IO COME IO

Sometimes I've wondered when and how a real distinction between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal could be made. I still don't know when, but I'm getting more and more convinced that the real distinction between these two genres lies in the fact that Heavy Metal tends to leave the bluesy influence behind its shoulders - preferring a darker and more nervous approach to rock music. If my point of view is right, "Io come Io" could be regarded as the first Italian Heavy Metal effort. Ok, the sound results a little smoothed by a typical 1970s production, psychedelic influences can be easily found (most of all in the semi-power ballad "Non io" and the jazzy coda to "Io come Io") and the style of the band here is not so far from what Osage Tribe did the year before this album was released. Nevertheless, "Io come Io" has got such a real tension and straight-in-your-face approach you'd hardly expect from any of its contemporary work. Each of the four songs making up this album contains plenty of complex and heavy riffing (both by the guitar and a marvellous distorted bass in a constant and extremely dynamic dialogue), some of which seem to be recorded ten/fifteen years later. Really, you could find passages reminding you more of Voivod than the Deep Purple: listen to the opening riff in "Io", or the one representing the passage between the heavy and the psychedelic section in "Fenomeno" - and even more, the intricated galloping passage preceding the coda to "Io come Io" (the song). The overall atmosphere is dark and somewhat oppressive (as in any good thrash metal album from the 1980s - of course without the ultraheavy guitar sound). In every song, signature and riff changes (which almost substitute guitar solos) arrive unexpected and puzzling, drumming is technic and metronomical, while all the album is pervaded by an epic and yet desperate feel which makes it even stronger. If you add Pino Ballarini's strong and emotional voice, the final result is an extremely compelling and impressive album, definitely far ahead its times.

My first huge disappointment with Italian Symphonic progressive rock.

And this is not some of the seminal bands from the seventies doing bad material in the late 80's. No. This is the band in their prime. Even if they had the best musical ideas/melodies in the world, they wouldn't reach me, because of representation, arrangements and production: they're all horrible.

But the reality is cruel: good ideas are few, and they're not good ideas that will manifest themselves and provide a pleasant feeling to a listener (me), they're there just theoretically: I squeezed them by analysis, not by actual listening of the album.

Sounds bad, doesn't it? Well, it is.

There ARE some catchy melodies here and there: they are few and far between, and they're often repeating themselves in some uninspiring and slightly derivative way, they might be even characterised as slightly symphonic (not classical). Major and minor scales are more present then blues scales. But nothing special. A voice is an acquired taste, personally I think it's not bad but the delivery is not the happiest one. There are also a few nice trick with delay on voice.

But unfortunately, there are much more cons. The sound is horrible: fuzzing guitars playing the melody, bass (the same fuzzing tone one octave deeper) repeating the same damn melody deeper (sometimes in octaves + thirds), on the bottom of all that uninspired drumming. The buss and drums are not following each other at all, but not because this is some free-form music. The songs are not just hollow, they're empty. At the moments this band sounds like a bunch of kids playing punk for the first time on stage. If you were ever playing in the band, you probably experienced one of those moments when everybody's tired of playing, and one is playing an instrument without heart or inspiration, just to make some noise, making an amateurish at best, cacophonic directionless at worse, "Io Come Io" at worst case.

Please, do the human kind a favour and avoid this album that shouldn't have been ever released. Maybe in some other arrangement, on the some other, less bad hair day. Or probably, in some parallel universe. Poor universe.

In the year of 1972 the Italian Progressive rock was developing almost all the slopes that existed in this context, as it shows are the works of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Premiata Forneria Marconi and Le Orme, among other very many groups, but remarcable it is the quick maturity of many of them in his sound and that almost all of them competed with the great names of world-wide the Progressive rock, it is the case of Yes, Genesis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP), and King Crimson, among others.

There is no doubt that great names many of these Italian groups and that its real and true one influence exerted it with the live in concert presentations and the spreading of their work, in this case with albums and simple that appeared in the noticeable world-wide and national markets.

Between all of them there is a group that beginning formally activities at the end of 1970 named Il Rovescio della Medaglia and the publication of this, its second titled disc Io Come Io, that is one of hidden jewels of the Progressive, full Rock of harmonic findings of very strong sonority, with a struggle sound and a line noticeably and oriented to the hard sound, heavy of the Progressive Rock. And that contains one of the best ones and more obtained works done between melodies touched by a distorted fuzzy bass, distorted guitar and an electrical one, that using an effect of distortion known like overdrive and fuzztone, the heaviest sound created than I have listened in an instrument of these, and that it resounds as giant in all the disc, without a doubt touching wildest and crude musical notes, harmonies and riffs that remembers of a Progressive group!

The group was integrated by Enzo Vita. - guitar, Ballarini. Pino - vocal and flute, Stefano Urso. - electric bass and Gino Campoli. - drums and this formation that is one of the best ones than have left the Italian Progressive rock offers this great disc to us which very it is not known by most of the fans the Progressive rock, nevertheless is of the albums more complexes as far as sound and execution of the subjects, are practically 28 minutes of the best form to touch a conceptual disc, that in this case is on the philosophy of Hegel, that speaks on the relation of subject object, but nevertheless, what excels are not the content of the lyrics, but the musical execution that is of highest flights, an interaction between the guitar of Vita and with effect overdrive and fuzz on the part of the bass of Urso, touching small classic scales directly distilled of the Italian masters and German ones, and that not very often has been made of this form; masters of the counterpoint, with subtle and innovating notes, that interaction between these two great ones of its instrument is carried out with singular dexterity in all the disc, and with improvised ornamentals variations, but with very concise subjects, meticulously made and prodigiously executed, that surprise the listener by the subtlety, it forces and delivery that does everyone in its instrument, the drum in charge of Campoli, very discreet but essential, and the voice of Ballarini that in all the recording, is precise and by its dramatic temperament, his modern harmonies is overwhelming with new sap the interaction of the group. A sound very dominant, furious and very little characteristic in the Italian scene of that then and which I consider one of the heaviest discs than has done in those latitudes, and that in all along the sound takes advantage of the obstinate bass playing one to recreate a mysterious atmosphere, dark and mystical, that remembers me to the fact by the excellent Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and that used in his first works with that group.

Combined to previous also the electrical guitar of very heavy executed Vita and combining excelsos skillfully agreed and riffs, with delicate and brief acoustic passages that fit perfectly with the dark atmosphere of the disc. I believe that he is one of best discs than they have become in that country and that nevertheless it undergoes even of the ignorance of this mágnum opus by most of the admirers and specialists in Progressive Rock, since for the year 1973 this group would record what its masterpiece is considered: Contaminazione. Tending to devaluate unjustly to this disc, object of the review and to the first called album the Bibbia of 1971.

It is necessary to also mention that the production of the disc this made very well, in general terms, to grief that does not notice much the work of the drummer, since the guitar and the bass dominate much the sound. The cover also has an interesting history, the first editions contained a metal currency that was designed by the florentino artist Brandimarte, this edition is very rare now. The following editions left with a flat, dark bottom, and other that contained a hole in the place where it was the medallion. And also with base in this point I would like to stand out that in most of Progressive works, the covers or covers of discs were essential part within the recording or album and that they reflected the attitude or the atmosphere that the disc wanted to transmit and that, in most of the cases was true masterpieces. Let us go to the songs:

1. - Io. - The song that opens to this disc based on the work of German philosopher Hegel, with a gong and excellent phrasing from the big drum of Campoli in the beginning and later to begin the furious note interchange being Urso and Vita, that, as cracked dominates the listener and which they show an inexhaustible verb, with passages in where simply they do not leave breathing, since they happen from a rate to another one, of a series of notes to a polyphonic and refined change that, so as sleigh, is taking to you that you appreciate the masters, free and power of the form to touch of this great group and that demonstrates the flexibility of melody combined with the rigorous counterpoint, characteristic of the Roman school. Harmonic note creators, polyphonic, very aggressive and that within this musical piece encounter riffs much very heavy that is combined with the treatment of the effect that occupies the electric bass and that heightens that power that transmits. Without doubt it is an energetic disc beginning. Excellent.

2. - Fenomeno. - This song is divided in two sections that are titled a) Proiezione and b) Rappresentazione, in fact this song begins very similar to Io but later choirs made by the musicians enter (very characteristic of those years and type Uriah Heep) and next an energetic acoustic guitar makes their appearance, executed skillfully to appear the pair bass/guitar with their wall of sound and making delicious scales simply and that they demonstrate the creativity, elegance and deep knowledge to us of the chromatic musical phantom, without a doubt a dynamic language and that is descriptive music, dramatic and overflowing, by minute 4:00 appears the acoustic guitar, recreating a cried out but nonpastoral atmosphere, dark and rather very spiritual and that flute executed by embellish Pine this atmosphere, also the voice of this same one, is been reconciled parsimoniously to the rhythmic rate of melody, there is no doubt that Rovescio della Medaglia is characterized by the vigor and the brightness of their compositions and those created skillful interludes is of an exceptional greatness. But from the 6:10 they show a furious counterattack to us on the part of all the group, a true one I release the brakes musical comedy, that goes with a rabid rate breaking through with hard and elaborated notes and that without losing the dark line that has the disc, they take us to a end of anthology, plenty of rage, are evidently overcoming notes, scales and poli ferocious rates to crown one of the best songs of the Progressive rock and with one of the best examples of combination of Progressive rock with noticeable heavy elements in its structure and that also contains all the musical elements of this great Roman group. As far as the lyrics told .I feel that the group borrow of Hegel some paragraphs of the Phenomenology of the Spirit (main book of Hegel), and it adapted it to the concept of the subject-object that they wanted to show in the disc, and that are one of the characteristics of the philosophical thought of the German idealism and that with this philosopher arrives at its Maximum heights. Excellent.

3. - Non Io. It would be possible to be said that is the calmest song of the album, perhaps but believe me that it also contains, that characteristic heavy element that has this great disc, this begin very pastoral and a little melancholic, but of that absent, strange and mystical melancholy and that beautiful flute accompanies by separated and distracted way. After small interludes heavy, Pine delights to us with its voice (that by the way does not appear much in all the recording), accompanied by simple guitar and bass Ursa remembering us that from any moment to another one, unties like unleash the devilish dragoon. Solid work of battery on the part of Gino and that in any case maintains incessant and frank a rate, later of a single brilliant of guitar of Enzo, in minute 4:49 to minute 5:12 is listened to finesse musical passage where Ballarini remembers the fact by groups like Uriah Heep, Osanna or Premiata Forneria Marconi, interludes the evocative and very poetic to but pure Italian Progressive style, there is no doubt that Rovescio della Medaglia shines by its sovereign balance of refined elegance, of touch security and of concision that not always occurs in many groups. And finally group us prescribes once again that duple Enzo/Stefano, which with a series of explosive notes in his respective instruments, they come to an auditory assault of great proportions, with notes, sounds and harmonies, that they would cause envies it of groups like Led Zeppelín or Black Sabbath, (and which they remember the fact by the group in his previous album the Bibbia), without a doubt an excellent musical piece. Excellent.

4. - Io come Io. - The theme of this majestic disc and that also divides in two sub subjects a)Divenire and b) Logica and that it contains probably the heaviest riff of all the album than i have listened, these are 7:02 minutes that do not leave breathing, nor stone on stone, is as if they had said to the group: play with full and brutal force, and the result denotes a rabid temperament and precise that it does not despise the subtle dissonances but, that know to handle the counterpoint with freedom and which they demonstrate to the fineness behind all that brutal sound, with a rhythmic and strange rate from the Campolli drummer and an excellent melodic voice on the part of Ballarini, they do that the duet Enzo Vita and Stefano Ursa shines in the stop, with this baroque style to touch notes they maintain an abutment of melody of so solid and restricted way that one listens as is squeezing the harmonies, rate and syncope, without stopping, and with a really monstrous force, it would dare to me to say that it is the heaviest song never recorded by some progressive group in Italy, and I say it with base in the musical structure that they use. Also it is necessary to remark the great use of the timbales that Pine as of minute 4:00 does, giving a tone of rare shining to the song.

There is no doubt that the group is musical and composers of surprising fecundity, in the end use an efficient and fresh rate, combined with guitar/bass, and correct a single one of guitar, without a doubt a musical and hard absolute piece, like the Hegelian philosophy! Excellent.

Finally it is necessary to add that by its conception of the chromatist, to give to each line unaccustomed amplitude and elegance, excels polyphonic refinement, combined with an incessant and fierce rate. And all the contained songs are characterized by a capable structure, where melody prevails and where the group is pleased in valorizing the different sonorous planes, the games and the rings of the instrument as well as the baroque interaction of the guitar and the bass which they obviously denote the influence of musicians like J. S..Bach or Vivaldi, and who one does not recognize them by the so aggressive form to touch causes them that this it is an essential piece of any Progressive collection.

I feared to listen to this album. Now i must admit that it sounds like a sophisticated italian art rock band. The compositions are well conceived and have different textures and dynamics. There is definetely some free rock tendencies in the rythm section, this is probably due to the use of effects on the bass (the bass player is not always rythmically with the rythm section (only bad point ): some themes are not synchronized). Neverless, this album has everything to satisfy every hard working italian prog rock band lover!

Unfortunatly I have to agree too much to Clarke2001´s review. I know not all italian groups in the 70´s were great, but that´s in theory. Because the high quality of that period is evident. Everything I hear from Italy at that period was from very good to brilliant, even if you don´t like the style you had to agree they´re good somehow. So I was taken aback by the very bad sound of this album. Production, arrangements, playing and songwriting all seems to conspire against the final work. The bass sound is specially annoying, terrible.

There are some hints of good ideas here and there, and the general notion that the musicians might be good at their instruments. The main problem is that of the production: it is so bad is hard to tell what´s realy wrong here. I heard this CD as many times I could stand, just to believe it was even released with such a poor sound. Hard to tell if they would come up with something really interesting had they got a better studio or producer or both, but certainly it could not be worse.

I´ll give it two stars because I still want to belive that the production ruined it all. Well, they DID release a couple of follow ups so they might have their qualities after all. whcih, by the way is not shown here at all. My first major italian prog rock disappointment, specially considering it was released in prog´s prime time. Avoid this one.

The second album from this Italian band (not playing Italian music), is not very different from their debut one). It holds less than twenty-nine minutes of music which even in terms of an Italian band of the early seventies is pretty short.

Production is better (but this was easy) and compositions are less improvised. Still, the music is in the pure heavy-rock vein with little fiorittura. There are hardly one symphonic track to be heard on Io Come Io.

So, if you are keen on this type of music (basic heavy prog music), there is nothing wrong with this album. I prefer it when compared to their debut one.

The music is mostly instrumental and I would have wished Fenomeno to be more melodic. The structure is more complex than usual and the combination between harder parts and more smoother ones offers a good result and shows the potential of the band.

There are no masterpiece stuff of course available on this album, but a track as Non Lo is somewhat of a different style: very quiet instrumental part to start with (flute), peaceful vocals as well. This song shows an evolution in their style, which will be more marked during their next release Contaminazione. It is the highlight here.

The closing number is more chaotic and more difficult to access. In this type of songs, the noticeable influence of KC can't be ignored.

In all, this album is not too bad. I would even increase the rating from average (five out of ten) to three stars.

RDM's heavy story would go on...

First I was surprised at the sleeve. It is a Japanese paper-sleeved album WITH A GOLD (No, maybe Copper! :P) MEDAL...and this work is as heavy as, and more avantgarde (rather than progressive) than the previous one. The sound in itself gets clearer, but their stickiness and sliminess are previously as it was. However, I think sadly the product is more refined and polished. Could you understand me? That is, Il Rovescio Della Medaglia's identity or personality is not beauty nor cleanliness I consider. They should be powerful and metallically heavy, not be refined or polished. Getting to be more avantgarde is great for them, but...what a pity.

As above mentioned, I can't find anything amazing. The album itself is not so bad and I like this, but for Italian prog fans, why can I overevaluate this? If possible, as a copper medal in the sleeve (!) , they could be heavier and more progressive, I'm always disappointed with listening to this work.

Inspired by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel this album (eng title sound as 'I as I'... terrible in all languages) is the 2nd album by RDM. And, in my humble opinion, 'Io Come Io' is one of the first Heavy Metal album of history.

If the words are inspired by Hegel, the music is clearly a mix between Cream, Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin, New Trolls (Proto Prog period) and Black sabbath. Great is the voice of Pino Ballarini, one of the more beautiful Italian vocalsts as Francesco Di Giacomo, Donella Del Monaco, Alvaro Fella or Davide 'Jimmy' Spitaleri. Another winning element is the fuzz bass. This is a winning element in consideration of the complexity of writing and execution. Fuzz bass played by Stefano Urso creates the melody and the electric guitar by Enzo Vita creates another melody that in some passages is the rhythmic part that is usually due to bass. But bass played these rhythmic parts. And the guitars have also some soli... That beautiful duels!!! It is present also the acoustic guitar but this is only an excuse to insert a few moments of melody... That is not melodic! The drums by Gino Campoli is powerful as an atomic bomb!

'Io Come Io' is an album extreme difficult be heard today. It looks like a flat album, without a logical and even boring. But if we listen to 'Io Come Io' in comparison with other RPI albums of the period we find that 'Io Come Io' is only an Heavy Metal version of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso! Usually we underestimate an album like this, also because too immediate. But to consider 'Io Come Io' an immediate album is out of logic. The construction of the compositions ranging from jazz to blues, from Folk to Rock, via the POP and psychedelia, combining and mixing all this that the music can be truly original. Though it seems, the vocals are derived by opera.

At this moment I'm listening to 'Non Io' (eng: 'Not I'), a very complex composition that at some moments anticipates Iron Maiden! So if you have listened carefully to the first 2 albums by Judas Priest or Saxon's first album have noted (intelligently) as 'Io Come Io' is the fourth album to be included as a comparison! But certainly if you are great fans of Black Sabbath I think that 'Io Come Io' is another hot album for you!

Of course, and this is only my humble opinion, 'io Come io' is one of the more underestimated RPI albums. This thing saddens me greatly. Also because 'Io Come io' sounds in my head, as the beginning of Prog Metal. There is no logic to define what I said, many of you will not believe what I'm saying. Yet the truth is this!

Just now I elaborated as follows: you see that Bijelo Dugme (with Goran Bregovic) have used 'Io Come Io' and Rovescio Della Medaglia to forge their music? And if I had not mistaken? This is a pure mistery (and I'm not Micky Mouse!).

But beyond these considerations... I heard carefully 'Io Come Io' several times in these last weeks and I could elaborate the considerations which I wrote because the magic and power of 'Io Come Io' are too immense!

Time sometimes serves as an argument for excuse or even a convenient field to build a myth. Many people consider "Io Come Io" as a classic example of great Italian 70's prog rock. The main reason of my disagreement is basically the fact that this album does not remind the sound of Italian prog of that era. The album is very heavy (some early metal touches there) and the musicianship is below the high level of other bands from Italy and Rome specifically. The worst thing about "Io Come Io" is the rhythm section. The bass lines and production are boring and get annoying as the album goes on. The drumming is apparently weak and the pompous vocals and fuzzy guitar playing do not help things. All this would not be so important if the songs were better and the album lasted more than 29 minutes. Various scattered ideas without a pattern (except maybe "Non Io", the best song of the album) do not make prog songs. At least this is my point of view. It 's a real wonder how much this band progressed and matured in "Contaminazione" just one year after "Io Come Io".

"Io come io" is the second album by Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia and was released in 1972 on the RCA label with a consolidated line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass), Gino Campoli (drums) and Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute). It's another concept album in a hard rock style that in some way confirms qualities and flaws of its predecessor, "La bibbia". The music is full of energy but the overall sound quality reflects the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production. To explain the concept, the liner notes quote some lines from German philosopher Hegel... "In philosophy the determinations of knowledge are considered not unilaterally, only as determinations of things, but together with the knowledge to which they refer, at least together with things; i.e. they are taken not merely as objective determinations, but also as subjective determinations, or rather as determinate species of the mutual relation of subject and object...". However, do not worry! Despite the ambitious liner notes and the subject matter (an introspective quest for Truth), the lyrics are not abstruse nor pretentious and Hegel's thought here is filtered and interpreted very loosely and with a particular hippy style point of view...

The opener "Io" (I) starts by the sound of gong, then drums and electric guitar set a tense atmosphere. The music and lyrics evoke strange visions. Things and people, places and feelings come through the mist of time, something is coming closer. It's the memory of a past experience, a shadow. It's a man who once taught to the protagonist the secrets of life, he was old then but now he's much younger than the protagonist himself. It's like in a strange dream where the protagonist has to face the thought of life and death, he has yet to understand how beautiful life is and he trembles because he can't understand what death really means... "You say that everything I said to you is true / But I'm scared when you say you don't know how good it is to die!"...

"Fenomeno" (Phenomenon) is a long track divided into two parts respectively subtitled "Proiezione" (Projection) and "Rappresentazione" (Representation). It begins by a strummed acoustic guitar pattern broken by heavy electric guitar riffs and a choir that could recall Il Balletto di Bronzo's "Ys". The music and lyrics conjure up the image of the protagonist lost on a mysterious road, wandering in a thousand directions without a clue, desperately trying to understand what's false or true. The world around him is empty, amorphous and lifeless, in the morning there's no sun, in the evening there's no moon. After a calm middle section, suddenly the rhythm rises. The protagonist can see a light and someone calls him, a door opens for him... "Time, space, now I no longer live / Am I the real me?"...

The cathartic "Non io" (Not I) opens the second side of the original LP. It begins with a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio and soaring flute notes, the atmosphere is peaceful and dreamy. The music and lyrics depicts the new awareness of the protagonist who can see his past days unfold behind him. Now he hates money and reflects about the true values of life such as the love of a mother for her children. Naked, barefoot, the protagonists wants to go where the sky ends and the sea begins in search for ideals that can't fade away over time like beauty or richness... "I still want to go on my way, where the sky joins the sea / Leaving alone behind me that man who has no truth...".

The last track, "Io come io" (I as I), is divided into two parts subtitled "Divenire" (Becoming) and "Logica" (Logic) and marks the achievement of the inner journey of the protagonist. He's found the light and the light is burning in him like a sun that will never die. The positive energy of the long instrumental coda describes the power of Truth and self-awareness...

On the whole, an interesting concept and a good work.

IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA (The Other Side of the Coin) released its debut "Il Bibbio" in 1971 and offered a differing approach from the majority of Italian prog bands of the era by not including a keyboardist and instead delivering stellar prog workouts in the context of hard rock. The debut was raw and exhibited the spirit of proto-metal albeit with the passionate operatic vocal style that would be the staple for the Italian singing style. The band followed up with its rather short debut with an even shorter sophomore effort titled IO COME IO ( I like i, like in this case meaning "similarly to") which was just short of the 29-minute mark but a more accomplished slab of heavy rock than its predecessor.

While following in the footsteps of "La Bibbia" as far as stylistic approach, this second offering focused even more on the proggier aspects of developing the tracks with crazy hairpin turns, a broader diversity of musical motifs and a wider ranger of dynamics that included less frenetic guitar attacks that allowed the band to create a bombastic sound in live settings. This second album only featured four track, two of which were two part suites. Once again the basis of the style was crafted by the hard rock attack of Enzo Vita on guitars, Stefano Urso on bass and Gino Campoli on drums and although lead vocalist Pino Ballarini still offered the occasional flute sounds, the main emphasis was on crazy guitar riffing, time signature complexities and the lyrical content that focused on Hegelian phenomenology.

A much more accomplished album than its debut, IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA mastered the art of modern prog at this stage and although Italian prog fans seemed to prefer the symphonic aspects of the more popular bands, IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA was still quite known for their energetic live settings that delivered some of the loudest and most powerful sound systems that the entire Italian scene would experience. The band utilized a 6000 watt Mark system that set them apart from all others and allowed one of the most unique early heavy metal styles of Italian prog. The ultimate theft of this equipment in 1973 was actually what caused this band's demise.

IO COME IO is a powerhouse of heavy prog with blistering guitar-oriented rock fortified with some of the knottiest prog workouts that the Italian scene had to offer even on par with bands such as PFM and Banco and only limited by the instrumentation which consisted of a mere three piece but nevertheless exquisitely placed. Perhaps this could even be considered Italian garage prog with its raw and unfiltered sound only delivered through the lens of a highly sophisticated thematic structure and musical proficiency. The entire thing is quite unique and much more inventive and demanding than even the debut. The album sort of served as a bridge between the raw and unadulterated heaviness of the debut and the full symphonic prog sound that would be heard on "Contaminazione" after the addition of keyboardist Franco di Sabbatino.

While "Contaminizaione" is the attention hog in this band's canon simply for the fact it adheres to the standards of symphonic prog rock of the era, this second album is also brilliant in its own way and very unique in that the stylistic approach of Italian symphonic prog played in an early proto-metal style is almost unheard of. This album excels pretty much on every level. The performances are top notch and the compositions are cleverly inspired and utterly unpredictable in their labyrinthine delivery system. While clearly a stripped down band approach it's simply amazing how talented the three instrumentalists were in crafting complex prog in such a limited setting. Likewise Ballarini's vocal style was on the same level as any of the top dogs of the era. This is really an excellent album that gets overshadowed by the albums that bookend it but in reality this is an unforgettably imaginative slice of heavy prog that should be experienced.