Paula Teles – Entreparedes

Paula Teles
Entreparedes
Label: Ethereal Sound Works
Out: April 30^th, 2025
Playing time: 28:23

‘Entreparedes’ is the second album of the Fado Progressive Symphonic Metal project by Paula Teles (born in Sousela, a small municipality in the district of Porto), following ‘Desencanto’. ‘Fado’ is a melancholic Portuguese musical style. It was produced to mark the centenary of the birth of guitarist Carlos Paredes. The album brings together two musical worlds: classic fado from Portugal with Symphonic and sometimes Progressive Rock/Metal. Of course, this also includes the traditional Portuguese guitar.

The instrumental piece ‘Prólogo’ is characterised by acoustic guitars, including the Portuguese guitar. You are immediately transported to the world of Portuguese music. ‘Ventre’ then sounds a little harder. And Paula Teles sings with her enchanting voice in her mother tongue. In addition to the rock sounds, there are also typical fado elements. ‘Pêndulo’ is a little quieter again at the beginning. Once again, acoustic guitars can be heard, accompanied by calm drumming. Paula’s vocals sound beguiling again. After a good minute, the rock instruments kick in again. ‘Contra-Regra’ rocks right from the start. Hard riffs form the contrast to the vocals. A lyric video was released for ‘II Acto’. Here, too, the musicians go harder. But the keyboards provide a slightly softer sound. You can clearly hear a progressive influence, melody and rhythm changes, sometimes weird-sounding guitars. The progressive influence is even more evident on ‘Ponto Cego’. At first, acoustic guitars accompany Paula’s calm vocals. Later, the vocals change to sometimes very high pitches, and it gets really rocking. At the end, a lot of epicness is added thanks to the orchestral passages. The final song ‘(Re) Encarnado’ starts with spoken words from the singer. Then the guitar riffs bang. The acoustic guitars can hold their own against this. Paula’s vocal partner here is Björn Strid (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra).

On ‘Entreparedes’, Paula Teles manages to walk the tightrope between classical Portuguese music and hard Rock, sometimes even Metal. There are also many progressive elements. This makes the songs very varied. But you have to listen to the music carefully to appreciate all the subtleties of the compositions and arrangements. There will certainly be different opinions about this album, both from fans of Rock and Metal as well as from people who like Portuguese Fado. I like it. And I hope that many other music lovers will also listen to this album intensively.

Paula Teles – II Acto: https://youtu.be/qi00du5JG8Y?si=BXfHgLKWLDN2dg04

Lineup:

Paula Teles – Vocals, Piano, Acoustic Guitar
Jorge Lopes – Guitar
Helder Lopes – All other Instruments (incl. Portuguese Guitar)

Track list:

• Prólogo
• Ventre
• Pêndulo
• Contra-Regra
• II Acto
• Ponto Cego
• (Re) Encarnado