy coda. “Pasárgada” starts in a plaintive register, then settles into a slower, heavier tread. “Tiahuanaco” holds a dark, incantatory cast with close-drawn lines and harder edges. “História do Azul do Mar” begins in a delicate, antique register, then turns severe at the close. “Macaco” works as a jaunty interlude with clipped bounce and comic timing. “Só Mais Nada” leaves on a bare, elegiac tag.

A1. “Mestre” [Master] (5:47)
A2. “Pátria Amada” [Beloved Homeland] (4:02) — Ary dos Santos
A3. “Porque” [Because] (2:21) — Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen; music Rui Reis
A4. “País Relativo” [Relative Country] (4:49) — Alexandre O’Neill
A5. “Macaco” [Monkey] (1:52) — Alexandre O’Neill

B1. “S.A.R.L.” [Limited Liability Company] (3:24) — Ary dos Santos
B2. “Pasárgada / Saudades do Rio Antigo” [Pasargada / Longing for Old Rio] (3:38) — Manuel Bandeira
B3. “Velho Avarento” [Old Miser] (1:29) — Bocage
B4. “Tiahuanaco” [Tiahuanaco] (5:58)
B5. “História do Azul do Mar” [Story of the Sea’s Blue] (2:54) — António Sena
B6. “Só Mais Nada” [Nothing More] (0:47) — Alberto Caeiro

Petrus Castrus recorded Mestre at Strawberry Studios, Château d’Hérouville, between November 1972 and April 1973, then mixed the album at Studios Aquarium in Paris. The LP appeared in Portugal as Sassetti DP 025.

“A bananeira” / “Seis e meia da tarde”

Petrus Castrus issued “A bananeira” / “Seis e meia da tarde” in 1974 on Guilda da Música. The group recorded the single before the April 25, 1974 Carnation Revolution and released it after the fall of the Estado Novo regime.

A. “A bananeira” [The Banana Tree] (2:36)
B. “Seis e meia da tarde” [Half Past Six in the Afternoon] (4:50)

Petrus Castrus recorded the single with engineer Alberto Nunes. The session retained singer-guitarist Pedro Castro, keyboardist José Castro, pianist Rui Reis, and drummer João Seixas from the earlier lineup. Organist-conguero Alain Mechoulan and guitarist Hugo Moura Coutinho joined the date.

“Cândida” / “No concelho de cá…”

Petrus Castrus issued “Cândida” / “No concelho de cá…” in 1977 on Imavox. The single came from the group’s 1976 restart with the Castro brothers and drummer-percussionist Urbano Oliveira; bassist-percussionist Pedro Wallenstein joined the session. Both sides compress the band into shorter song form with brief solo passages. On “No concelho de cá…,” synthesizer and electric guitar state the central riff in unison.

A. “Cândida” (2:59)
B. “No concelho de cá…” [literal gloss: In This Municipality Here…] (3:55) – as a satirical pun on Conselho da Revolução [Council of the Revolution].

For the B-side title, I would consider leaving the Portuguese untouched in body copy. The dissertation source says the title works as a satirical pun on Conselho da Revolução and on the repeated sound of “cá,” so any English rendering flattens the joke.

Ascenção e Queda

Petrus Castrus released their second album, Ascenção e Queda, in late 1978 on Decca. Pedro Castro and José Castro rebuilt the band around drummer Urbano Oliveira, bassist Rui Serrã, guitarist Fernando Girão, and guest vocalists Lena d’Água and Nuno Rodrigues. Each side breaks the long tracks into named subsections.

“A Chegada” starts with wind sound, piano, and spoken-sung lines, then swells in its later stretch through layered voices and keyboard counterpoint. “A Revolta” cuts fast and unsettled, packs phrases close together, then clears into ordered piano passages and denser vocal overlap. “Ascenção” slows the pace and darkens the register with female chorus, martial tread, and repeated keyboard rises.

“Declínio e Ruptura” begins in spare acoustic narration, then breaks that stillness with frantic bursts and sharp sectional turns. “Indecisão e Demência” opens on a tense pulse and low-register figure, relaxes into a calmer vocal line, then fractures again through carnival turns, guitar breaks, and synthetic haze. “Queda” loops accusatory voices over urgent drums, inserts brief lyric lulls, then closes on guitar-piano unison and an emotional refrain.

A1. “I (A Chegada)” [I (The Arrival)] (7:03)
A2. “II (A Revolta)” [II (The Revolt)] (5:07)
A3. “III (Ascenção)” [III (The Rise)] (6:02)

B1. “IV (Declínio e Ruptura)” [IV (Decline and Rupture)] (6:13)
B2. “V (Indecisão e Demência)” [V (Indecision and Madness)] (7:12)
B3. “VI (Queda)” [VI (The Fall)] (7:25)

Petrus Castrus recorded Ascenção e Queda at Estúdios Valentim de Carvalho in Paço de Arcos between July 17 and July 22, 1978, with producer Nuno Rodrigues and engineers Filipe Manuel and Hugo Ribeiro.

Discography: