LE PAROLE DEL VENTO

For OLOFERNE's sophomore offering, they added electric guitars and drums, offered up a veritable smorgasbord of modern and ancient styles, and displayed a versatility hitherto untapped. While the breath and quality remain impressive, it fails to set much of a mood in the manner in which their debut excelled.

The highlights continue to be in their ability to make the modern sound ancient, the best example being "Cristallo di Boemia", which recalls the atmospheres of the prior release. Similarly, "Vergine d'acetilene" blends the folk epochs and winds up being a fair Italian approximation of England's OYSTERBAND. Among the more pleasant surprises are the jangly alternative pop of "Colore ora c'è" and "L'albero di Alluminio". But alternative pop from Oloferne? That's almost as crazy as folk metal, which we get in "Capaneo", but Oloferne is not MAGO DE OZ by any stretch, so the attempts are ill advised.

The group's prog aspirations have never been clearer than on the finale "Habiba", which proposes a 10 minute middle eastern meets hard rock epic. Admirably ambitious, it's a must for prog folk fans. The group has never sounded more menacing, but the messages are a little too direct, while I preferred the equally dark but subtle inflections of their earlier work.

Initial disappointment aside, "Le parole del vento" carries a new respectable version of Oloferne, and is worthy of further exploration.