LA TRASFIGURAZIONE

When I listened to Il Bacio Della Medusa (BDM) 2008 second album, Discesa agl'inferi d'un giovane amante I was blown away by their creative musicianship and I was patiently waiting for their next release which unfortunately came disappointing to my ears (released in 2011). But I kept my faith in the talents of the band members and went on following the family tree of BDM and what a surprise...Ornithos (which means Bird in Greek language), a new band with three BDM members namely: Eva Morrelli, Diego Petrini and Federico Caprai decided to expand the horizons of their musical capabilities and experiencing different genres within their solid Rock Progressivo Italiano spirit. Their album La' Transfigurazione, which was released in 2012, consists of 13 tracks in one continuous musical journey. It is mainly an instrumental album with few lyrics and long instrumental solos and jamming uniformly distributed amongst the band members. There are lots of interplay passages involving guitar, keyboard, piano, flutes and different sax sounds. Much more liberally and generously used than BDM two previous albums. There are links to Jethro Tull, Camel, Pink Floyd, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and even Black Sabbath but don't get me wrong. The blender for these sounds is RPI and more specifically Ornithos unique signature who retained an authentic RPI seventies' flavour. The styles you can find here are symphonic progressive rock/Space-Psych Rock/jazz/metal and also Flamenco-flavoured Spanish acoustic passages. the opening L'orologio (the Clock) track sets the scene to what is coming with its tolling bells introduction with male vocals reciting few words in Italian, this is followed by mellow piano with nice flute playing, at 2:00 the sound became more progressive with nice flute solo then electric guitar, excellent piece. The sound has inspirations from Camel's early works mainly Mirage and Moon Madness albums. At 4:40 the guitar solo turns into distorted one mimicking Eastern sound (which I can say there is some similarity to Camel's Rajaz album opener instrumental, Three Wishes), song No. 2, La Persistenza Della Memoria ( The persistence of Memory) starts with melodic flute solo that reminded me of Camel's Song Within a Song. Lyrics in Italian with male vocals of Diego Petrini, a very interesting one. Somatizzando l'altare Di Fuoco is one of the best songs on the album and it starts with a jazzy bass introduction, then keyboard comes in and Saxophone sound merges in a crescendo mood until it reaches climax at 01:17 and continues with a charming melodic harmonious mix of sax and guitar and Mexican/Spanish sax sounds after that. There are some recitations in Italian which added to the richness of the song (similarity found here with Eloy's Up and Down from the album Inside) the song goes back to its Jazz Rock sound at 04:00 with very nice keyboard and guitar solos. L'ipostasi (the Hypostasis) has unique folky and (may be Salsa) and again the band members exhibit their talents with an awesome acoustic guitar and piano. Nuvole e Luce it is here the female voice first introduced to the album with a great wailing in a Floydian Great Gig in The Sky sound at the beginning of the song. The voice is of Maria Giulia Carnevalini and it was magnificent; there is also great flute solo in this song by Eva Morrelli. Nel Crepuscolo (song 10) starts with Black Sabbath-inspired riff. A mix of Heavy Prog and Sabbath metal style. Again amazing guitar solo, Sax sound and flute touches. Male vocals with much nicer female backing vocals. The last 2 songs are strongly Dark Side of The Moon reminders. L'alba Del Nuovo Giorno the sax and guitar sound is so great and here Antonello De Cesare's playing style is strongly Gilmour-influenced. The last song This Is What We've Got: The Flute Song, the only one with English lyrics. Here Maria Giulia Carnevalini shows her vocal talents in an unprecedented way in this album. The sound is very jazzy especially when the instrumental solo begins at 03:35. Great keyboard followed by saxophone then scorching electric guitar. In summary this album is like a basket of Belgian Chocolate Collection, they all taste sweet but have different flavours. If you think RPI is fading away then get this album and you find that you are wrong. Forget about British Prog scene. It is just like a post-menopausal woman doing facelift, liposuction and boob job to retain a glimpse from a bygone youth and if you do not believe me go and get Hackett and Squires recent release Squackett. It is there in Italy where bands like BDM, Minstrel, QLS and Ornithos are still producing creative original Prog to our ears. The last comment is about Eva Morelli's talent. She used the saxophone more frequently and liberally in this album in a very structured and creative style. I found her flute playing is more similar to Andy Latimer's (Camel) than to Ian Anderson but also reminiscent of the Italian band Allusa Fallax. Petrini's talent also cannot be ignored and finally Antonello De Cesare guitar sound was also awesome. Maria Giulia Carnevalini has a very good voice and I wished that she was the lead vocals on all songs in this album. Very good album. 4/5 stars