SOEHRIMNIR

LUPERCALIA, the fascinating prequel to the more commercially successful Italian project CORDE OBLIQUE, formed in 1999 and released 2 full length albums performed by the all wise all knowing RICCARDO PRENCIPE on classical guitar and synths and Pierangelo Fevola on limited strings. This is the debut from 2000, to which bonus tracks from a prior demo were later added, featuring soprano Claudia Florio, but my review is based on the original release. Florio would later return full time on the second album, "Florilegium". The title refers to a boar in Norse mythology that is cooked up nightly in Valhalla but reappears whole and presumably alive in the morning. Now that seems to solve at least a few present day problems!

First of all, a couple of surprises. No other vocals are present here. It often sounds like a choir is amping the drama but that is apparently synths, which are the other surprise. As CORDE OBLIQUE developed, electronics became more common, but certainly not in the phases that followed on from LUPERCALIA. Sometimes an artist needs to start fresh. The synths also simulate woodwinds, percussion and the myriad medieval instruments that might have been used on these ancient sounding tunes, only one of which, the brief "De todo mal" is actually traditional. Riccardo's guitar plays a much more limited role here but still gets plenty of use; it's the simulation of the sacred and secular sounds that dominates, with the blending of real strings helping to hold the ensemble upright.

This doesn't sound like a promising prospect but the result is more authentic in feel than one could have imagined, as well as lively, crisply played folk with symphonic enveloping on the wonderful numbers "Stil Composito" and "La Malinconia Di Schalken", that elevate the bombast almost to the level of say, IL CASTELLO DI ATLANTE. Other picks include the opulent opener "Il Coilchico Alfranto", which has an overture-ish feel, and the vivacious "Il Pianto Di Giuletto". More pastoral but still dynamic is the evocative "Notturno da Barca". "Normandia" even conjures the Andes to me, which doesn't make sense but I'm just going with it.

This is on the level of CORDE OBLIQUE's early work but more distinct than I expected, such is the breadth of prog folk. Still, I recommend it mostly for folkies who enjoy mellow but unboaring folk or world music acts.