MASTERS AND FOLLOWING

No idea why Presence was classified here as 'Rock Progressivo Italiano'. They are definitively not followers of PFM, Banco, Apoteosi, Locanda Delle Fate, Quella Vecchia Locanda etc. This amazing Italian band born in late 1980s performs a unique version of progressive metal. I would describe it as keyboard dominated prog metal with female vocals. (By the way, really brilliant vocals, not to be forgotten!) This very individual musical direction naturally had to lead the band's evolution to something anti-metal sooner or later. And voila! - here's its current stage: residually metal (though still quite heavy...) but excessively progressive I'd say. Almost every next bar is difficult to predict. The band's music became now so refined that from time to time it sounds close to medieval. So complex that often symphonic. So sophisticated that sometimes tending to avant prog. Of course this was not totally unexpected, the foundation stone was laid down back in 2000 (stunning Carnival from their masterpiece Gold)...

The latest album from Presence is, unlike their earlier ones, irregularly built. A lot of dynamism & action in each minute of playing time, but noticeably less action in almost every track in its entirety, and much (very much!) less action in the entire album. Probably that's why the whole matter of Masters And Following seems somewhat crumbly and marshy. Multiple but small islands of clarity among the vacillating matrix which a listener risks to fall through. In other words, the album is knocked together not strongly enough though full of really fruitful musical ideas. This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us should be marked a highlight, it's extremely atypical for the band's style.

The 'bonus' part (disc two) contains interesting re-arrangements of old songs, but how could synth drums invade instrumentations called 'orchestral'... A strange combination.

In brief, Masters And Following is an essential chapter in the musical novel named Presence, but Gold still remains their very best (at least to me, though I'm not a conservator at all).

A disturbing component of the whole structure is greetings from Judas Priest (Freewill Burning under Presence's sauce). Wish it was rejected.