RINGS OF EARTHLY LIGHT

Another band among those appeared in the late 80's/early 90's Italian prog movement,ERIS PLUVIA came from Genova and were found in 1988 by Alessandro Cavatorti (guitar), Paolo Raciti (piano and keyboard), Edmondo Romano (flute and sax), Marco Forella (bass), Martino Murtas (drums) and Alessandro Serri (vocals and guitar).The band gigged extensively with tracks already composed for their debut since their early years.A demo entitled ''Pushing together'' appeared in 1990 making them more known to the audience and next year ''Rings of earthly light'' sees indeed the earthly light,with original member Alessandro Cavatorti participating only on the acoustic guitar parts of the early track ''Glares Of Mind''.

STYLE: ERIS PLUVIA were one of the few bands in Italy to sing in English lyrics,however their sound is a mix of English and Italian Prog.Soft,romantic,melodic,intricate,filled with medieval tunes and acoustic guitars,''Rings of earthly light'' comes like a cross between Symphonic and Folk Rock.Reasonably the album is highlighted by the 17 min. title track,containing all the above characterictistics: alternating electro-acoustic guitars,flute recorders everywhere,smooth male and female vocals adding a medieval taste,percussions sounds from another age with sax parts being a major reference of the band's sound.The shorter tracks are a mixed bag of Symphonic Rock and Medieval music,where keys (mostly piano and harpsichord) and flutes are more present.Nice folk- tinged melodies,mellow guitar solos and dominant flutes create a nice well-aged landscape of the mind.I can also detect a few jazzy/Canterbury-influenced guitar hooks in some electric parts.

SOUNDS LIKE/INFLUENCES: ERIS PLUVIA have a quite original approach to music,but I would easily compare them with a less dark,definitely folkier but equally atmospheric version of EZRA WINSTON.

PLUS: Excellent combination of Symphonic Rock tendencies and Medieval,archaic music.Nice melodic stuff all around,with parts of it being really atmospheric and emotional.Fantastic flute tunes coming from the past.The title track and the closer contains also fascinating sax work.Generally the arrangements are well-crafted and carefully composed.

MINUS: Very soft music overall,which lacks a bit in dynamics and energy.Biggest problem comes from the use of English lyrics and the rather unexpressionable mediocre male vocals.

WILL APPEAL TO: Anyone,who wants to enjoy some soft proggy relaxing music with folk leanings.Symphonic,Folk and Classic Prog fans have also some good reasons to search for this album.

CONCLUSION/RATING: A very good album of the post-70's Italian Prog scene,which has a lot to offer to is listener.I wish they only had sung the tracks in their native language. However,ERIS PLUVIA are over-saturated in terms of talent and ''Rings of earthly light'' can be a pure eartlhy delight for most of the prog fans.Highly recommended!