ANGELI MUTANTI

In 2014, after a concert at Progressivamente Festival in Rome where he played with some old friends of the Roman prog scene of the early seventies, Pericle Sponzilli, original member and part of the creative core of Reale Accademia di Musica, decided to come back to music with a new band. Since he felt that over the years the name of Reale Accademia di Musica had been improperly used on projects with a different style, he took over the old brand for what, in his opinion, should be considered the authentic second album of the historic band. After a long, hard work the new album, entitled "Angeli mutanti", was released on the independent M.P. & Records label with a line up featuring Pericle Sponzilli (vocals, guitars), Fabio Liberatori (piano, keyboards), Erika Savastani (vocals), Andy Bartolucci (drums) and Fabio Fraschini (bass) plus the guests Gianfranco Coletta (guitar), Nicola Di Staso (guitar) and Fernando Fera (guitar). According to the official website, "the group works like an atelier, a school, an academy" and the art work by Daniele Massimi underlines the link with the past bringing back to light the band's logo that you can find on the 1972 eponymous album but also suggests a touch of modernity and the evolution of the overall sound...

The excellent opener "Angeli mutanti" (Mutant angels) conjures up in music and words some strange creatures, nameless shapes that can fly under the radars without wings and feathers, emotionally charged but innocuous, invisible demons without a plan... The vocal style of Pericle Sponzilli and Erika Savastani is very different from that of the original vocalist Henryk Topel Cabanes but the result is good anyway.

The following "Alba" (Dawn) tells of a metaphorical quest for the rising sun and a better day, beyond time and space. The music and lyrics show the way out from a dark landscape filled with lies... Then it's the turn of the melancholic ballad "Johnny e Adele", featuring the guest Gianfranco Coletta on guitar. The music and lyrics here evoke a beautiful girl dancing on the beach on the notes of a guitar and the dreams of a guitarist in love...

The dreamy, melodic "Cosa nascondono le nuvole" (What the clouds hide) features the guest Nicola Di Staso on guitar and tells of far horizons hidden by the clouds, white mountains hanging over the sea, far rocks that seem too steep for climbing. Then the clouds are blown away and a pure sky reappears, the obstacles melt, there are no more steep rocks to climb up and you can have a new start... Next comes "The Beat Goes On (Come la canzone)" (The beat goes on - As the song), a piece veined of nostalgia featuring Fernando Fera (from another historic Roman band, Alberomotore) on guitar who also wrote the lyrics. It's an acoustic ballad in a singer-songwriter style about the magic of music and its power to take you back in time and stir emotions...

"Tempo" (Time), according to the liner notes, was inspired by "When Marnie Was There", a 2014 Japanese anime psychological drama film written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. It's a beautiful track evoking lakes, islands and exotic landscapes blurred by time and vivid memories of someone you can't forget... Here the music every now and again could recall Genesis and Pink Floyd.

"A dritta San Salvador" (To starboard San Salvador) is another dreamy track where the music and lyrics evoke a romantic adventure on the Caribbean Sea and conjure up black sirens and wild dances on a beach, emotional shipwrecks and dark magic... Next comes the ironic, carefree "Una sola immagine" (A single image) featuring lyrics written by Italian pop singer Nada Malanima, an old friend of the band, dealing in a light way with loneliness and time passing by.

Introduced by an almost solemn marching beat, the following "Io sono qui" (I am here) is a piece full of positive energy that depicts an experience of daily rebirth made with the help of a sensei, a spiritual master whose words are like a chant to follow in the morning light... Then beautiful instrumental "La pista e il miraggio" (The track and the mirage) closes the album mixing vintage sounds and exotic atmospheres.

On the whole, an excellent good album, even if very different from the sound of Reale Accademia di Musica eponymous debut work.