DÉ LÁ TEMPESTA ... L'OSCURO PIACERE

This cult Italian band was brought together in 1990 from the merger of two different groups, the original Aufklarung of Fabio Guadalupi (guitars), Sandro D'Ammacco (drums) and Giampaolo Di Totero (bass) and The Eclipse of Marco Mancarella (keyboards) and Michele Martello (guitars).D'Ammacco and Di Totero were replaced by Massimo Mignini and Luciano Ribini respectively and with Edoardo Lecci on vocals/flutes the band recorded a first demo soon after.By the time of the recordings of their debut at Studiolab in Cascina, Lecci was stuck within his military obligations and participated only on flute.The result was the appearance of Chico Grosso on vocals, who had a respectable career with Asgard and had already begun his new challenge with Germans Ines.''De' la tempesta..... L'oscuro piacere'' was eventually released in 1995 on Pick Up Records.

Aufklarung played a GENESIS-influenced Neo Prog with evident references to the music of early MARILLION and traces of Italian legends PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI in the acoustic parts.The album offers four long tracks, around 10 minutes or more each, with notable Classical and symphonic inspirations but with a contemporary touch in general, mainly due to the heavy use of synthesizers.The musicianship is pretty rich with plenty of different segments, split nicely between melodic and more atmospheric moments.The lyrical passages along with the fiery keyboard textures recall the best of FISH-era MARILLION, while the presence of Grosso draws reasonable comparisons with the music of ASGARD, though Aufklarung are definitely less darker.The basic elements of all compositions seem to be three: The poetical mood, led by Grosso's incredible FISH-like vocals, the delicate acoustic interludes with the flutes in evidence and the overall very Italian, folky atmosphere and the bombastic keyboard-based instrumental parts with the discreet use of organs and the loads of synthesizers and melodic guitars.Originality is an issue.All aforementioned groups come to mind listening to the album, while at moments the music flirts dangerously with some of the most familiar MARIILION tunes.Still there is plenty to like in here, from the well-crafted melodies to the great keyboard runs to the mellow waves of the folky tunes.

Aufklarung were not destined to play much longer.The lack of a secure contract seems to have affected the band, which left no further traces after this release.''De' la tempesta..... L'oscuro piacere'' is definitely a fantastic listening for any dedicated Neo Prog fan, but the absence of personality might bother some listeners.Yet the contained music is pretty cool and thus the album comes as warmly recommended.