The Italian Prog Appreciation den

Talk about a wild tumbling ride! Putting this record on, is like strapping yourself onto a dizzy cheetah going 60 miles an hour! Pheewiii! Italian spoken vocals spanning from a deep, sometimes abrasive narrative voice - bellowing stuff you´d most likely find in a horror movie - to galloping, frantic and downright earth shattering bass booming incantations. The lyrics here are of an apocalyptic nature speaking of some biblical doomsday scenario, the end of all things. I can quite easily picture the world going down in flames listening to this, although I don´t speak Italian. There´s a kind of meta language going on here, that all through this bumpy and ferocious ride is breathing it´s fiery dragon breath down your neck, like a long lost demon from a time where human kind believed in the potential of darkness. There are still some of us, who think that the blackness of night changes things that otherwise in the sunlight has no real significance.

The music within strikes me as a blend of nearly every genre that existed at the time. I mean wow, these guys jump from hard bluesy rock to psychedelic textures, a teaspoon of Kraut, gritty symphonics and feverish fusion. This is an album, that sounds like its running from something - over stock and stone leaving its hat and glasses - jumping over streams and shrubberies, and somehow, like magic, all of this maniacal behaviour gets handed over to the listener in a form that is neither uncomfortable or disagreeable. It gets under your skin, and by the 4th or 5th tour of this Italian excursion, you´ve already strapped yourself into the cockpit and bam! it´s off to an eclectic wilderness of mad and pumping notes.

Even though this passage of my review might come across as a joke- or it appears slightly absurd, - I do honestly think that Concerto delle Menti at times sounds like an absurd rock band playing like there was no tomorrow, whilst falling down a staircase with a large drunk opera-singer, who´s cursing out blasphemously in his sleep. Tumbling down the stairs, -in agreement though, as all these crazy dudes obviously spend a lot of time hanging out with the front man while he´s sleepwalking, - the music keeps on climbing in intensity and adding on some cacophonous qualities. It is experimental, but it is not that hard of a listen though, well at least to these ears that is... It is something that slices open a smile on my face, and furthermore has given me plenty of giggles the past year. I just need to think of this album, and swooop - I suddenly have this internal movie playing inside my head with a big ball of yarn made up of crazy Italian musicians falling down stairs...

Counterpointing these rambling sections - we get beautiful piano laden epiphanies with soaring mellotron and some lovely organs - evening things out a bit. Think of this album as a snorkel diving experience: A few deep breaths of air, and down the watery rabbit hole we dive. It is dark, schizophrenic, off-kilter and maybe out of your comfort zone, but once you´ve become accustomed to the darkness, you´ll see things in it that no longer feel frightening, and a whole new set of worlds develop in front of your eyes, and suddenly the surface no longer seems that important any more...