MARC CECCOTTI

While I can't say I am really fond of Ceccotti's solo works, this album is a sincere effort on instrumental Experimental Rock, which still struggles from the mass of ambiental and minimalistic soundscapes, but contains some moments of decent inspiration as well.Now, the style of Ceccotti appears to be a bit more expanded, which may sound like a good thing on paper, but realistically works for the other side of things.''An enigmatic wave of empathy'' is a world, where New Wave, guitar-led Fusion, Ambient, Industrial and Minimalistic Music collide.The only handled instruments apparently are the guitars and the piano, all other sounds coming from keyboard or computer programming.Even more apparently the pieces with the more guitar-driven style are the most interesting ones, Ceccotti has always been a crafty guitarist and his love for KING CRIMSON and Fusion offers often some pretty solid material with jazzy and even melodic moves in a downtempo mood.Honestly, the robotic drumming and the fake keyboard sounds are the not the proper choices for an album.They still hurt the efficiency and potential of any good ideas plus this one is too long not to become really annoying in the end.If you ever come across this work please focus on Ceccotti's guitar manifest, which may sound a bit secure as a whole, but offers some cool monents, ranging from decent to splendid.

Minimalistic instrumental Prog?Yes, why not, containing echoes from the works of EDHELS, KING CRIMSON and even PETER GABRIEL.Too atmospheric for my taste and suffering from a serious presence of physical instruments.The guitar work of Ceccotti is propably the only reason to purchase the album...2.5 stars.

This first solo work by Ceccotti is somewhat different compared to his offerings with EDHELS, although some resemblances, especially in his guitar work, are more than evident.Following the abscence of a back up group of musicians, Ceccotti relies heavily on the work of his guitar talent and synthesizers, thus ''M.A.S.C.'' can be fairly considered as a Guitar/Electronic Rock album as a whole.However his obvious talent cannot save alone this work from bland mediocrity.Basically ''M.A.S.C.'' could have been a nice Electronic/Fusion album if it wasn't of all these programmed sound parts making it completely unnatural and cold mechanic.The electronic drums are just awful and inhuman with not even the slightest sense of the physical presence of a fake man behind the kit, the electronic loops and synthesizers sound very plastic and thin like coming from the cheapest equipment on earth, while some sampled instruments like the sporadic flutes sound completely fake, moreover these factors are strengthened by the length of the album (a full hour).Under these circumstances the album cannot pass the thin line between a good and a mediocre release.Pitty, because some of Ceccotti's ideas are interesting, even if the music flirts with New Age at moments.The amalgam between some good guitar moves and solos and the constant presence of synths and pianos result a few nice ideas with both a jazzy and Electronic edge, but things go in fact even beyond these simplistic references, as one can find also elements from KING CRIMSON-esque complex Prog, Avant Garde and Classical Music in this effort.However the lack of natural instruments holds the whole thing down and makes it more of an average home production than a professional recording.

For fans of Edhels and anyone familiar with Ceccotti's work with them, ''M.A.S.C.'' will propably hold some interest.For the rest I would only recommend this album to fans of more experimental forms of music with a strong Electronic edge.

An intimidating picture it is, what looks like a plethora of weapon barrels pointing at something. Kinda ominous. And so is the music offered on the CD, with multiple layers of synths, quite often at least dual layers of guitars as well - and bass and drums supplying rhythms and pace.

The melodies and moods explored are alien sounding and dark though. Sounds and melodies not naturally pleasing to the human ear, dissonances and disharmonies a constant feature; with as much as 3 different melody lines explored at the same time at most, in a setting with contrasting sounds in terms of style as well as form creating a complex soundscape it takes a bit of effort to grasp.

An album for the adventurous listener this one, and a release redefining what space-influenced music can sound like.

This is an instrumental album, and a DIY affair, Ceccotti does it all here - apart from making the cover art. The end result are 16 compositions that make up a release that for me comes across as a highly anonymous release. Most tunes are good, without being more than ordinary. A couple of tunes manage are fascinating enough to warrant a very good remark, while a few others comes across as distinctly below average in my interest filed, without ever sounding bad as such. No real highlights here, but nothing really weak either.

Melodic compositions, often with symphonic elements present to a greater or lesser degree by way of synthesizer, atmospheric guitar play and soloing by acoustic guitar, clean electric and distorted electric guitar, simple rhythms. That's the basic premise for the tunes here. Some are purely atmospheric in nature, others are spiced with jazz tendencies, slight industrial touches in the rhythms or disharmonic melodic layers creating a slight avant-garde effect.

Few of the tunes make a grand impression though, being generally too repetitive as well as exploring moods that aren't captivating enough - at least not for me. Fans of instrumental rock and fusion with symphonic touches might find this one interesting though