INFERNO

" Over the ruins of ancient cities, flowers grow with no colours, sad trees stretch out to sky, branches corroded by time..."

I have to be honest with you all, dear prog-friends: Divina Commedia (original title "Comedia") is on the top five of my favourite OPERA of all time!!! Dante Alighieri was an "illuster vir" of the medieval Florence (1265 - 1321) who took part to the then hard political fights between the two main factions of the famous city and was forever banned from the town. He was a great supporter of Sacred Roman Germanic empire against the temporal power of the pope. He asked the emperor to march towards Florence and write his appreciation to secular government through the Sacred Authority of the Christian Germanic Emperor (De Monarchia). He died in Rimini, never returning back to his loved Florence.

Inferno is the first opus he wrote, then it was up to Purgatory and next came Paradise (three is a mystic number for all Cristianity. Each opus is made of 33 chants. At the sixth chant of each opus he speaks about politics respectevely in Florence, Italy and in the world...666...is the mystic number of Antichrist...politics is thought to be the most evil element in all the mankind!!

It is not a case that Metamorfosi talk refers to "Lucifero" as the politicians... the sad thing is that they use as intro the US' national hymn...why not their own one?

Great musicianship in the vein of the usually keyboard oriented italian progrock bands of the seventies, like, for example Le Orme. The band consist of four members: Jimmy Spitaleri (vocals and flute), Enrico Olivieri (keyboards and synthesizer), Roberto Turbitosi (guitar and bass), Gianluca Herygers (drums and percussions).

Great theatrical development:

Introduzione; Selva Oscura (Obscure Wood); Porta dell'Inferno (Inferno's Gate); Caronte (the mythic souls' ferrymen); Spacciatore di Droga (Drug Pusher); Terremoto (Earthquake); Limbo (the infernal place where lies the souls of the non christian people...it is not a place of pain and suffering...but a place in which people sadly sigh...; Lussuriosi; Avari (Avaricious); Violenti; Malebolge (Circles of hell); Sfruttatori (Profiteers); Razzisti; Fossa dei Giganti (Giants' Pit); Lucifero - politicanti; Conclusione ("...and we exit from hell to see the stars...").

Remarkable arrangements, even if not so elaborated and complex as other bands of that time. Impressive pathos, though, and this is what I'm looking for! Another highly recommended album from the extraordinary italian prog-scene of the seventies!

I think the right valuation of the work should be 4.5, but I cannot round it up to five because of that intro of "Lucifero"...