ZOICEKARDIÁ

Aria Palea is an italian contemporary prog band that focuses on acoustic and electric interplay, with an important role for flute. Instruments are reduced to the essence: flute, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums and percussions. The unespected element are the recitative and weird vocals that in some parts really reach the highest level of theatrical development I ever listened to. Just try, for example, the intro "Zoicekardìa (Prologo)" where recitative vocals alternates to strange laughings and noises until flute comes in and opens for an interesting duo/interplay with electric guitar, in a jazzy temper a la Jethro Tull's This Was. Very interesting, especially for Tull's lovers as I am.

The general sound of the album is clearly and freely inspired to early Jethro Tull, and also Stand Up features as the isnpiration here. The track "Scena Dopo Scena", in particular, has a similar structure of the Tull's big classic "A New Day Yesterday". Other tracks are more freely played with more improvisation and quasi-jazzy feel as "Verso la Foresta". Very good work on acoustic guitar, I admit it. The whole record is convincing and should be in any prog folk collection.

The magnum opus here is the closer "Zoicekardìa (Il Volo)" which is the longer song, over 11 minutes with high level of progressiveness and improvisation with the opportunity for all the band's members to show their own talents. Lyrics are not in italian but, I presume, in local dialect from where the band comes: the southern part of Puglia. This is a peculiarity of the italian prog folk experience, since the folk side of music depends on, mainly, to the local traditions that still are very strong here. The most relevant example is Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare and their lyrics in Neaples' dialect.

Aria Palea really deserves much more attention, even from fans of the italian prog experience. The fact that the prog folk sound was and is still almost always behind the scenes, explain well why this fine band remains one of the most obscure ones.

A really unique Italian group from Lecce, Aria Palea's story starts in the fall of 1992, when Apollonio Tommasi attended the Ghetonia's act cultural circle in the village of Calimera, where guitarist Emanuele Licci ran the bar.Licci was a friend of drummer Egidio Marullo, the three came in touch and decided to form their own group.The latest additions were singer Gigi De Giorgi and flutist Gianluca Milanese.A demo tape was sent to Pick Up Records, but mysteriously it was Loris Furlan from Lizard label who contacted the band for a contract.The debut of Aria Palea was recorded in Brindisi and was the second overall release of Lizard.The title ''Zoicekardi'a'' means ''life and heart'' in Greek, presenting the most unique aspect of the group: Small part of the lyrics were sung in Griko, a local dialect in South Italy, a mix of Greek and Italian spoken by the forgotten people of the Griko villages.

Having come in touch with the original music of the Griko Ghetonia act, Tommasi and his company had thrown strong Ethnic and Folk components in their rock approach, while the style of the band had also plenty of poetic and theatrical elements.The music is driven by the extended use of flutes and the delicate acoustic guitars, which are blended with harder, guitar-led grooves.The style ranges from Folk Rock with jazzy overtones to aggressive Hard Rock with furious and impressive guitar solos, while the singer Gigi De Giorgi has an unmet, theatrical vocal expression, sometimes with an over-the-top delivery.There are strong hints by bands such as DALTON, DELIRIUM and OSANNA to be found throughout the release, while the rhythm section has a superb rockin' attitude, being powerful and energetic all the way.Among the folkier moments and well-constructed textures Aria Palea use some sort of loose structures with psychedelic vibes to make their music more diverse and attractive.The result is very good, especially on the last jammin' track ''Zoicekardi'a (Il volo)'' and its semi-improvised atmosphere, split in harder and softer passages.

Not your typical Prog Folk release.''Zoicekardi'a'' by Aria Palea is an album that carries the story of a whole civilization, apart from the music, which remains energetic, tight and consistent all the way.Absolutely essential for Prog Folk followers and warmly recommended for all the rest.

ARIA PALEA was a band that rode the wave of the prog revival of the 90s which spawned all kinds of interesting new bands that have paved the way for the ensuing decades to come and with the advent of the internet, bands from far flung places could now participate in the resurgence of interest that peaked in the 70s and then took a brief snooze. This quintet that began with Gianluca Milanese (flute, saxophone, clarinet), Egidio Marullo (drums, percussion), Apollonio Tommasi (bass), Gigi De Giorgi (vocals), Emanuele Licci (guitar) and Fiorino Calogiuri (vocals) and came from the extreme southeastern city of Leccia which sits on the heel of Italy's boot shape overlooking Albania to the west.

Although when one thinks about Italian prog it's natural to assume it involves some sort of passionate symphonic display of theatricality with operatic vocals and stunning dynamic interplays between keyboards, guitars and other instruments like the flute however there has always been a smaller group of prog oriented Italian bands that have gravitated to the folkier side of things with classic artists like Canzoniere del Lazio, Aktuala, Delirium, Carnascialia and Stormy Six just to name a few doing just that. Following in the footsteps of these pioneers were several Italian bands that were more influenced by the pastoral sounds of 70s Genesis or the classic sounds of Jethro Tull over the more operatic homegrown sounds from bands like PFM or Banco.

ARIA PALEA formed in 1993 and released two albums in the 90s with this debut ZOICEKARDI'A coming out in 1996. The title supposedly means "life and heart" in Greek ( ζωή και καρδιά). This album is basically a whole bunch of influences thrown in the mix without a lot of originality in display. The opening title track will immediately think you threw on an Area album, particularly "Maledetti (Maudits)" where Demetrio Stratos engages in all those weird vocal gymnastics but as soon as that track is finished the band jumps into a proggy form of folk rock that takes a bit of Jethro Tull's flute driven rock moments and mixes it with acoustic pastoral sections from 70s Genesis. As with many Italian bands ARIA PALEA opts to sing in its native tongue which by its very nature gives the album a distinction from its English influences.

Comparisons to bands like Dalton and Finistrerre do ring true but ARIA PALEA is a little sloppy and sound like they are a garage band just getting their feet wet and nowhere near the big boy's league of crafting complex memorable melody driven prog workouts that tug on the heartstrings while dazzling with pyrotechnic instrumental antics. With a total of eight tracks half are over seven minutes long and therefore instead of crafting unexpected twists and turns the band tends to rely on a simple bass groove where the members improvise upon. Gigi De Giorgi's vocals are fairly weak but he gets the job done however there are some cringing moments where his voice falls flat. The second ending title track extends past the 11 minute mark but is fairly undynamic and the weakest track on the album.

On the positive side, ARIA PALEA doesn't sound like any other band that i've heard despite similarities and obvious influences but on the downside this band wasn't ready for primetime and sounds like its struggling to maintain its chops while creating decent yet average sounding songs that occasionally sound awkward. The band is certainly on the right track in crafting its own distinct identity but just hasn't mastered the songwriting and musical performances to bring it to fruition. An interesting album that mixes folk and rock with other elements such as slight touches of jazz, blues and even classical but unfortunately this album seems a little aimless at times as it drifts from track to track trying to grasp onto something that sticks.