SUONO!

Le Distillerie di Malto come from Ortona, in the province of Chieti, and began life in the late eighties playing covers of prog rock bands such as Jethro Tull, Genesis or King Crimson. In 2001 they self released an interesting d'but album featuring original compositions, Il manuale dei piccoli discorsi. In 2014, after a long hiatus, le Distillerie di Malto came finally back with a brand new album released on the French label Musea Records and titled Suono! (Sound!). The current line up features Marco Angelone (guitar), Fabiano Cudazzo (keyboards), Alessio Palizzi (drums), Fabrizio Pellicciaro (vocals, guitar) and Giuliano Torelli (bass) but two former members, Maurizio Di Tollo (drums) and Luca Latini (flute) contributed to the recording sessions and are credited as special guests. The final result of their work is absolutely worth listening to and I'm sure that Italianprog lovers will appreciate it.

The opener 'Prefazione' is just a short instrumental intro with a mystical atmosphere that leads to the following 'Il guardiano' (The keeper), a beautiful track that deals with environmental issues. The music and lyrics depict men ravaging the banks of lakes and rivers while Mother Nature, as for magic, starts to cry. There are new dreams, new hands at work and new faces, then pains and tears as the seasons change and rage rises. The soul of the keeper of this injured Earth is in fire, the air is polluted, the trees are dying... There's nothing to do, men are prisoners of their greediness and they will never be free without any respect for their environment.

The long, complex 'Il suono seducente del sogno' (The seducing sound of dream) is an excellent track that deals, as you can guess, with music and dreams... 'Every dream comes to life in a magic castle / When the day will come, go in and don't close the door / You will find spears and shields, cold blood and mercy, the boldness of the heroes and a soaring music...'. The magic castle of music and dreams is a nice metaphor for the need of a shelter from the daily grind, but beware! The charm of those magic sounds is dangerous and you could risk to become nothing but a slave of your dreams while reality looms outside.

Then comes 'Nemesi' (Nemesis), a track full of dark energy that was inspired by Greek mythology. Nemesis was a goddess representing the idea of divine retribution and this track tries to capture in music and words the spirit of the righteous vengeance by depicting a loveless sense of justice without light inside, cold and cynical... 'It is useless to anneal your strength / A body is nothing but a heap of snow / It melts in the first sunshine / To jump higher, to run faster / What does really matter is the soul...'.

'Rovescia l'immaginazione e scopri la realt' (Reverse your imagination and discover the reality) is a beautiful instrumental where the members of the band can showcase all their musicianship and where frenzied passages alternates with calm, dreamy sections, heavy guitar riffs with surging organ rides. It leads to the second part of 'Il suono seducente del sogno (parte II)' where the light, gauzy mist of a never ending dream lays on everything... 'This music plays inside me / I will never run away from this dream...'.

'Lorca e Dal' is a long, complex track inspired by poetry and painting. It features ethereal atmospheres and narrative vocals where words are just touches of colour on the evocative musical texture. Golden angels drink your soul while your eyes are burnt by dreams, you look for a meaning but you can't find a clue, you can't find the key to gates of dream and you get lost... The following 'The Sun' is a short acoustic track sung in English that closes the album with a mystical mood and in some way takes you back to the starting point.

On the whole, a very good album. Welcome back Distillerie di Malto!

Italian band DISTELLERIE DI MALTO (DDM hereinafter) was formed back in 1988, and if I have understood their history correctly, they started out playing cover material for a while before they started to create their own music. They released their debut album "Il Manuale dei Piccoli Discorsi" back in 2001. Following a creative process that has spanned more than a decade, they released their second studio album "Suono!" through Musea Records towards the end of 2013.

"Suono!" is a production that appears to be made specifically for those with a taste for the brand of music described as Rock Progressivo Italiano by a specific subset of progressive rock fans. The songs on the album incorporate aspects from folk, symphonic and heavy prog; there's also room for a few jazzy details at times, and the songs have a certain timeless flavor to them that appears to be oriented back to the age when progressive rock dominated the airwaves to a much greater extent than today. A well made specimen of its kind, and not surprisingly, I'd recommend this production to those who do favor artists commonly sorted under the Italian Progressive Rock description.

Formed back in late Eighties in Ortona, in the province of Chieti, yet releasing their debut album in 2001, Italian band Distillerie di Malto return 13 years later in 2013 for the follow-up album `Suono!' The band offer an unpredictable and devil-may-care take on the classic Seventies sound of vintage Italian Prog, especially the schizophrenic quality of the early Banco albums. While all the symphonic prog, psychedelic touches and expected classical theatrical flourishes are accounted for, a welcome wildness and rough-around-the-edges charm runs through the entire disc, a quality that instantly makes it stand apart from many other polished and pristine RPI works of the current era. The band also boasts one of the most charismatic singers of modern RPI in the form of Fabrizio Pelliciaro, whose raspy drawl is incredibly effective and moving. There's plenty of ravishing acoustic/electric interplay throughout the album, the music full of aching beauty with gentle melancholy.

After a magical twinkling of piano and panning dreamy signing harmonies introduction, `Il Guardiano' races back and forth between wild electric sections and thoughtful acoustic passages, often twisting deliciously together. It instantly leaps to life with dazzling piano, sprightly drumming and darting flute, all those usual classic vintage Italian prog trademarks! Singer Fabrizio has a coarse but sympathetic voice that flows between rollicking lively acoustic strums and tasty moments of electric guitar bite, with the band leaping through a rapid-fire range of tempos with a beautiful building drama and sense of urgency. Part one of `Il Suono Seducentre Del Sogno' offers lonely saxophone and synth weirdness with a delicate mysterious shimmering electric piano outro that is simply sublime. `Nemesi' opens playfully with devilish grinding electric guitar twists, loopy synths and puckering bass, but quickly Hammond ripples and heavy grooving riffs give way to a sprinkling of classical piano drama and a wounded croon with moments of Genesis-like regal pomp.

`Rovescia...' is an effortlessly cool instrumental piece, crammed with relentless up-tempo bursts of snarling groovy heavy guitars over forceful synth waves, with a sneaky jazz piano rumination in the middle. `Il Suono...' returns for a second part, with murmuring bass, warm acoustic guitar and a nice serrated quality to the electric guitar throughout. The piano middle is oddly creeping before plenty of back and forth solo duelling between the players. Thirteen minute epic `Lorca E Dali' is the highlight of an already incredible album. The first few minutes drift by in a dreamy haze of delicate piano and floating ethereal synths behind spoken word passages, soothing yet sombre. The piece quickly turns quite deranged and disorientating in the middle, with psychedelic unravelling synth spirals and maddening guitar twists. Peppy colourful bubbling synth runs and scorching triumphant guitar soloing returns the track to uplifting hopefulness to close on. The album then finishes on a brief acoustic guitar/piano ballad `The Sun', strangely sung in English.

Not only does `Suono' offer incredibly strong song-writing and thrilling instrumental arrangements, there's a refreshing leave-it-alone quality to the production that retains many welcome rough edges. While it contains all the theatrical drama and swooning sophistication expected of Italian progressive releases, there are so many moments of dark impossible beauty, a creeping sense of unease lurking throughout the work, giving it some grit and edge. It just may be one of the best modern Italian released of the last few years. Let's hope it doesn't take Distillerie di Malto another thirteen years to deliver their next album, but if the results would be as good as what they've presented on `Suono!', then it would truly be worth the wait!

Five stars for a modern RPI stunner.

Special thanks to Prog Archives member Sagichim who constantly hounded me into getting this title! Better late than never!

This Italian band has been around since the eighties but they didn't release a studio album until 2001, this is the followup that was released in 2013. Most will agree that they have really upped their game with this recording. It's so cool too that the original drummer and flute player were invited back as guests on this one and you will see them and the rest of the band in the picture beside their bio here.

"Prefazione" is a very short intro of fast paced piano as vocal melodies join in. This is an intro to "Il Guardiano" where the same melody continues but with a fuller sound. Vocals too and everytime the vocals stop the flute takes over until before 2 minutes where both join the soundscape and that's my favourite part of the song. Themes are repeated and we also get some guitar. "Il Suono Seducente Del Sogno Pt. 1" is relaxed to start as the flute joins in. Reserved vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. Beautiful stuff especially the background synths. It kicks in after 2 1/2 minutes with passionate vocals as the contrasts continue. The tempo picks up around 4 minutes in and this is quite catchy. Some nice guitar 5 1/2 minutes in as he solos followed by flute only 6 minutes in but it's brief. Some heavier guitar is next followed by another calm. "Nemesi" has outbursts of power early on then it stays fairly powerful with some organ helping out as the vocals join in. Man he can sing! A calm with piano before 2 1/2 minutes and I really like the drum work here as well. Another calm before 4 minutes and I love the melancholic synths. Check out the piano/ vocal section before 6 1/2 minutes.

"Rovescia L'immaginazione E Scorpi La Realta" builds from the get-go, the guitar and drums really standout. A calm with piano after 1 1/2 minutes then it builds again as contrasts continue. Love the guitar 5 1/2 minutes in to the end. A pretty cool instrumental track. "Il Suono Seducentre Del Sogno Pt. 2" opens with guitar that I really like the tone of along with some prominent bass as it builds. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in with strummed guitar as it settles but then it kicks back in. Plenty of synths follow then a calm arrives 3 1/2 minutes in. "Lorca E Dali" hits the ground running but then settles fairly quickly with synths, a beat and more. An enjoyable section. Spoken words arrive after 3 minutes until they turn into singing 4 1/2 minutes in then it turns heavier and kicks into gear a minute later. The guitar soars before 9 1/2 minutes then the synths lead before the guitar returns and both lead the way. "The Sun" is a short tune that opens with a sample of someone driving up and parking before getting out as the piano and acoustic guitar take over. Laid back vocals join in then it ends with the person getting back into the car and leaving. A ballad-like track.

This is a very enjoyable album that pushes all the right buttons for me when it comes to to RPI. A solid 4 stars is certainly deserved.