ALTERED NIGHTS

Hall of Mirrors 3 full releases (Reflections On Black- 2007, Forgotten Realm-2009 and Altered Nights-2012) have been spinning in my studio for some time now. I, in this carrousel of their music, have found a tendency to turn back to "Altered Nights", thus I chose it as my first Hall of Mirrors review.

Hall of Mirrors is fronted mainly by Andrea Marutti and Giuseppe Verticchio, although this release features many other fellows.

Hall of Mirrors' sound has a distinctive "coven" like quality. Many, you may suggest, deal with this kind of environments, but few, I may add, are so consciously centered in between obscure and light, therefore resembling the true ritual of finding your own path, be it white or black. No imposition on your will as long as you are searching or at least know where you are heading. If I feel the likes of the obscure or find myself in state of enlightment or detached from humanity's mechanics or hungry for mystery or inspiration, this release has an strange quality in following and filling these moods with alternate and enticing, but never forceful, paths of companionship.

There are no user friendly sections or intentions, no mainstream prog happy twinkling bells nonsense, nor obscure "bad boy" antics, opposite to that the music grows monumentally and organically like a living entity, half angel/half beast, too huge to actually care to be anyone's b-tch.

"Altered Nights", as I mentioned, features many collaborators and these fellows bring on to the table all their abilities and it becomes so enriching to get lost in this extremely well crafted, "full house", pulse/drone/noise music labyrinths.

Flawless, non-stop creative, dynamic, unique, daring and uncompromising and yes, as mentioned, monumental.

*****5 PA stars.