UNDER A POLAR RED LIGHT

The Italian four piece formation Proteo started to play R&R in 1996 but very soon they changed their musical direction more towards progressive rock, gradually the band shaped their sound little by little through the years. Proteo released three demos: the first called A Glare From Depth in 1998, the second named Of Stars And Mind in 2001 (both recorded in their practice room) and the third is their first studio release named PROTEO from 2003. Meanwhile the band signed with progressive talian label Ma.ra.cash records and in September 2009 the debut CD entitled Under A Red Polar Light came out on sale worldwide. And in 2013 Proteo released a second effort entitled Republikflucht! ...Facing East from 2013. But this review is about their interesting debut CD.

The eight, often swinging compositions on Proteo their debut (running time around 50 minutes) sound like a very pleasant and melodic blend of pop and progressive rock. It contains lots of powerful guitar solos and subtle arrangements:

a break with catchy interplay between percussion, handclapping and guitar in Eternity,

delicate use of electric piano and saxophone in Australia,

a slow rhythm with propulsive guitar work and soaring keyboards in Tales From The Ocean

and strong interplay between the rhythm ? and lead guitar, culminating in a pretty raw solo in Robota.

You can hear these musicians play together for a long time, Proteo sounds like a tight unit with many interesting musical ideas. If you are up to the more commercial sound of Rush, Roxy Music and Supertramp or if you like prog pop with hints of The Police and 10CC, this is a band to discover.

My rating: 3,5 star.