SEGNI PREMONITORI

Excellent example of instrumental sympho/neo-prog deeply inspired by IQ.The further we go the more complex music we meet; a real sympho!!! The whole album is a bit boring:after the 5th track you're not able to be as much attentive as in the beginning.The only track with vocals "Machine of God" leaves nice impression...as well as the whole record:it's nice,but it's hard to tell one track from another.But when you got use to it...oh boy,it's STUNNING!!!That's why I was going to give DORACOR the full 5 stars! But 4 stars will be enough,I think - sometimes this music can bore to death!!! :-)

No real changes in comparison with his debut album. This one man band (Corrado Sardella) is now surrounded by only two of his mates (instead of ten for The Long Pathway). Same sort of ELP oriented music, which is almost instrumental (only one short song with vocals and one with some spoken words). Keyboards lovers: this one is made for you. Only that the whole story is a bit boring at the end of the day (but it was already the case with his previous album).

This is fine when you listen to the music distractively. But when you concentrate and try to extract the essence of it, the experience just collapse. Symphonic prog: probably. But not creative. The guy is certainly gifted musically; but in terms of compositions he is no genious, for sure. There Are lots of ambient passages, some nice guitar breaks as well, like during the title track.

Teru's Symphonia fans should appreciate this album but there is no outstanding number featured. Only a long succession of keys of all sorts for about an hour. That's it. But so was his debut. This work is full of self-indulgence and it sounds quite pretentious and monotone. Inventiveness and creativity are alien here. Sub-sub par ELP. No more.

Two stars because this album won't hurt your musical senses. But it won't transport you to heaven either. I fully endorse the last sentence of Igor's review. I quote: sometimes this music can bore to death.

The second album from Corrado Sardella and his Doracor.

The first album was keyboards drenched symph prog. And there is not much change here either. The same style as on the debut album. Although with some more electric guitars this time. And the last song has some good vocals too.

I understand that keyboards is a good instrument. And the debut album had a some good melodies. But it feels like Corrado Sardella has run a bit empty on this album. No real good melodies and not many interesting details either. The progression I expected from the debut album is actually a step backwards. Which is a pity, really. This album is much more muzak than symph prog. And this muzak album is nothing more than a decent album, I am sorry to report. I hope for a better third album.

2.5 stars

I first heard the song Macchine di Dio and was oddly drawn to the sound, it seemed free and expansive while still sounding tight and catchy and, as a result, I decided to seek out the album.

After listening to the album for the first time my initial thoughts were, "well it doesn't exactly change much does it." It's a shame because the musicianship is tight and the musicians (though mostly Sardella) sounds extremely well formed and complete. I really enjoy Toti's emotive vocals and the production is great. My issue with the album however is that it grows stale the more you listen to it, take the previously mentioned song and expand it into an hour long album and that's how this feels when listening to it.

Another major issue I have with this album is that it sounds exactly like the first album and I can't help but feel when listening to this that Sardella seems to be suffering from a lack of musical ideas.

I don't hate the album, it works extremely well as background music and contains a pleasant sound that is sure to please any symphonic prog fan, but on the whole this album does not reward the listener for trying to focus in on and engage with the music.

2/5 stars, Doracor will release better albums in time.

The sophomore effort of Doracor came instantly after the release of ''The long pathway''.But this time Corrado Sardella invited a couple of guests to help him out.Emanuele Toti Pinto lends his voice in three tracks and Massimo Farina plays guitar in one cut, all other instruments are performed by Sardella himself.''Segni premonitori'' appears to be a concept work around extraterrestrials, taking inspiration from the tracks' titles, and it was released in 1998, of course on Mellow Records, a label that supported Doracor for many years.

The music is mainly instrumental, keyboard-dominated Neo/Symphonic Prog with E.L.P. and ARENA vibes.Extremely bombastic with flashy solos, impressive pyrotechnics and decent melodies.Drum programming sounds again quite mediocre, but the compositions are rich, energetic and grandiose, full of nice twists, symphonic arrangements and Classical interludes.While most of the album runs over a powerful atmosphere, there are plenty of dreamy breaks around to calm things down and offer a more romantic atmosphere.The guitars are again a supporting instrument, but they are also the reason the album knocks on heavier terrotories quite often.All tracks are long, interesting and tightly arranged, if not only some plastic-sounding orchestrations could be delivered in a more natural way.Otherwise ''Segni premonitori'' has plenty to offer to the starving fan of Symphonic Rock.It contains a fair dose of virtuosity, there are surprising chant-like themes to be found and the changes between ethereal tunes and monster symphonic lines are more than welcome.Vocals give Doracor's style a new perspective and they should be present more frequently, even so this new entry in the music of Sardella makes this album even more interesting and accomplished.

Great follow-up to ''The long pathway''.Bombastic Symphonic Rock with both dramatic and dreamy atmospheres, built around Sardella's amazing keyboard flights.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.