LA MONTAGNA SACRA

Perhaps just as much a project as a band, this is another album with Andrea Monetti Roccasanta (also involved in Amanita and Alhambra, both listed on ProgArchives under Prog Folk and Space/Psych Prog respectively) behind the steering wheel.

In many ways those two categorisations give a clear hint towards what you can expect from the music, and in essence La Montagna Sacra is a somewhat eclectic combination of both psychedelic and folk influences, with a clear and tangible RPI vibe that connects and enriches the music further. Very familiar and pulsing, pleasing and nostalgic music that emphasises the freedom and range in style that many of the 70s RPI classics master like few others.

Take for example the theatrical defiance and drive of the latter half of opener Perso Nel Vueto (don't miss the eerie resemblance to Led Zeppelin's No Quarter during its introduction), with the action-packed mix of whirling flute, powerful drumming and slightly playful keys that expand into uncompromising and naked guitar solos, and both giants like Jethro Tull and lesser known gems of RPI springs to mind. Salva La Tua Realtà has the same hard-hitting riffs as early Il Rovescio Della Medaglia, but with more emphasis on sweet melodies with once again gorgeous flute in between. Bonus points for pulling off the mandatory drastic changes in tempo and force with a lot of finesse and maturity. It's easy-going, natural and just lovely for much of the time.

A Song For Timothy is a great light-folk excursion with delicately played acoustic guitar and romantic flute with a soft, absorbing atmosphere to it (no edges whatsoever - smooth stuff), and it's one of those songs you're just drawn into whether you want it or not. Mushroom is a bit similar in concept, but stretches a bit further into psychedelic territory (as the title quite bluntly suggests), being quite loaded on a floating structure and spaced-out keys sounds and guitar effects. Introspective, and featuring a rather repetitive and nervous guitar motif, it comes off as more adventurous than it really is, only due to that effectively created atmosphere. Once again Zeppelin references to be heard. The title track offers even more of the elusive folk/psych/RPI mix of this album, being overtly folky in an Eastern kind of way, with propulsive sitar creating the textural weight needed to support the focal point of the music - yes, you guessed it - the dancing flute melody.

Bringing it all together, the music ends up being something like the only track I haven't mentioned yet, the very balanced E Cadere D'improvviso. A short but sweet rollercoaster piano steers the mind towards Reale Accademia di Musica before the rock guitar kicks in for some powerful licks. The piano will be back later, but sadly understated along with the rest of the keys (goes for a lot of the album - a Hammond can't be too loud) for a return back to mellower flute-laid soundscapes.

A potential goldmine for all interested in nostalgic, vintage RPI eclecticism and quality musicianship - but really not much more. I love it just because of that, and because of the pride and energy by which these guys acknowledge their musical heritage and influences. The faint hints of contemporary alt-rock are soon forgotten and easily missed. The production is unfortunately of the muddier type, and while I normally don't see that as a problem, it really disintegrates much of the individual instruments performance, and it is the keys that suffer the most.

3 stars. I will gladly discover the other projects related to Arjuna after this.

//LinusW

Oh yeah, give me more Italian stuff!

Once again, i thank PA and it's members for showing me the way to great music, Arjuna was simply one more band i knew because of this site and one more band that i really enjoy listening to, thanks specially to my favourite admin who let me know about this album.

So here i am reviewing an album from yet another Italian band and i wonder how some members have not explored the RPI realm, it is so vast and with a lot of hidden gems that are awesome to find that makes this realm full of excellent music, this particular album is not the Italian prog album we are used to listen, this is different with some different ideas and cool music. Arjuna released this album called La Montagna Sacra back in 1996, and if i am not wrong i think it was their only album, what a pity. It contains 6 songs and a total time of 41 minutes, may the trip begin.

The album opens with their longest song which lasts over 11 minutes and whose name is Perso nel Vuoto, the start is very reminiscent to Zeppelin's No Quarter as Linus pointed out in his review, with a slow tempo beginning, some nice sax and a constant bass and drumming along with the vocals and a nice flute touch here and there, then at minute 4 it makes a stop and changes with a pastoral mood made with piano and flute with a delicate sound and a minute after the bass lines enter and it is where you will listen that they are an Italian band, and i am not saying that just because of the obvious vocals, but because of the music as well, with that 70s touch, a powerful and very enjoyable second part of the song which also includes some nices guitar solos, the last part has some psychedelic touch as well.

The next song is A Song for Timothy, this song opens very beautifully with melodic flute and a nice acoustic guitar that gives the folkish touch to the music, a much lighter song than it's previous one but that will mantain you listening due to it's delicate sound the percussion also play a nice role here, the song as a whole is the same all time.

Salva la tua Realta opens with a kind of jazz rock drumming and then the flute and guitars gather to create again very nice music, here you will listen to a clear psychedelic touch very reminiscent to some 70s moments, the keyboards and electric guitars are the ones who lead this song, but after a minute and a half you will appreciate the sax sound and the vocals return in this song, in some moments this track sounds heavier but without losing the soft parts.

La Montagna Sacra brings immediately to my mind that Indian or middle eastern sound because it adds the sitar sound to the music, sitar is an instrument that i like listening a lot, sometimes it gives me goosebumps so finding this different track with that sound was very cool, the song runs alike all the time, with sitar, percussion and flute, a delicious melody definitely.

E Cadere D' Improviso is quite different to he previous one of course, it opens with a slight piano sound but almost immediately shows the rockier sound of the band, with more agressive drumming and electric guitars, but agains with their prominent flute sound then we will hear to a very nice instrumental passage that contains also cool bass notes, a minute after vocals appear and the keys with that psychedelic sound as a background. the best about this song is definitely when the music just floats and runs naturally, those instrumental moments are very cool.

And finally we have Mushrooms as you can imagine due to the single name, it has a pyschedelic touch, some spacey synth and a nice acoustic guitar with also the prominent flute,the atmosphere all the time is very psychedelic, actually it reminds me to some krautrock moments, so go figure. A nice ending song for this album.

A very eclectic album indeed, with great moments and nice songs, however i think my final grade will be 3 stars, it is good but non-essential, but anyways i would recommend it to any prog fan.

Enjoy it!

This one-shot Italian act from Bologna appears to be the continuation of the Folk Rock band Amanita.It was led by ex-Amanita members Andrea Monetti (flute, saxophone), Salvatore Turco (drums) and Massimiliano Iannotta (bass) with the addition of Goffredo Fioravanti on keyboards/piano, Vincenzo Nick Le Rose on guitars/vocals and Giuseppe Turco on guitar/sitar.Their sole release ''La montagna sacra'' was released in 1998 on the band's FlyAgaric! label.

From a specific point of view Arjuna sound a quite interesting group.Their trippy, semi-improvised style with the long, psychedelic instrumentals seems very close to the experimental stylings of Kraut Rock bands like MYTHOS and SAND, while they sound like coming straight out of the early-70's.The strong use of flutes and the presence of acoustic guitars add also something out of JETHRO TULL's style in the music.The most dreamy and ethereal passages recall also the legendary Italian band PANGEA.On the other hand the intense, psychedelic soundscapes and the mood for creating trully acid textures seem not to lead the music somewhere.The album is rather directionless with stretched instrumentals and very loose executions, featuring extended flute solos, unimpressive electric guitar moves and some standard lead parts with no evident signs of personality.The self-titled track with the monotonic sitar and the trippy flutes is reminiscent of the most experimental Kraut Folk acts, while the big line-up does not always guarantee a rich sound, on the contrary sometimes the music tends to be quite minimalistic.Fans of psychedelic, pastoral instrumentals have a chance to appreciate this though.

Arjuna eventually evolved into the Psychedelic Rock act Alhambra, always characterized by the leading figure of Andrea Monetti.The same guy participated also in the sole release ''Fragments from the alterated'' of the Psych/Stoner Rock band Ku in 2000, but his most important contribution to the Prog scene comes as a regular member of La Maschera di Cera.

Unoriginal Kraut-like Psych/Folk Rock with Italian vocals.Not very impressive structurally, still containing a few nice soundscapes for fans of the more psychedelic and nostalgic side of Rock music...2.5 stars.