INFERNO

Metamorfosi's Inferno is a remarkable record that sits somewhere in the middle between Italian pop, rock, opera and synth-dominated heavy prog. It is often called dark and sinister, an impression further enhanced by the bleak artwork, and it certainly is quite gothic from a 70s perspective. Of course, by today's standards it is fairly mild and friendly.

A common critique is the production, or rather the mix, which is rather blurry. The keyboards are very upfront and drown out much of the over-compressed rhythm section. Luckily, the keyboard work is very original and outstanding, a word of praise not often given by this reviewer, at least not to rock albums. A proper mix might have made the impact of the chilling synths and the creepy church organs much grander, but on the other hand, the production gives the album a very personal sound and atmosphere. As a reference, only VDGG's more sinister moments of Pawn Hearts come to mind. Besides, the mix is not so bad that it spoils the experience, just crank this one up and it works!

In true RPI fashion we get remarkable vocals: very dynamic, heavy and emotive. A sort of lower register version of Banco if you like. Also the music matches the high RPI standards, being very diverse and imaginative, sometimes lyrical and romantic, sometimes heavy, sometimes creepy and even avant. But everything blends together quite well. Only by exception do we get fragmented material such as the short Avari which has an abrupt tempo change before fading out prematurely. But that's a small price to pay for such original music.

Not everyone's taste for sure but that only makes it more interesting to investigate. A truly remarkable and excellent album.