FINISTERRE

For the 25th anniversary of their debut album, this band from Genova, Italy decided to re-record it with the current line-up. It's a pretty grand stretch of music with a lot of variety. Naturally, the approach and textures of PFM are an inspiration, and there are hints of Focus and the instrumental stretches of Caravan. The big chord mellotron thing happens every so often. The drums sometimes have a Carl Palmer-esque rhythmic flexibility. Although I've owned a couple of Finisterre CD's, I'm not familiar with the debut that this recreates. But if I hop over to Youtube and sample the old one there, first impression is that the newly recorded sound is more open, with more prominent drums and more polish to the performances. If I had immersed myself in the atmosphere of the original over time, would I consider this re-recording to be an upgrade? I guess I'll never know.

The Nineties was hardly the most fertile time for Italian prog and RPI flavoured bands, but one of them that instantly stood out and are still very highly spoken about are the mighty Finisterre, formed in Genoa in 1993. The group is sometimes a little unfairly thought of these days as `That group Fabio Zuffanti used to play in (Zuffanti, for those not in the know, is perhaps the closest Italian equivalent to someone like Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson, a modern progressive music icon of great status, talent and knowledge in the progressive music community)', but they were so much more than that, with that evidence rife throughout their dynamic self-titled debut from 1995. It may offer all the classical and theatrical bombast that many Italian groups do, but `Finisterre' also manages to capture the tough danger that permeated many of those best-kept-secret RPI discs a world away from the polish of many of the more widely known classics, and it delivers plenty of the ravishing playing, raw unpredictability and daring experimentation of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso.

Predominantly (perhaps surprisingly) instrumental, sure enough the disc even opens with two of them, `Aqua' a low-key ambient introduction, but `Asia' is a classic RPI blast of skittering drums, searing heavy keyboards and coarse guitar blasts, where Sergio Grazia's dirty huffing flute calls to mind Biglietto per L'Inferno's classic debut and the crisp guitar solo in the finale contains a distinctly 80's icy Marillion tone. Once the disc settles into its first longer vocal piece,`Macinaaqua, Macinaluna', it reveals sweeping fanciful themes with little traces of whimsy and playfulness, even finding time to playfully flit in and out of popular classical themes. Fabio's bass is proudly thick and slinking, Boris Valle's keys offer everything from whirring electronics, upfront synth noodling and doomed romantic piano, and not only do Stefano Marelli's guitars weave seductively in a Pink Floyd-by-way-of-the-blues manner, but he also delivers a wounded and melancholic vocal with a tasty hint of pleading madness!

The snaking guitars, sparkling early a.m hours piano, murky slithering bass and sharp rattling snap to Marco Cavani's jazzy drums of improvised instrumental `...Dal Caos...' creep with the same strangled tension of early King Crimson, but it's a mere tease at only just over three minutes and clearly truncated from a longer jam before its proper end. The fifteen minute instrumental `Συν' is another of the longer pieces, a highly emotional epic of contrasting moods and schizophrenic direction changes, full of whimsical and spirited up-tempo runs and big symphonic moments. Much attention is given to sparkling classical piano and Sergio's sublime flute, but it also seductively works in reflective violin, looping electronics, strangled sax, and a haunting male/female operatic choir.

`Isis' turns stormy and tough in between washes of ambient electronics, droning treated faraway multi-tracked vocals and unhurried mysterious improvised drifts in the manner of King Crimson's `Moonchild' and a stark but ultimately hopeful acoustic finale, and Fabio takes the lead vocal for the surprisingly pretty and pleasing nearly twelve-minute `Cantoantico', with plenty of chiming guitars (the mix of acoustic guitars even briefly remind of Porcupine Tree), a spotlight again placed on Sergio's spiralling flute and a stirring choir in the finale. The up-tempo instrumental closer `Phaedra' is a culmination of everything the band have delivered throughout the disc, with plenty of runaway drums, furious electric guitar blasts and breakneck keyboard pomp, taking brief pauses time for pristine piano reflections and intimidating spacey diversions.

Perhaps the album is just a little too long (damn that CD ability to squeeze in more music than vinyl LP's!), but there's no denying the sheer talent on display and the endless high quality of the material. Parts of this version of the band would split following the release of this album, but the remaining members would regroup with additional players to release another landmark Nineties RPI stunner `In Liminie' only a year later, and the jury is still out on which is the better of these two! But `Finisterre', hailing from a pretty lean decade for RPI, is a thrilling and unique work that deserves to be treasured and still investigated today, and it truly might be something of a `modern' Italian Prog classic.

Four and a half stars.

Finally, after five years of silence regarding some new material, Zuffanti would get Finisterre back in the studio for the fourth chapter in the life of this interesting group.The band found a new home on Franz Di Cioccio's Immaginifica label and the work started in September 2003, lasting a bit less than six months.The core of Zuffanti/Valle/Marelli is joined by Zaal's and future La Maschera di Cera's keyboardist Agostino Macor and Marco Cavani on drums, another piece of La Maschera di Cera's upcoming future.The band is also helped by Franz Di Cioccio himself on drums on one track, Höstsonaten's Fausto Sidri on percussion, Luca Guercio on flugehorn and Carlo Carnevali on voices.

This effort by Finisterre shows a switch towards the earlier style of atmospheric Italian Prog with strong references to the 70's with less evident Folk and jazzy vibes and a style heavily relying on symphonic synths, odd Mellotron showering and extremely dramatic guitar moves.A couple of tracks will only escape for the basic rule and show glimpses of a more modern group with heavier guitar moves and very expressive vocals, sometimes offered with a light distortion, I can even detect a slight Post Rock brushstroke in these pieces.The rest of the album though is certainly among the classic lines of the genre with emphatic keyboard waves, even with dual washes of synths and Mellotron, and a tendency towards a singer/songwriter type of music in the acoustic passages.Gears are constantly down but this won't prevent the band from producing rich, instrumental textures, crying electric movements and haunting full-blown orchestral-like pomposity.Excellent arrangements with intense soundscapes, slightly complex themes and heavy doses of instrumental symphonicism.A more downtempo and smoother version of LA MASCHERA DI CERA would be the most accurate description for ''La meccanica naturale''.

Again this is another solid and consistent piece of music art created by Finisterre.Atmospheric, first-class Italian Prog with both vintage and contemporary leanings, performed by a company of talented guys.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

This set was recorded at ProgDay in 1997, and was originally released on Peter Renfro's own Proglodite label. As with the DFA release this has been issued as a Digipak, and that is not the only similarity as yet again this is an Italian band playing their first gig in America. Musically there are also some similarities in the way that they can both play ferocious rock that is interspersed with some gentle vocals. The major musical difference in that Finisterre also feature flautist Sergio Grazia, who provides the band with an extra melody element.

The first time I played this was on a long car journey and I was taken with the clarity of the production and the way that the band can seamlessly move from one musical idea to another. There is quite a strong jazz element, and is outside of the 'normal' prog scene, which cannot be a bad thing. This is an interesting album that also contains their cover of PFM's "Altaloma" that was missing from the original release. Worth hearing.

Originally appeared in Feedback #64, Dec 01

As Zuffanti steadily moved on to procuce new projects over and over, is was more than apparent that Finisterre was not his main priority anymore.In 2000 the live of the band at Progday 97' was released in two versions, as ''Storybook'' in Europe by Moonjune Records and simply entitled ''Live at Progday 1997'' by Proglodite for the US market.The decline of the band was confirmed in 2001, when Finisterre officially took a break so the band members could focus on their various emerging projects.However in 2002 an interesting double-CD compilation was released on Mellow Records.

This is more than a simple compilation, as ''Harmony of the spheres'' serves a variety of different roles, containing live Finisterre material, unreleased tracks of both Hostsonaten and Finisterre, demo versions of already known tracks, covers of songs by Camel, Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator as well as personal arrangements by Finisterre's keyboardist Boris Valle and Fabio Zuffanti (under the project Quadraphonic), ending up in a sum of tracks clocking at over 2.5 hours!The live material of Finisterre consists of three tracks from the band's debut in more improvised versions but keeping all the grandeur and deep atmosphere of the compositions, great Italian Prog with plenty of symphonic and Jazz elements.The unreleased tracks of the band are interesting as well, nice and atmospheric Italian Prog with evident psychedelic influences and a tendency towards atmospheric passages.Hostsonaten's bonus material goes from hypnotic Post-Rock to full-blown Italian Symphonic Rock with organ and mellotron in evidence and again holds plenty of interest.

The demo versions of the Finisterre's tracks from the self-titled debut do not differ much from the studio versions.The sound of course is very raw and the production is rather rough, but all the intensity of the music and the great instrumental parts are present.Mr. Zuffanti has also chosen three Classic Prog tracks to be covered by his band, both Genesis' ''Harlequin'' and Camel's ''Nimrodel'' carry the same beautiful arrangements but the surprise comes with Van Der Graaf Generator's ''Refugees'', where Peter Hammill's voice has been now replaced by an operatic female singer and the track is driven exclusively by a string section, ending up to be a very positive whole new experience.

Boris Valle's solo material is much related to Hostsonaten's music.A hypnotic, ethereal and dreamy mix of Ambient music, Folk and Post-Rock with great flute and trombones throughout.Unfortunately I cannot type the same for Zuffanti's Quadraphonic effort.A 20-min. repetitive listening of Electronics and Ambient with mechanical programmed drums and nervous loops, which sounds a bit interesting, but fails to impress included in such a release, not to add that is way too overstretched.

To summarize, ''Harmony of the spheres'' is a good to great - and very different -compilation of tracks not only for Finisterre newbies but also for those deep into both Finisterre and Hostonaten releases.The unreleased material, the powerful energetic live cuts as well as the good cover tracks are likely to please all fans of diverse and flexible prog sounds.Strongly recommended, it is certain you will find plenty to like among these 150 minutes of artistic music...3.5 stars.

After the brilliant ''In limine'' drummer Marcelo Mazzocchi left Finisterre to be replaced by Andrea Orlando and the band started a US tour during the summer of 97',highlighted by their performance at Progday.The same year their first live album ''Live... Ai margini della terra fertile'', recorded in Italy and France, sees the light,but this was also their last on Mellow Records.The band moved to Iridea Records and released their third studio album ''In ogni luogo'' in 1998,helped by Francesca Lago on vocals,Hostsonaten/ex-Eris Pluvia Edmondo Romano on reeds and future Zaal member Sergio Caputo on strings.

This time Zuffanti & co. searched for a more specific style of playing steeped with a variety of atmospheres and the sound on ''In ogni luogo'' is deeply atmospheric Progressive Rock with Post Rock elements,characterized by crunchy guitars, spacey melodic solos and hypnotic keyboards and pianos.But while every track moves more or less through this path,Zuffanti and Marelli blend it every time with different tastes,like symphonic orchestrations,powerful rhythm sections,folkish tunes and jazzy overtones.Typical examples are the strong, groovy but trully atmospheric dark cut ''Ninive'',the long ''Coro elettrico'' with the nice combination of rock music with driving violins,not unlike P.F.M. of ''Chocolate kings''/''Jet lag''-era,the symhonic folk instrumental ''Le città indicibili'' or the obscure Post-Rock/Jazz/Prog ''Continuità dilaraneltempo''.The band uses also the advances of technology with pre-recorded narrations,distorted instrumentation and sound effects to make the album quite unique and personal.

While not reaching the unapproachable level of ''In limine'',the new Finisterre album finds the band crimping into deep waters,establishing a more focused style with an extreme diversity of different, light influences and comes strongly recommended not only for fans of their previous albums,but also anyone searching for some really serious music...3.5 stars.

Excellent performance!

This is the result of a live performance recorded back in 1997 at the Prog Day Festival, and in my opinion, a clear example of the exquisite sound of this Italian band. Finisterre is one of the projects of Fabio Zuffanti, a prolific musician who has given a lot to progressive rock for the last two decades, with several projects full of quality. This band has a special symphonic flavor, with clear influence of those old RPI bands, but with a fresh sound nonetheless.

In this CD which was released in 2000, (in spite as I said it was recorded in 1997) offers excellent performances of eight songs, four of them reaching more than ten minutes length, and six of them shorter ones, all, making a total and truly enjoyable time of 77 minutes. So once you play this album, sit comfortable and enjoy what you will listen. Important to say, that the songs performed here were taken from their first two studio albums (Finisterre, and In Limine), in addition to one cover (Altaloma, original by PFM).

Lush keyboards, wonderful strong bass lines, challenging compositions and a first-class musical execution is what you will find here. Songs such as "In Limine", "Macinaaqua, Macinaluna", "Canto Antico" or "Orizzonte Degli Eventi" will delight you with their great sound, so the music will take you to the ProgDay itself, you will feel like being there listening to this cool symphonic music. Worth mentioning is that in some passages the band made a homage to some older prog dinosaurs, such as King Crimson or Genesis, playing some representative notes, and of course, the most evident homage to their countrymen, Premiata Forneria Marconi with "Altaloma".

Though I really enjoy this live performance and I highly recommend it, it is not what I would call a masterpiece, so my final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

Finisterre's second album ''In Limine'' represents quite a departure from their first release. Whereas their debut was a broadly symphonic work, ''In Limine'' is a more eclectic collection of tracks that seem to go through the entire gamut of musical styles. A number of guest musicians appear adding winds and a string section to the band's already formidable armoury, although one area where this does share common ground with the first album is that vocals are once again few and far between.

Fast tracking to the end of the album we find its two big-hitters, which together define Finisterre's non-linear approach to their epic pieces. This is a whole new ball game mind you. The first of these two tracks, ''Algos'', begins with impressionistic piano before going off on a number of tangents that eventually lead to a repetitive electronics passage. This closely resembles Pink Floyd's ''On The Run'' as other reviewers have previously alluded to. It's a surprising twist but Finisterre's music is very much a contrast of disparate elements. They showed on their first album that they were masters of circumlocution but this album's ''Orrizionte Degli Eventi'' takes us to another level via its disorientating procession through numerous overlapping jazz, classical and rock sections.

The jazz/avant influences continue on the atmospheric ''Preludio'' and ''Ideenkleid Leibnitz Frei'', both of which feature saxophone to good effect. The former track also includes some typically fuzzed-out guitar and fans of King Crimson might well enjoy Stefano Marelli's electric guitar tone. Overall though, there's actually quite an acoustic feel to this album. Nylon guitar and flute are prominent on several tracks with ''Hispanica'' and ''Interludio'' in particular displaying a strong Mediterranean folk influence, the latter track even features panpipes.

The many-sided nature of ''In Limine'' possibly makes it a more interesting though less coherent album than its melodic predecessor, but what it lacks in coherence it more than makes up for in progressiveness.

The debut album by Finisterre has a little bit of everything, and for me it's pretty much the epitome of seventies-inspired modern Italian symphonic prog. It opens with the wan but atmospheric ''Aqua'', a curious choice to get things under way as it's arguably the weakest track on the album. This is followed by its polar opposite ''Asia'', a pithy track that rattles along at a good old pace and features bustling flute and guitar exchanges.

So far so nondescript, but ''Macinaaqua, Maciluna'' hints at some of the goodies in store during the second half of the album. This song has its tongue firmly in its cheek as it juxtaposes Hendrix guitar licks with Mozart and Gershwin piano snapshots, while the singer sounds as if he's not far off the edge of a nervous breakdown. A strange little piece of circus-like music follows but then the guitar kicks in with an absolute humdinger of a guitar riff to finish the track. Now they're talking my language.

''... Dal Caos...'' is a nervous, finicky concoction that tips its hat to King Crimson with yawping saxophone and dissonant guitar licks that seem to leapfrog each other in a race toward the album's centrepiece, ''SYN''. I'm not going to make a vain attempt to describe this maze of musical thoughts, other than to say it overflows with typical Italian spirit and is brim-full of elaborate details. Despite its disorderly nature it never unravels into a mere succession of sonic knots or clusters, thanks to the pivotal use of its many motifs and fragments.

There are precious few vocals on this album and those at the start of ''Isis'' sound like some kind of incantation, which is soon overrun with viscous, visceral guitar riffs. This is very much an album of contrasting moods that draws from a diverse set of sources. For example, the plaintive guitar and flute melodies of ''Cantoantico'' sound like well-ordered infusions of Middle Eastern and folk influences, whereas closing track ''Phaedra'' is a helter-skelter mix of fast and slow passages that alternate between piano in restrained mood and guitar in full cry.

This to me is an essential album for fans of symphonic RPI, although readers might want to take my review cum grano salis since I'm a big fan of Fabio Zuffanti's numerous projects. However, I think I've got more than a grain of salt in my pumpkin and this really is an album to brighten up the torpor of any dull day.

Another very nice discovery from Italy.

I have very little knowledge about Finisterre's music before I got this album from Moonjune Records. Well, I also have the In Limine album in my Mount Everest like mountain of albums I want to review for PA before the end of next decade. I think it is fair to say that the Fabio Zuffiani interview and this live album has pushed both that album and the rest of the albums I have from him pretty much to the top of this mountain.

This live album is from their gig in the USA in 1997. I am not sure about the full story......... ProgDay '97 it is, according to the other reviews here. And it is the full performance. Which makes this live album so great. You get the "you are beautiful" comments from the band to the audience too, which is both funny and very charming. I am glad they included this in this live album. The interaction between the band and the audience adds a lot to this live album.

....... Which brings us over to the music........ Finisterre's music has a contemporary feeling, but it is still rooted in the RPI scene. The keyboards is vintage. The same goes for the vocals and the guitars. The sound is also excellent. The performance is top notch.

The quality of the songs is here more or less a reflection of the band itself. I guess they did not travel all the way from Italy to USA to play obscure substandard material from their albums. Hence, I suspect this is more or less a greatest songs package and a reflection of where Finisterre stood at that point. Finisterre has nothing to be ashamed off, to put it like this. Their brand of RPI is at times pretty fusion like and close to the Canterbury Scene. The use of flute enhances their soundscape. The songs itself are all great. The best one is Orizzonte Degli Eventi which alone is reason enough to scramble for the credit card and the rest of their albums. The rest of the songs is excellent too. The inclusion of King Crimson and Genesis songs into one of their songs is excellent too. Finisterre put on a good show that night, I believe.

The great songs aside; this is a live album with a very good live feeling and a lot of warmth. You can melt glaciers with this good humoured live album. My only gripe is the lack of some really killer tracks, but that is my only gripe. This live album is as good as it can get from the RPI scene and Finisterre has found themselves a new fan.

4.5 stars