AVENOTH

La Bocca Della Verità is an Italian progressive rock band founded in Rome, Italy in 2001. The sextet was formed with the purpose of reviving the progressive rock music of the 70's. First they played cover versions of British and Italian bands, especially Pink Floyd, Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, and Le Orme, which they initially did to very good effect. After a few fairly active years, the band decided that it was time for their own compositions and in 2004 they started to gather material for a conceptual album to be called "Avenoth". Working on this album took several years and "Avenoth" only saw the light of day in 2016. It's their only work, till now.

La Bocca Della Verita (The Mouth Of Truth) is an ancient marble mask dating back to Roman times. Since the 17th century, it has been in the vestibule of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in Rome. Throughout the centuries, it became known as a lie detector. The legend tells that anyone who puts the hand into the mouth and speaks a lie will be unable to remove it. Despite running the rumor that the mouth of truth still serves this purpose nowadays, I'm not sure about it. When I was in Rome and I put my hand into the mouth, nothing happened. So, or I wasn't a liar or I deceived it.

Now seriously and about the album, "Avenoth" tells a science fiction story in the form of a fictional diary of a space ship commander. "Earth" has become practically uninhabitable due to climate changes and wars. So, a new home has to be found on another planet. For this purpose, an expedition is sent that visits different planets all over the years, but all of them turn out to be hostile to life. After many years, in the year 2161, the expedition finally reached an "Earth"-like planet, "Avenoth", where the crew was welcomed by their inhabitants. After a while, a dispute arises among the expedition members. Some are pushing for the new planet's resources to be exploited quickly. The residents are quickly enslaved and now have to do forced labor. Eventually they revolt against the invaders who are forced to flee back to their home land, "Earth". A final look from the space ship shows that the planet's environment was destroyed.

La Bocca Della Verità was formed in 2001. So, "Avenoth" doesn't happen overnight. For years, they tinkered and polished their music before they considered it ripe to be released. From the first note to the moment that the last melodic sounds fade away, the band builds up an amazing piece of work. According to good Italian custom, the album is dominated by the keys. Roaring Hammonds, atmospheric Mellotrons, dominant Moogs and everything else that keyboards can do blares from the speakers. It's not surprising that the band has two keyboardists to be able to perform this opulence well. The use of classical instruments doesn't prevent them from wrapping the sounds in a modern way. The album is full of delights, provided by a bunch of excellent musicians, in which great transitions and changes of atmosphere follow each other in a natural and smooth way. The final result is heavenly music full of great highlights.

"Avenoth" is an album with eleven tracks that has more than 77 minutes long. So, this isn't really a short album. As a conceptual album, the music flows gradually and gracefully from the beginning to the end, as happen with almost all conceptual works. The futuristic story isn't told with futuristic sounds. Musically, one goes back deep into the past, into the golden 70's. As I mentioned at the beginning, La Bocca Della Verità originally played cover versions of British and Italian prog bands from the 70's. You can hear that clearly in the music on "Avenoth". Roman sextet plays a flawless retro prog, whose inspiration lies both in Italy and England. The singing is completely in Italian. The songs aren't overly complex, but made colorful and varied, offer luxuriant symphonic passages, filigree acoustic parts, but can also rock harder at times. The focus is on the predominantly analog key sounds, which cover the whole glory of the sounds from the 70's, from a powerful organ to jubilant synths to full Mellotron, which reminds you more than once of Tony Banks. In most of the time, when a short synth solo starts, you can get the impression that it could have come from Genesis. We can also say that guitarist Roberto Bucci uses robust riffs as well as solos in Steve Hackett or Steve Rothery styles.

Conclusion: The music on "Avenoth" of La Bocca Della Verità with the so many references to the great bands of the 70's and due to the craftsmanship of the band ensures a diverse, delicious and wonderful ode to the progressive music of those years. So, it will come as no surprise that the music evokes associations with the old Genesis, but Pink Floyd, Marillion, Eloy, Steve Hackett and Gentle Giant also drop by virtually. So, "Avenoth" is a very entertaining mix of classic Italian and British symphonic prog, which may not be overly original, but it's undoubtedly entertaining and masterfully executed. All in all, this is a strong debut with a flawless production, coming in a gatefold cover with elaborate artwork. And this is all very professional. If you like keyboard drenched Italian prog with references to the music of the 70's, this album is for you. "Avenoth" is highly recommended for those who adore the prog rock music made in the classic years.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Share this LA BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to VianaProghead
• Report this review (#2671901)
• Buy LA BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ music online with PA partners
• Show all LA BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ MP3/Stream
• Go to LA BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Avenoth page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for LA BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ related discussions