APOTEOSI

It's always a risky business to attack an album based on what it sounds like in the way of influences, due to many reasons, especially since you sometimes can be very forgiving and tolerating when it comes to those sorts of things if there are redeeming features that overshadow them.

Apoteosi is classic RPI to the bone. It's so full of familiar sounds and structures that it's hard not to start thinking about it. I can identify the amazing melodramatic mood-setting capabilities and sometimes impulsive and rushed moves from segment to segment that I love with Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso (piano included). Even the way they accentuate breaks are here! When reaching a higher tempo it's the feisty, playful and rockier style of PFM that blasts out of my speakers. Bass up front with drums and keys with a wandering guitar filling out the gaps in the background. And then there's Dimensione Da Sogno, chasing after the same feelings and atmosphere as parts of Reale Accademia Di Musica's Ognuno Sa.

Does it really sound like that, or is it merely based on what I thought the first time I heard it? I'll stick to the old and proven 'no smoke without fire' in this case. Despite of being a lush, melodic and stable effort it feels safe and rehashed, considerably lowering my interest. Not even the obvious inspiration and passion can save the day. Neither can the beautiful but understated female vocals when they enter the stage.

Don't for a second expect it to be nothing but a copy though. There are elements of Apoteosi that are their own and no-one else's. The strong synth presence is a strength, expanding in some interesting sound experimentations but also in adding a veil of space rock that is unusually strong for an RPI album, enriching the sound and smoothening out the edges in a way that should please fans of for instance Camel, just as the biography notes.

At times it feels like a disparate album, with the composition more relying on surprise and spontaneity rather than careful 'storytelling' and proper dynamic effect, but it's only occasionally a nuisance.

To return to where I started; it's classy, and probably a great introductory record to the sub-genre but in all honesty there are a lot of more interesting albums out there.

2,5 - 3 stars. That's three stars on PA.

//LinusW

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