ROUND MIDNIGHT

There was not so many intrest for the band MOONGARDEN on this site until now, but I hope this will change, because they deserve it. Because these Italian guys are making excellent, refreshing music, modern progressive rock like more bands tend to play nowadays. So don't expect the traditional Italian prog like The Watch or Mangala Vallis, but much more the style of Marillion or Porcupine Tree. Maybe it's due to the picture of the time, but it's a fact that this album is full of melancholy and darkness. Not that surprising, knowing that the concept of the album is about loneliness, egoism, misunderstanding and chaos in the current society. The closing track 'Oh, By The Way, We're So Many In This City And So Damn Alone' is a perfect illustration.

Vocals are very important on this album (without any accent, not obvious for an Italian band  ), on many occasions only supported by acoustic guitar and mellotron. And again the question arises if this music is really 'progressive', there are indeed influences of CAMEL and GENESIS, but it will also appeal to fans of Radiohead and Coldplay. And maybe this is the strength of 'Round Midnight', because every true music lover should love this.

The title track immediately underlines which musical direction has been taken by the band, one of the strongest numbers on the album. Excellent instrumental playing, very emotional, and the beautiful voice of Luca make Round Midnight a varied song, ended by a sensitive and stirring guitar solo. Sadness and intensity are even bigger in 'Wounded' , with that typical acoustic introduction, sustained by intriguing keyboards and mellotron, this is the first time (and not the last one) I had to remind of the debut of PROCOL HARUM, mainly within the calm fragments. At the end you will be amazed by a thrilling 'neoprog'-guitar solo.

Lucifero has an ambient intro with choirs and again the emotional voice of Luca Palleschi, in the second part the music swells and the keyboards and guitar are overtaken it.

After 5 relatively quiet tracks Moongarden shows a complete different face, frantic guitar riffs in pure progmetal-style like DREAM THEATER are opening the longest track on the album. But it's getting calmer again on 'Learning To Live Under The Ground' and it gradually changes into a typical neo-prog song, completely in the vein of IQ. Even the vocals remind of Peter Nicholls, but I hope that fans of IQ will forgive me in saying that the voice of this Italian sounds a lot more pleasant to me.

Moongarden is not exactly a newcomer in the circuit, but they deliver with Round Midnight their fourth album in more than 10 years. On 'The Gates of Omega' it was obvious that they were further away from their early influences like Genesis or Camel (but without denying them neither). With this newest release the group has proven to have a complete original sound, and with a good promotional campaign this could be the definitive breakthrough!