N.T. ATOMIC SYSTEM [AKA: UNA NOTTE SUL MONTE CALVO]

N.T. ATOMIC SYSTEM released their first album in 1973, a splendid album very rich in the vein of classic Ital-Prog culture with Vittorio De Scalzi himself playing flute and keyboards along with guitar... The music on this album is fully of beautiful melodies and dramatic instrumentation. On this album they have added the female vocals of Anna e Giulietta whose voice sounds great along with De Scalzi's. This album contains the bands rendition of Mussorgsky's "A night on Bare Mountain" (Una notte sul Monte Calvo),... a short but great instrumental track, sounding a bit evil and creepy. One of the standout aspects of this album for me is the great keyboard playing of Renato Rosset (piano, Hammond organ, moog, mellotron and electric piano). This album has it all.lots of sound dynamics, the special 70's Italian passion with great theme dynamics and great instrumentation. My personal favourite is track 6 "Quando L'Erba Vestiva La Terra" which carries a strong PROCOL HARUM feel with dense yet lush symphonic organ and keyboards as well as a beautiful melody. The last song "Butterfly" is surprisingly sung in English and sounds like Ian ANDERSON (JETHRO TULLl) with a heavy MOODY BLUES feel to this last track. For me this is definitely not only the best NEW TROLLS album but also would have to rank IMHO as one of the very best albums from the 70's Ital-Prog scene. An essential Ital-prog album deserving to be in your collection !

Released at a time when Vittorio de Scalzi was not sure if he was able to use the NEW TROLLS name, so the original LP was released simply as N.T. ATOMIC SYSTEM. What happened was, shortly after the release of UT at the closing weeks of 1972, there was a split in the band. Vittorio de Scalzi wanted the band to go the prog rock route, which Nico di Palo wanted the band to go the hard rock direction. So NEW TROLLS broke up, and di Palo went to form a group that was to be called IBIS (they had an album released in 1973 with a big question mark on the cover, which the name eludes me at the point). During legal battles over NEW TROLLS and IBIS, de Scalzi formed a new band called N.T. ATOMIC SYSTEM with him on keyboards and vocals, Giorgio D'Adamo on bass, Renato Rosset on keyboards, Giorgio Baiocco on sax and Eminent, Tullio D'Episcopo on drums, and Ramasandiran Somusundaran on percussion. This helped de Scazli pursue the prog rock direction he wanted. And also he launched the Magma label, in which this band, as well as ALPHATAURUS, LATTE E MIELLE, the totally obcure but wonderful "Pholas Dactylus", and even Ramasandiran Somusundaran all recorded for.

Many people regard N.T. ATOMIC SYSTYEM as one of the greatest Italian prog rock albums, but I am not one of them. I rate this album up there with SEMIRAMIS' "Dedicato a Frazz", and IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO's "YS", as being overrated and a bit overhyped, but still worth having. Without a doubt the two best songs on this album, "La Nuova Predica di Padra O'Brein" and "Ibernazione", five stars all the way for those songs, they can rival many of the Italian greats such as BANCO or MUSEO ROSENBACH. I've also really grown to like "Ho Visto Poi", which reminds me of PFM. But there are some pieces I think drag on, bogging down the album a bit. One is "Tornare a Credere", which sounds is more pop-oriented, except for the middle part, which is much more prog, and a killer passage. "Butterfly", the only piece sung in English, finds the band moving away from prog rock and to West Coast folk rock, late '60s style, almost having more in common with JEFFERSON AIRPLANE or IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY (minus the violin) than NEW TROLLS, SEMIRAMIS, MUSEO ROSENBACH, etc. The problem I have is with the crap lyrics, telling the story of a kid getting lost in the woods catching butterflies. Basically this kind of music should've been left for the California bands of the late '60s, not an Italian prog band of 1973. Again, this is still a worthwhile album, but doesn't quite live up to the status of "Greatest Italian Prog Album" to me.

Fans of Italian Progressive Rock will immediately feel at home when they hear the intro to 'La Nuova Predica di Padre O'Brien', with glorious keyboards reminiscent of BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO. Some good spinet, Hammond and Mellotron, very breathy flute plus a dash of female backing vocals interspaced with De Scalzi's Italian singing make for a very good track.

'Ho Visto Poi' starts with Mellotron and Hammond before bringing in synthesizer, switching back and forth between the heavy and the mellow, with the mellow reminiscent of CELESTE. The overall effect is quite psychedelic.

The first half and the end of 'Tornare a Credere' sound like a sort of melodic mainstream Italian rock-pop song with some good piano work and female backing vocals. It isn't Prog Rock but who cares: it's very pleasant music. From about the halfway point the track turns into pure instrumental Prog with jazz influences, again with some excellent piano and keyboards (reminiscent of ELP and TRIUMVIRAT). I like the track even if some of it is too commercial for a purist (which I'm not).

Some nice, fat synthesizer starts off 'Una Notte Sul Monte Calvo', the band's arrangement of that Mussorgsky rocker (!) 'Night On Bare Mountain'. Great track, and a good choice by the band as the piece readily lends itself to Progressive Rock.

'Ibernazione' again has prominent spinet, piano and synthesizer and will be of interest to fans of ELP. The song has a very jazzy feel. Halfway through the track there's some good flute and the music takes on a very medieval feel. Then there is some nice jazzy bass. Great track.

'Quando L'Erba Vestiva La Terra' starts off with an ecclesiastical-sounding Hammond but turns into a song that initially reminds me a little of the MOODY BLUES but then halfway through takes on a jazz-rock feel complete with tenor sax. Nice.

'Butterfly' is sung in English. Why?! It's a 1960s-style pop song with female backing vocals. Some brief, breathy flute and good keyboard improve the track a little, but it's not in the same league as the others on the album.

The overriding impression when listening to this album is of the consummate musicianship. Renato Rossert's piano and other keyboard work is superb, but then the other band members all contribute evenly. Even the drums are noticeably good. And the keyboards are sublime in places. The last track is underwhelming, but overall the album would be a good addition to any Prog lover's collection. I like the mix of the rough with the smooth, the strong jazz-rock influences and the early 1970s feel to the music. Despite the rough edges and the underwhelming last track there are some outstanding moments, and I feel it fully deserves 4 stars (Excellent addition to any Prog Rock collection).

It was released in 1973 "NT Atomic System". It is a satisfaction work of a progressive rock that makes the keyboard like Keith Emerson a center to boast of easy high pitched sounds. It is variegated music. A steady rhythm section also has exceeded the level of the Italian rock. The power of the performance is wonderful. The last tune is one of the highest masterpieces of them. It is a great board.

"...man, you have to remember that one day you'll be dust. Man who silently pray, you pass the hours kneeling, perhaps you use to think death is different, but you also dust will be..."

In 1973 New Trolls, at the apex of their fame in Italy, suddenly disbanded mainly due to the differnt musical views of the two friends/enemies Vittorio De Scalzi and Nico Di Palo. This was more harder rock oriented and found the band "Ibis". While De Scalzi was more strictly symphonic oriented and went to create one of the most relevant albums of the early seventies: the debut album of the so called "N. T. Atomic System". I own the 1996 Vinyl Magic remastered cd with the interesting bonus track "Una Notte sul Monte Calvo", a track inspired by a famous piece of Mussorgski and after the success of Emerson Lake and Plamer who brought it to wide success. The song is originally performed by the combination of two sections, the first of them is a great symphonic effort while in the second part is well evident what'll be the road De Scalzi wanted to run: a good and enjoyable jazz influence. With rich instrumentation: excellent flute, piano, arp synth, spinet, hammond organ, moog, mellotron, electric piano, tenor sax, eminent, drums (featuring the "everypresent" Tullio De Piscopo) and percussion. Vocals are provided by the same leader Vittorio De Scalzi. Chorus is composed by two young ladies: Anna and Giulietta.

The whole work is well thought, arranged and performed. With an important exception: the last track ("Butterfly") seems to be an intruder! The only one in non- italian lyrics.

"La Nuova Predica di Padre O'Brien" (New Sermon of Father O'Brien) is the album's "manifesto". The most varied track, along with the bonus track mentioned above.

Not the most favourite of mine, though. In fact I think, after many listenings, the most convincing song is "Tornare a Credere" (8,36 mns). Do not let yourselves to be confounded by the warm and melodious intro. Pathos is well evident in both the music (with always increasing surprises) and lyrics (which are about having and losing faith, and growing older). The theme is not different from that of the opener track. Faith is not an argument many times discussed in the prog's "vulgata"! Despite that I think is well worthy of attention because of regarding a primary need of Man.

Other tracks are all moderately good. All nice italian symphonic prog with, sometimes, excellent jazz interludes. All in all I have listened for hours this 1973 work and never tired of listening to!

This is another great varied work of the Italian symphonic progressive style. The compositions were really avant-garde for 1973: it easily sounds 1975. No tracks sound alike. The lead vocals are sung in Italian. The miscellaneous and very varied keyboards have a strong Italian flavor, a bit like Locanda Delle Fate, but it also includes influences from ELP and Triumvirat. There are often some percussions of the tam-tam family. "La Nuova predica di padre O'Brien" contains very complex keyboards arrangements full of clavinet and Hammond organ among others, and flute parts a la Focus and Jethro Tull. "Ho visto poi" contains mellow bits made of electric guitars a la Steve Howe (and we should say Glass Hammer too!) and peaceful organ a la Led Zeppelin's "Thank You"; the more loaded bits may remind you the early Gentle Giant. The very progressive "Tornare a credere" contains very catchy Italian female backing vocals, excellent piano, organ, anthemic moog solos and memorable flute parts. "Una notte sul monte calvo" partly reminds Triumvirat as reveal the dirty Hammond organ; there are some visceral hard rock electric guitar solos and jazzy electric piano a la George Duke. "Ibernazione" has moog solos and piano a la ELP, and some clavinet and flutes a la Locanda Delle Fate. "Quando l'erba vestiva la terra" has densely floating streams of keyboards a la Le Orme; then, an abrupt change of air occurs, leading to clinical Italian keyboards sounds, and finally terminating with a weird sax and drums solos. "Butterfly" starts with gentle acoustic guitars, and then the addition of female backing vocals to the male vocals will definitely remind you the Renaissance band; there is even an excellent Jethro Tull-esque flute solo and some interesting clavinet parts!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Diverse

When the NEW TROLLS split in two, the prog side of that band went with Vittorio De Scalzi to his conveniently titled NT (or New Trolls) Atomic System. They made just the two albums, this 1973 self titled release being the first.

The music here is diverse, ranging from strong ELP influences to jazz and classical, with of course nods in the direction of fellow countrymen PFM. Bearing in mind the year of release, the use of synthesiser is adventurous and proficient, especially on tracks such as " Ho visto poi" and " Una notte sul monte calvo". The latter track is very derivative of ELP, in terms of both the synth and piano use. The female backing vocals however are distracting, not to say cheesy.

The band use more time changes per track than most others manage in an entire album, with the Flower Kings like desire not to dwell on a theme appearing rather over enthusiastic at times. " Ibernazione" is a case in point, as it moves through piano backed vocals, ELP like organ, a softer section, sax, and an increasingly jazzy, unstructured closing section, and all in less than 6 minutes.

The closing "Butterfly" seems somewhat out of place, being a quasi-classical instrumental with a pleasant theme, and some fine harpsichord work.

If nothing else, NT Atomic System reminds us that the development of prog was by no means confined to the UK, with countries such as Italy also offering bands who were prepared to explore new areas, and push back the boundaries of the developing genre.

Worthy of investigation.

3.5 stars really!!!

In the middle of the legal problems of The New Trolls, came albums from all sides, such "?", The Tritons and New Trolls Atomic System, before most of the members reconvened to reform TNT and record their second Concerto Grosso album. In the meantime, New Trolls Atomic System had put out two albums in 73 & 74, the first of which is eponymous, but has been reissued by Vinyl Magic under the name New Trolls and the album title as Atomic System. With only guitarist De Scalzi and ex-bassist (and then-actual TNT manager) Giorgio D'Adamo as TNT members, NTAS seemed to usurp the name a little, but musically speaking, they remained related to TNT, even if some elements were missing, notably the hard/heavy rock side.

With a "Krautrock-worthy" tasteless artwork, this album has a jazz-rock side to it, mixed with Emersonian organ playing, but the Zep influence (due to the other guitarist De Palo) is lost. The opening Father O'Brien's New Preaching is a fairly solid track, where Rosset's organ takes the highlight, eclipsing whatever other UK organist you might think of. Ho Visto Poi is another strong- starting track, and stands close to being one of the album's better track, if it wasn't for this awful (out tune/range) sax, certainly in the first part of the solo and ruining partly the fun. Tornare A Credere is unfortunately stuck in mediocre (all things relative, of course) pop music

The flipside starts on Hibernation, again a jazz-rock treatment of a pop song, with the added twist of a harpsichord, this track being the only one of the album getting a writing credit from the hired hands, and a good bass line coming towards the end of the track. When The Grass Dresses The Earth starts on a cheap synth, but De Scalzi's strong singing, underlined by a lovely flute, is soon making the song one of the album's highlights, with plenty of dramatics in terms of guitar, synth layers, great rhythm syncopations etc. Too bad the track ends badly with a small drum break, and the same unwise choice of sax as on the other side of the album. The closing Butterfly (the only English-sung track on the album) is probably the album's weaker moment, but still holds some very interesting interplay behind the popish vocals.

As a bonus track, is included one of the better Night On The Bald Mountain Sibellius reworks; I'm generally not a fan of these "things" but I must recognize that this one is fairly successful! The weird things is they chose to insert it between the two vinyl sides, but it dioes hinder the album's progress. One of the strange things is that there is a fair bit of time differences between the two sides of the vinyl and it was possible to switch track sequence to even it out! It's of course not easy to dismiss this album as a non-Trolls album, but the record, however different from full-fledged TNT albums is still a worthy one.

After finally releasing a better album in "UT" the Trolls did what many Italian bands seemed to do after artistic success: they split. The two guitarists in the band were not seeing eye to eye on the band's sound. Nico Di Palo went on to form Ibis while Vittorio De Scalzi formed a new version of the Trolls and made this album. "La Nuova" begins well with a good keys section by Rosset followed by flutes and a cool, dreamy vocal harmony part. Then some violin comes in along with the verses followed by more cool key parts welling up, as the drums get more intricate. Good song progression. In the last minute comes an interesting and cleanly played electric solo that sticks out for not being as juvenile as some of the lead guitar on Concerto and Searching. Another highlight is "Quando l'erbe vestiv la terra" again featuring some amazing piano and keyboard work throughout and a long but pleasant build-up to some good guitar work about midway through. There is an awful ending of ear-piercing sax that is really dreadful though, watch out for that. Much of what falls between the high points still strikes me as average and occasionally yawn-inducing but since there is some improvement here I am rounding this up to 3 stars. A mild recommendation for seasoned Italian fans only, those who have already heard all the great bands.

While containing many of the standard ingredients of the classic Italian symphonic mix of its time - rough cut vocals, Hammond, synthesizers - this effort by New Trolls Atomic System tends much more to the melodic end of the spectrum than most, while not sacrificing any rock character. It is also more song oriented even if it includes some spirited instrumental passages. If you are a fan of Metamorfosi this might also work well for you. The group nods in the direction of the British masters like ELP, Tull and the Moody Blues, but also to some of the Italian contemporaries such as le Orme and Banco. Nonetheless this is far from a knock-off. Tracks like Una Notte Sul Monte Calvo are both embarrassingly dated and charming, really showcasing the flair and drama that bands of their ilk had in spades. It could almost be a theme to a 1960s spy drama. Flute in the opener and Ibernazione provides additional color. A jazzy vibe can be discerned here or there, which successfully enhances the mix rather than providing a mere diversion. All in all, fans of the time and place would not be trolling to pick up this quality recording by NTAS and have at 'em.

Atomic System, the large-scale-named group made an small-collected work...in my opinion.

The NEW New Trolls' work was started then. As everyone does, they might try to make different works. I see...when I listened to this NT Atomic System for the first time. Exactly, they might think Vittorio De Scalzi's strong voice was more important and push HIM on the front of all instrumentals. That's one of good ideas I think. Their play is well refined and polished.

Unfortunately, I consider one of the streams of Italian Progressive Rock is not refinement. As previous New Trolls (not Atomic System), I expected rough, rampant, and of course large-scaled sound and play. The product couldn't have above-mentioned sound and play...So, I've said SMALL-COLLECTED.

I'm glad the 6th track Quando l'erbe vestiva la terra has the previously large-scaled flavour. I wish the album would be finished at the great song...however! On the last song Butterfly I'm shrunken. What a cheap English song...

Their next work Tempi Dispari is very terrific so I can't help saying that's a pity...

- Emiliano, Luca & Parmalat - Are You Finito Benito? -

Did a tripping armadillo with a massively swollen bladder relieve itself into the Italian public water supply circa 1971? How else can we explain the glut of RPI albums that clearly overlay a template borrowed from ELP's ground breaking Tarkus? And while we're at it, why are there so many Italian prog albums with eggs on the cover eh? Was this omelette fetish some sort of sinister Mediterranean hippy cult?

Although the New Trolls acknowledge the ELP homage mainly by textural and instrumental means, there are during La Nuova Predica Di Padre O'Brien several instances where they regurgitate whole and undigested, entire portions from both Bitches Crystal and Infinite Space. Check out the bludgeoning 3/4 groove from the former and the hybrid 7/4 syncopation from the latter if evidence is required. Mercifully however, the whole is way more than the sum of its parts on this capricious opening number and although never approaching the ferocious kicking meted out to a girly waltz rhythm administered by ELP, these Italians do actually deliver a far superior melody and broader compass for their more ambitious creation. Although the instrumentation is familiar (Hammond, Piano, Bass and Drums being the cake with some percussive breathy flute, guitar and analogue synth as some welcome icing) there is a real surprise in store when the guitar solo kicks in. It's almost as though Wes Montgomery was sitting in as a hired session hand with the clean bassy tone and authentic octave soloing technique lending a very innovative texture to some otherwise common garden prog. Forza Azzurri!

Not being an Italian speaker I haven't the foggiest whether Father O'Brien's new sermon is any more cop than the old one but I love the passion and emotion dripping from Vittorio De Scalzi's exquisite vocals. Some very inventive and classically derived vocal counterpoint is provided by way of a chorale section via Anna & Giulietta, who sound either like multi tracked young un's or two signorinas with three heads each?

As your reviewer is once again too gormless to read the sleeve notes beforehand, I was wondering why the guitar is absent for long stretches on this record until it finally dawned on me that even the multi tasking Di Scalzi cannot be expected to spank that plank, parp that ARP, tickle that spinet and sing like an angel all at the same time.

I am a complete sucker for cartoon tacky 50's sci-fi ambience and the intro for Ho Vista Poi has me drooling like a rural Arkansas UFO spotter. There is no Theremin listed on the cover so I can only guess this to be an expert replication of same via an analogue synth beastie.If you cannot conjure up celluloid images of 70 foot tall raygun toting Zucchini invading Planet Earth here, you are either deaf, dead or even Zucchini I suspect. By way of contrast, the remainder of the song completely contradicts this opening mood by being a linear design of alternating heavy guitar riff and gentle pastoral verse that somehow confounds my habitual reservations about this type of writing. Giorgio Baiocco appears to have left his apartment in a hurry that morning, so imitates his favoured tenor sax with a baritone kazoo? on an incongruous and unnerving solo that would even pass muster with the likes of John Zorn

Tornere a credere - A very moving and stately ballad supported by the bitter-sweet piano of Renato Rossert before launching into a magnificent and impassioned chorus reinforced by spine tingling organ and choral swathes from the aforementioned six headed creature that is Anna & Giulietta. The instrumental interlude that follows does betray one of the New Trolls weaknesses i.e. they have a habit of affecting classical ornamentation that comes across as bluff pastiche and not the intended nod to influences from the conservatory. (Beggars Opera are similarly blighted by this failing).

There is also a rather heavy lidded wink to Abaddon's Bolero in places but we can forgive them drawing inspiration from the best can't we? as this would still be a damn great song relieved of the instrumental baggage.

Put the eardrops in the fridge people as it's now time for the classical adaptation...Night on Bald Mountain (by longhairs) I'm a little surprised this Mussorgsky concert staple hasn't been tackled/red carded/hospitalised/butchered by offensive formations from the prog league more often as apart from Fireballet's version I can't recall another one? You can all relax though as this does not bowdlerise the original in any way and is a very robust and truncated interpretation of a rousing piece that was always begging to be bombasticised.(fresh coinage?)

Ibernazione - Do Armadillos with machine guns need to hibernate? (Or Trolls for that matter?) Early 70's analogue synth obsessives are in for a treat here but as for the rest of us, we would harbour suspicions that the lads are beginning to stock up for a long winter at this point. The song itself reeks of being a tangential instrumental with a rather superfluous melody tacked over the top. Incredibilmente ! there's a bass solo from Giorgio D'Adamo as if to confirm our worst fears. Not entirely redundant as the playing, textures and variety on offer is perhaps in inverse proportion to the quality of the thematic writing.

Quando l'erbe vestiva la terra - What was delightfully capricious hitherto is uncloaked here as clumsily episodic. The individual thematic ideas are decent enough but they seem to have been sloppily glued together in the creation of a faux mini suite of tenuously related materials. The New Trolls do have a fondness for waltz rhythms and this number is redolent of a more hot blooded and volatile Procul Harum. Despite all that, there is in mitigation, a wonderful sax solo from Baiocco that hints that the laddie could have carved himself a considerable reputation in the jazz sphere methinks? De Scalzi contributes his lengthiest and most eloquent guitar solo on the album hereabouts but not even this can mask some yawning gaps in the floorboards.

Butterfly - Oh dear, this sounds like an ill advised cover version of Lapland's doomed Boong Bagga Bingy entry for the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. The lyrics are in English but if they were mine, such an unequivocal death warrant should be encrypted post haste. The cack handed deployment of that normally infectious beat from Not Fade Away is more Bo Derek than Bo Diddley alas.

All things considered these are very enjoyable and diverse slices of Rock Progressivo Italiano and although NT Atomic System doesn't quite have the class of Maxophone, PFM or Banco, it should serve as a suitable introduction to this genre. For those who are puzzled by this separate category on Progressive Archives rest assured that such music from this part of the world has a unique flavour, feel and texture thoroughly deserving of its demarcated status.

Fancy a Zucchini omelette hun?

Yeah okay, pass me the hammer

I guess for legal reasons when the NEW TROLLS split they felt they needed to change their name somewhat. I enjoyed this album quite a bit especially the first two tracks. Thankfully the vocals are in Italian and they style here is Symphonic.

"La Nuaova Predicadi Padre O'Brien" opens with some great sounding keyboards that will come and go. Vocals and a fuller sound arrive quickly. Flute 1 1/2 minutes in followed by vocal melodies. I like the synths before 4 minutes as well. "Ho Visto Poi" opens with organ and synths. Drums follow then it settles with reserved vocals. It kicks in again as the contrasts continue. Sax before 4 1/2 minutes. Two excellent tracks to start.

"Tornare A Credere" features piano early as reserved vocals join in. It gets fuller with backing vocals helping out too. Contrasts continue. Not a big fan of this first part. A change after 4 1/2 minutes as the guitar then piano leads. Synths are next then back to that earlier sound to end it. Piano and vocals are prominant early on in "Ibernazione" as synths come and go. Flute after 3 minutes. Check out the bass after 4 1/2 minutes ! "Quendo L'Erba Vestiva La Terra" is almost orchestral-like to open before vocals and piano take over. Organ joins in. Guitar after 3 1/2 minutes solos away. The tempo continues to shift. Sax 5 1/2 minutes in. "Butterfly" opens with gentle guitar as reserved vocals and percussion join in. Backing vocals too as contrasts continue. This one does sound quite different from the rest. Not a fan.

A good album but it could have been so much better.

New Trolls Atomic System was formed by Vittorio De Scalzi as an offshoot of New Trolls, and renamed for contractual reasons. This album maintains the earlier band's tradition of fusing rock and classical music and even includes a reworking of Modest Mussorgsky's ''A Night on Bare Mountain''. UNA NOTTE SUL MONTE CALVO was originally released as a single and is included on the Vinyl Magic disc as a bonus track. Clearly it was an attempt to emulate the success ELP had with Mussorgsky's ''Pictures At An Exhibition''.

The ELP influence is evident throughout the album, particularly on LA NUOVA PREDICA DI PADRE O'BRIEN. In fact, if you were ever curious to hear how ELP would sound with Ian Anderson joining them on flute then this song could just fit the bill. Strange fruit indeed, especially when you add some Ennio Morricone inspired female backing vocals... it might be best just to listen to the MP3/stream to see what I mean. Lyrically, it would seem to draw on themes on the New Trolls' 1968 concept album where they collaborated with poet Riccardo Mannerini.

For me the standout track is the penultimate QUANDO L'ERBE VESTIVA LA TERRA, mainly thanks to its aching synthesizer lines and general air of melancholy during its first half. The heavy second part includes some piercing saxophone overblows so take care if, like me, you listen on headphones. Unfortunately the album goes from the sublime to the ridiculous on the closing track BUTTERFLY, an English-language pop song that totally kills the album's atmosphere. It's just plain bizarre if you ask me. I had actually forgotten about this song since I never listen to it (it's like a very poor Cat Stevens' song, a guy I like a lot by the way). I was going to give this album 4-stars, but I've knocked it down to 3 because this song simply doesn't fit on an otherwise fine prog album.

After the release of the good Ut, the problems started in THE NEW TROLLS, while Nico di Palo wanted to move the bands towards the Hard Rock camp, Vittorio De Scalzi refused to abandon Prog, so the band split and Vittorio along with Giorgio D'Adamo formed THE NEW TROLLS ATOMIC SYSTEM, in order to give priority to the Symphonic sound the band had achieved in the fantastic Concerto Grosso Per I New Trolls.

So almost immediately the release , a very good LP, in which his guys try several different Prog sub genres, including Symphonic, Heavy Prog, Folksy Pastoral and Jazz, and even when the album doesn't have a single weak moment, seems as this guys were never able to find a determined sound that could identify them.

The album is opened by La Nuova Predica di Padre O'Brien (The New Sermon of Father O'Brien), a song that shows the eclectic nature of the album, being that after a short Symphonic intro, they move towards some sort of folksy passage with a JETHRO TULL inspired Prog, Hard Rock and even Jazz. A very good musical piece in which the band combines perfectly so different genres.

Ho Visto Poi (I have Seen Them) begins with a heavy intro in which a strong Hammond in the vein of URIAH HEEP and turns into a precious Power Ballad with some radical changes and great performances with a hint of Psychedelic jamming and a very confuse Free Jazz section.

Tornare a Credere (To Believe Again) starts as a mainstream Rock song with excellent vocals and choirs, but about the mark of the 4:30 minutes, anything can be expected, from jazzy sections to some Symphonic moments with an extraordinary guitar work.

Una Notte Sul Monte Calvo (A Night at the Bald Mountain) is one of the best versions of Mussorgsky's classic, being that the band dares to be innovative and assumes risks, but at the same time they respect the rebellious spirit of the Mighty Handful represented by Mussorgsky. I'm sure that if the composer was alive, this would be one of his favorite versions.

Ibernazione (Hibernation) is a really strange song, after a Medieval introduction they jump to Rock territory with some ELP keyboard based passages, a nice contrast with the melancholic Quando L'Erba Vestiva la Terra (When the Grass Dressed the Earth), without doubt the most Symphonic track of the album with an amazing organ performance.

The album ends with Butterfly, a fantastic Blues oriented song with an obvious influence of the first JETHRO TULL albums, not Prog but who cares, this is simply brilliant.

Even when N. T. Atomic System is not in the level of the wonderful Concerto Grosso Per I New Trolls (Very few albums in Rock history are in this level), we are before an essential release that deserves no less than 4 solid stars.

New Trolls is an interesting band, for sure. They developed from ye olde beat and pop/ rock of the sixties into an ever more progressive and eclectic band. I love the 'Concerto grosso', 'Searching for a new land' and 'UT'. Especially 'UT'. I find that album to be very varied, hard rocking and challenging album that grows on you. At first I didn't get it at all but it revealed itself after some time. Great album by a great band. 'Night on bare mountain' seems to be the following album and is quite interesting aswell. Musically New Trolls stands in both classical elements and hard rock, creating a wonderful brew of progressive rock that spans across the universe. Quite evident is their love of jazz and folk, which adds to the great flavor of the album. I would say, however, that the music is less challenging on this one, compared to 'UT', but ot the other hand it feels more cohesive and held together. The good thing is that the songs are presented in a sort of uniform state, the problem is that the songs actually are similar to each other, resulting in an album of great material but nothing really stand out.

There is an abundance of marvellous instrumentation on this album. The title track is an electronic sounding, pulsating thing with an overly classical reference which works great. The massive amounts of keyboards, not to mention organ, is a treat and being a fan of keyboards I cannot be anything other than amused. There is a delicate feel to it all that is at times abruptly interrupted by outbursts of heavy rock. That is very enjoyable and one is kept on ones toes, actually.

As far as individual tracks are concerned, every song is great and better. When I listen to the album I really nod my head in recognition. 'This is so great', I find myself saying, and I mean it. The music is really great in all it's jazzy progressive rock. It is wonderful. But I cannot really pick any one track out, apart from the title track. I cannot hum them. That is a shame, because the songs are really good. Maybe it's the similarities they share that is to blame? I don't really know. Or perhaps this album marks a decline in the fortunes of the New Trolls? Whatever the reason, I find that 'Night on bare mountain' is really enjoyable and well performed, simply not outstanding. I wish for it to be released on CD, some day, because then I will buy it. If you haven't listened to New Trolls, start with 'Concerto grosso' or 'UT'. Save this one for later.

After "Searching For A Land", a double album from 1972, an internal struggle broke out in the New Trolls which led Vittorio De Scalzi and Nico di Palo to split up. "Ut", released in the same 1972, sees Vittorio De Scalzi present in only one track ("I cavalieri del lago dell'Ontario") however without having any importance for the final result. "Ut" could therefore be classified as the debut album of "Nico, Gianni, Frank, Maurizio"/ Ibis. Vittorio De Scalzi, sole custodian of the name new Trolls at SIAE, decides to form N.T. Atomic System recalling Giorgio D'Adamo (bass) former New Trollsand adding new musicians (Tullio De Piscopo, Renato Rosset, Giorgio Balocco, Ramasandiran Somusundaram and Anna & Giulietta). While Ibis create a sort of Proto Prog Metal, N. T. Atomic System give themselves to a symphonic Progressive Rock in the most classic Italian tradition complete with Jazz and Blues parts with Heavy sound merged in the symphonic system that Banco Mutuo Soccorso, PFM or Le Orme do so much.

I've basically already described the album. In retrospect, describing the various compositions individually doesn't make much sense because, in the end, there is always the usual mix between VDGG, Jethro Tull, Genesis and Gentle Giant and, for better or worse, here they are reinterpreted very much in Anglo-Saxon style and little in an Italian version (like PFM did, for example). I like to note that in certain moments there are insertions of reinterpretations of Atomic Rooster more Hard Rock in some keyboard scores. Conversely, " Quando l'erba vestiva la terra " is a classic song that can be inserted into the more symphonic Italian melodic POP genre and is, in practice, a Power Ballad which, however, has a baroque insertion (in which a translation by Gentle Giant is heard which then turns into Jazz Rock) which ruins the atmosphere that the band wanted to create. Naturally, "A Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky (released as a single) is included in the reissues, knowing that he wants to make people understand that N.T. Atomic System are Italian (since it was the fashion for Italian groups to do these Rock versions of classical music classics).

Honestly "N.T. Atomic System" is a beautiful album. Not a masterpiece, OK. However, not knowing him is truly something to be condemned. Especially because it has aged really well and is still an album that could be released today, the same in every way... Even in the production.