SUITE FOR THE LAST PROPHET

Via Modesta Valenti is a progressive rock band based in Rome that took form in 2017 inspired by the likes of Genesis, Yes or Pink Floyd with a line up featuring Matteo Zanuzzi (vocals and lyrics), Adriano Sabatucci (acoustic and electric guitar), Francesco Mongatti (piano, keyboards), Gianmarco Palma (electric bass) and Luca Santi (drums). The name of the band refers to a homeless woman who, in 1983, died in poverty and in the cold of Rome Termini station, arousing much indignation for her state to the point of becoming a symbol, a kind of secular saint to whom the homeless people of the Italian capital turn. In 2002 the Municipality of Rome named in her memory a fictitious street where the homeless can apply for residency registration, via Modesta Valenti.

In 2024 the band self released a debut EP, entitled Suite For The Last Prophet, containing just a long piece divided into twelve short sections for a total length of twenty-three minutes. It tells in music and words a surreal story, a kind of psychedelic dream where the band showcase their instrumental skills and a strong sense of humour. To be honest, in my opinion vocals and lyrics are not the strength of this work but the music is good and worth listening to, a nice patchwork of different styles and atmospheres stitched together with passionate coherence even if following a plot a bit confused...

The suite begins by a piano solo introduction. Then the vocals on a marching beat evoke the image of a boy who enters in a public library and asks for a book about the human common denominator ("The Eternal Story"). The librarian gives him a copy of the Quran and while reading it the boy falls asleep and begins to dream. In fact, the following section tells of a crazy journey on camel back through the Arabic Desert ("Desert Trip"). When the boy arrives in La Mecca he can hear the voices and noises of the bazaar in a foreign language (here the lyrics turn from English to Italian) ("Bazar Blues"). Then the protagonist enters in a Turkish bath and the dream gets more and more blurred ("Jazzy Smoky Snake") going on between mystical ravings about gods and prophets ("Pristine soul"), tempting and deviously enchanting women ("Barbara"), pseudo-scientific digressions ("Origins"), delirious political rantings about a borderless and endless world ("Silk And Mohair"), mysticism trapped into the unconscious ("The Final Fork") and geometrical transcendentalism ("In The Mist Of Tempo Changes: Trying To Connect Two Dots"). Then it's time to wake up, the protagonist is back in the library, in a world where you can find the words of God in the bookshops for sale ("La Mecca Conquest"). A short instrumental section ("A.C.U.C. Almost Completely Useless Coda") ends the suite...

On the whole, a nice work that deserves a try.