DISCESA AGL'INFERI D'UN GIOVANE AMANTE

Progressive rock from Italy is alive and as good as ever!

One of my favorite (if not my favorite) countries regarding progressive rock has to be Italy, I love their style, their language, their theatrical music, that unique sound they produce, well, a lot of things, and I really love how their scene is alive and kicking asses with old and new bands, creating a fantastic combo. One of the bands that lately has come to the air, and caught lot of attention is Il Bacio della Medusa, and especially this album entitled "Discesa agl'inferi d'un giovane amante".

Released on 2008, the album has been praised by the prog rock fans, and when you listen to it, you understand why. It is so refreshing that newer bands offer such great, complex, challenging albums utilizing elements of the old RPI school with the addition of newer sounds, an extraordinary combination. This album consists on twelve tracks which together make 55 minutes of excellent music.

It kicks off with "Preludio: Il Trapasso" a track that starts slowly with some wind noises which then lead to the entrance of piano, flute, voice, violin and other instruments. The sound is pretty charm and gentle, beautiful since the beginning. Next to it is "Confessione d'un amante" which continues with that gentle sound of piano and strings. When the vocals enter the music makes a slight change, so one can be aware that this is a different track. The voice is also beautiful, and accompanied by those instruments, believe me, a wonderful atmosphere is created. There is some nostalgia in this track and moments where you can lie down in your bed and let the music do the rest.

But surprise, you are still in that gentle mood when all of a sudden the music changes, so you are now in the third track entitled "La bestia e il delirio", a rockier piece with great keyboard work on it, a constant and excellent drumming and then some nice guitar solos. I imagine some kind of pursuit while listening to this song (to the rockier part of it), because after a couple of minutes it changes again, creating a pastoral mood with flute and some slaps that start slow but gradually turns faster. This is a fascinating and adventurous instrumental track.

"Recitativo" is a nice piece. If I follow the story I create on my mind, in this track seems that things have calm down a little bit, and the main character of the story is walking carefully and seeing what is around him. The music keeps that tension while a voice is narrating something (shame on me I can't fully understand Italian). This track leads to "Ricordi del Supplizio" that truly reminds me to some 70s bands that surely inspired this group. The guitars are rockier again, the keyboard sound stronger and the vocals raw but great, there is also a cool flute adding its grain of sand all over the track.

After that heavier track, once again that pastoral and charming sound returns at the beginning of "Nostalgia, pentimento e rabbia". This very interesting song gradually progresses; while the seconds pass you will identify new musical elements on it. The flute is pretty important again, it is easy to recognize what it is playing and difficult to take it off your head. At the final part, that repetitive rhythm is also made by guitars, not only by the flute, which is great.

Now attention, because when you listen to a saxophone then you'll realize it is a new track called "Sudorazione a freddo sotto il chiaro di luna". It is full of cadence first and then a sensation of leadership and power appears for a minute, before it calms down. A new passage appears with acoustic guitar and soft dreamy music. However, the song changes again and again, which is pretty interesting due to the richness of sounds, colors and textures it shares.

"Melencolia" as the name suggests, it has to be a calm song with a gentle sound. The song is beautiful, though I have to recognize it is not one of my favorite pieces. However, you can feel relaxed and thoughtful while listening to it. That flute sound at the end is simply hypnotic. When that flute stops, you are now on "E fu allora". The sax returns here and creates that charismatic (even sensual) sound. Later it is alternate with guitar solos, and together take the leadership of the song.

So, that was an instrumental track, when vocals appear it is a new one, entitled "Nosce te ipsum". This track has hypnotic keyboard sound, while a disarming violin is playing. It also has great time and tempo changes that help building different structures gathered into only one, I hope you understand what I mean. This track brings again to my memory to some older bands, if you don't know you are listening to Il Bacio, then you might believe a 70s band is playing.

"Corale per messa da requiem" sounds actually as a requiem, as the name suggests. The violin is very delicate and creates a beautiful atmosphere accompanied by the piano and some choral voices. What an extraordinary piece, the end is near, I can feel it, and that, along with the music moves me a lot, that it even brought me to tears. Now we are in the final track, "Epilogo della discesa agl'inferi d'un giovane amante", a short instrumental piece that follows the same path as the previous track. A beautiful end for this beautiful album!

This album is highly recommendable for any progressive rock fan, and especially for those who love the scene from Italy. My grade, five stars!

Enjoy it!

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