JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE LIGHT

What an absolute rush it was to stumble upon this long-awaited follow-up to the Coral Caves band that the RPI team championed so many moons ago. The addition of the word "Project" to their name was an intentional change to signify that this time around, the core members were seeking to widen the pool of contributors and make large scale collaboration a tenet of the new album project they envisioned. This goal has been accomplished as Coral Caves Project notes nine additional musicians on top of the five main band members: Pietro Saviano, vocals, bass, flute; Massimiliano Vacca, drums; Dario Gallotta, guitar; Lucio Gallotta, lead guitar; and Salvadores Arcoleo, keys, piano.

In fact, when Andrea Parentin interviewed Pietro back in 2008---can it really be that long ago, Andrea?---Pietro said several things that seem to have now transpired in one way or another. Back then, if my memory serves, they were often described as melodic RPI with a heavy Pink Floyd influence. They wanted to move on from such labels and associations to be judged on their own merit. They wanted to not be held down to the expectation of progressive rock or any other label. He spoke of no restraints and no rules. A quote from that interview...

"For the moment we are promoting our debut album, but we have a great deal of new ideas that could find shape in a second one. We would like to release a more conceptual work without changing completely our style and taste, but with different 'musical colours' and a different atmosphere (thanks to some collaboration that we are thinking of). What really scares us is to become like one of those bands that are incapable to change and grow musically just because they have received some appreciations, and so they keep on composing always the same stuff."

From the git-go, the music of Journey to the End of the Light knocked me out. It just made me smile and brought me immediate joy. As someone who used to dabble a bit in RPI appreciation, it's a genre I hadn't really listened to in many years. And so while there was some excitement returning to the old flame of an RPI band I knew of long ago, I do maintain this album is the real deal and that Coral Caves Project has succeeded in the above-mentioned goals that Pietro laid out. The album is split into three sections. Part I has five tracks under the heading descriptor "Music and Words Inspired by L.F. Celine's 'Voyage au bout de la nuit' and 'Lettres à des amies.' " Part II is called "Lost and Found," and those two songs I believe are older compositions. Part III is titled "Echoes From Elsewhere," with one original and two very tastefully handled covers: Gabriel's "Here Comes the Flood" and Marillion's "Lavender." If you like those two songs, you'll want to hear these delightful arrangements.

I've not heard their debut album in many years, but this sounds quite different based on memory. While we still have a stable ground of classic, melodic RPI and the consistent talent of those members, the new material is fresh and invigorating, bouncing around, sampling other flavors in a more modern-tinged symphonic progressive with, occasionally, some Crossover/Neo vein perhaps. You will hear the enchanting flute and wistful solo piano that one expects with classic RPI, but compositions then go big and bold with convincing jamming, boisterous melodies, jazzy sections, and even some spoken word moments. The instrumental palette and talent of everyone is deep, and the production is top notch. While it is not fair to single out one aspect when everyone plays so beautifully, I have to give a nod to all of the guitar work here which really popped for me. But, again, everyone's effort here is exceptional. Naturally, the grouchy, pain-in-the-ass purist in me wishes they had not used English language vocals and, frankly, this can singlehandedly spoil the experience of RPI for me. But in this case, thankfully, it did not.

I easily recommend this album to fans of both classic RPI and modern Ital-prog and really any lovers of diverse rock music, though it likely will not satisfy diehards of hardcore, harsh-rock, or avant-garde experimental. But for me, the bottom line here is the ease with which they mine so much beautiful melody and the superb presentation of it. Last, special regards to Alessia Bennardo for beautiful cover art!