APOTEOSI

The prefatory instrumental piece 'Embrion' heralds in this incomparable treasure of an album: a baroque organ builds a nocturnal mood: a starry summer night sky... slow gliding synthesizers wash through the vista like wispy clouds obscuring a full moon. A darkly romantic serenading piano follows, which then erupts into an aggressive Jazz-like attack with an excellent rhythm and bassline underneath wondrous Moog leads from the masterful Massimo Idà. This short two minute piece is a masterpiece unto itself and contains more quality and emotion than some band's entire albums. And the best is still to come...

Mere words can not describe the magnificence of the 'Prima Realta, Frammentaria Rivolta' suite. In my opinion this is one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded. The first movement of this epic is an aggressive tour de force with myriad layers of synthesizer atmospherics and technically impeccable and emotive piano playing. The rhythm section is one of the best in all of the Rock Progressivo Italiano scene. The guitarist is good but often overshadowed by the virtuoso keyboardist most of the time.

The suite takes a dramatic shift into a soft mellow Pop-like arrangement which sets the stage for the singer's first appearance: delicate and haunting female vocals submerge the listener in a fantastical world of unparalleled emotion and languid beauty. Soft gentle cascades of flute and melancholic voice coalesce... a rare angelic beauty results. This portion of the opus is evocative of an Italian version of Minnie Riperton's hit 'Loving You'. This might seem like an odd comparison, but it's meant as a sincerely positive comment... just listen to the two songs back to back and see.

The song continues through a progression of alternating soft and hard themes; every movement of the suite is of extremely high quality and the atmosphere it weaves is inescapable... you become totally immersed.

'Il Grande Disumana' sustains the magic and contributes the most aggressive segments on the entire album. There is a great change of pace when male vocalist Franco Vinci takes over and wails like a banshee for a couple of verses... at one point he sounds close to Rob Halford of 'Judas Priest' when he hits a few particularly high notes in a very theatrical operatic style. I like this delivery very much, it is a great contrast to the tranquil female vocals.

The drummer also pounds out some very heavy double-bass patterns that remind me of Stained Class era Judas Priest. This is an extremely dynamic album... after the pseudo metal portion it morphs into a 'Selling England By The Pound'-style extended instrumental section with great synth soloing and guitar leads.

From beginning to end this album is just perfect: perfectly composed, performed, and recorded. This may just be my very favorite Italian Symphonic Prog album. Always melodic and dripping with emotion, there is never a dull moment.

I highly recommend this to all Symphonic Prog fans, and RPI fans in particular. 5 stars

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