FINISTERRE

This is a good debut album from FINISTERRE, although it doesn't measure up to the follow up "In Limine". Interesting that they thank George Gershwin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Jimi Hendrix in the liner notes amongst others.

"Aqua" is a 3 minute track with piano and synths throughout. The synths cry out at times. It blends into "Asia" with a full sound coming quickly. Drums and flute lead the way 1 1/2 minutes in as bass throbs. Guitar comes in during this uptempo melody. I like when it slows down and the guitar comes in with some beautiful melodies. "Macinaaqua,Macinaluna" sounds great to open with the heavy drums and synths. Guitar 1 1/2 minutes in followed by a brief piano solo. Back to the scorching guitar. Nice. The piano interludes continue with vocals 3 minutes in that get quite theatrical. More ripping guitar 6 minutes in with a great sound 7 1/2 minutes in. "...Dal Caos..." features some cool sounding odd-metered drumming with guitar. Jazzy bass lines 1 1/2 minutes in. Sax comes in and does get dissonant at times. This is one of my favourite tunes on here.

"SYN" is the longest track at 15 minutes. Lots of piano, flute and guitar early with sax becoming prominant. I really like the tasteful guitar that ends 7 minutes in. It calms down 9 minutes in until some raw sounding guitar comes in after 10 minutes. It then stays mellow until the end. "Isis" opens with a spacey,dreamy soundscape with vocals. The tempo picks up with flute and drums 1 1/2 minutes in. The guitar 3 minutes in is great. A calm after 4 minutes as different sounds come and go quietly. "Cantoantico" opens with keys, light drums and flute. Scorching guitar a minute in. Reserved vocals and solemn flute 2 1/2 minutes in. The sounds builds as flute and drums lead the way. I like the way the drums build quickly 9 1/2 minutes in as vocal melodies arrive followed by some excellent guitar. "Phaedra" is a good uptempo instrumental with keys leading the way early. It gets spacey after 1 1/2 minutes. Guitar and piano take turns sharing the spotlight the rest of the way.

I recommend this one,"In Limine" and "La Meccanica Naturale" from this excellent Italian band, and the latter is my favourite.