IL SOLE OLTRE LE SBARRE

I have no clue why I am the first one to review an Alma Sideris album. Their albums is free downloads after all.

Alma Sideris is the brainwave of Gustavo Pasini, a man also known from Corte Aulica and Notabene. But this is his solo album. Herein lays the weakness and strength of this album.

It is so obvious this is a solo project because the music is so one-dimensional. Something Gustavo Pasini also noted in his PA interview. The music is based on tangents with both piano and some keyboards too.

One-dimensional, yes. Hopeless or even bad, no. There are some good stuff here. The songs are pretty dynamic in the RPI vein of prog. The influences from both Camel and Vangellis is obvious. The tangents is too dominating. The drums and the rhythms is playing a secondary role. But this album still works in a peculiar way. The Fragili esperienze track has hints of grandeur and perhaps things to come later on. The best track is Giorno per giorno which brings memories of PFM into play. The rest of the album is also pretty good. As a free download and as a debut album which perhaps is more a demo than an album, this is as good as it get if you are into the likes of Camel and RPI.

And yes, bringing in a full band would be an advantage. This is what Gustavo Pasini is now doing. There is nothing wrong with his conceptional ideas as laid out on this album. Watch this band because Alma Sideris may serve up a truly great album in the near future. The seeds are sown.

3.5 stars

Alma Sideris is a one-man project, behind which lies the Brescia-based Italian drummer Gustavo Pasini.Pasini is already known for his work as a member of Corte Aulica and Notabene.With both bands in hiatus Pasini wanted to express his creativity on this project, started in 2009.His first work ''Il sole oltre le sbarre - parte 1'' was a half an hour instrumental journey, offered as a free download since 10th of July, 2009.

And while Pasini's skills as a drummer were already known, his ability to compose and perform on keyboards remained a hidden secret until this work.''Il sole oltre le sbarre - parte 1'' stands somewhere between keyboard-driven Symphonic Rock and Progressive Electronic with positive results.This digital album is no less than almost 30 minutes of good instrumental music, based on compositions with symphonic arrangements and a variety of keyboard sounds like synths, organ and piano next to some district electronics.The musicianship ranges from melodic passages and spacey electronic atmospheres to delicate piano-based grooves and Classical-inspired themes.Very smooth and deeply atmospheric material often delivered with a trippy atmosphere or a more Avant-Garde mood on the grandiose piano parts but always played with inner inspiration and passion.What actually spoils the effort is the lack of support by a real band and the plastic sound of drums (!!!), really weird as Pasini normally performs on drums.

This album will not cost you a cent.It is a free legal download offered by Pasini and what you will get is some very melodic keyboard-based Symphonic Rock of decent quality.Recommended.