IL TEMPIO DELLE CLESSIDRE

One of my favourite Classic Italian Prog albums is Zarathustra from Museo Rosenbach, the final part of the epic titletrack delivers the most glorious and compelling Mellotron eruptions I have ever heard! The name of that part is Il Tempio Delle Clessidre, I got exited when I stumbled upon a new Italian band with the name Il Tempio Delle Clessidre and their eponymous debut CD. Well, no coincidence, the singer of Il Tempio Delle Clessidre is Stefano "Lupo" Galifi, once the singer of that legendary and highly acclaimed Museo Rosenbach.

We can enjoy outstanding, very passionate vocals, an awesome vintage keyboard sound, exciting guitarplay (loaded with propulsive riffs and fiery runs) and a fluent rhythm-section. The inventive compositions contain a huge variety and lots of dynamics, in the vein of the Classic Italian Prog bands.

The start in the first short and instrumental track Verso L'Alba is Vintage Keyboard Heaven: a heavy Hammond and powerful guitar, accompanied by Mellotron violins and a fat Minimoog solo, I love this compelling sumptuous prog! This turns out to be Il Tempio Delle Clessidre their trademark, only the song Boccadasse is a bit of a maverick: a polished sound, at some moments even a bit smooth but wonderful interplay between fiery guitar and sumptuous keyboards.

My highlights.

Insolita Parte Di Me : majestic Mellotron, sparkling piano, a flashy synthesizer solo and a wonderful final part with emotional vocals.

La Stanza Nascota : a classical atmosphere with acoustic guitar, violin, piano and tender vocals, wonderfully build up to a compelling final part with lush Mellotron choirs, goose bumps!

Danza Esoterica Di Narura: very alternating, from fiery electric guitar to swirling Grand piano, like Keith Emerson.

Faldistorium: bombastic Hammond, powerful guitar with intense Mellotron violins and finally a church organ sound.

In L'Attesa the band rocks, with strong electric guitar and bombastic keyboard outbursts (Hammond and Moog) in the vein of Seventies ELP, topped by passionate vocals, again an extra dimension!

Il Centro Sottile : strong vocals, sensitive electric guitar and another great vintage keyboard sound in the final part (Grand piano, Mellotron and Moog).

What an outstanding debut CD, another stunning Italian progrock highlight in the last two decades.

After this debut album the band released two other studio-albums (alieNatura in 2013 and Il-Lūdĕre in 2017) and a live DVD featuring a new version of the legendary epic Zarathustra by Museo Rosenbach.