TOO LATE

Illusion Of Gravity took shape in Turin in 2013 on the initiative of keyboardist Umberto Alberto and drummer Davide Garofalo. After some line up changes and a first period spent performing cover versions of pieces by Pink Floyd, Genesis, PFM, Caravan or Porcupine Tree, they started to work on their own compositions with the aim of "merging into a progressive rock core a combination of different musical genres". In 2020 they finally self released a debut album entitled Too Late with a line up featuring Umberto Alberto (keyboards), Davide Garofalo (drums), Federico Aluzzi (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alessandro Cascella (lead guitar) and Gabriele Zuddas (bass). The final result is a good mix of modern and vintage sounds...

The opener "Too Late" starts by a spacey crescendo that could recall Pink Floyd, then the dark, pulsing atmosphere gives way to a more melodic part where the music and lyrics evoke the regrets for some wrong choices made in the past but also the awareness of the need to go on. If you try, you might find that it's not too late to redeem yourself learning from your errors but you have to fight hard to come out from the abyss of a personal crises and never stop to hope in better days to come...

"Shining Bliss" blends eighties keyboard sounds and more aggressive parts with electric guitar riffs in the forefront to depict and criticize a false, hypocritical world where appearances rule and the value of a person is based only on his or her richness and bloodline...

The dark "Strange Home" conjures up haunting presences and painful memories that keep you stuck in a house once familiar and now transformed in a kind of mental prison. The following "I Can" starts by a keyboard pattern with a strong new wave flavour, then the music takes another direction while the lyrics depict an effort to break through from a bleak reality getting lost in a psychedelic trip...

The long, complex epic "Kua Fu" closes the album with fiery guitar riffs and other brilliant instrumental passages. The title refers to the name of a giant who wished to capture the Sun, a legend in Chinese mythology that the band tells through the voice of Kua Fu by interpreting his desperate, crazy effort to tame the light. There are many versions of this myth, here the Moon, queen of the night, has mercy of the protagonist and tries to save him from the burning power of the Sun...

On the whole, a good album full of nuances but that needs several spins to be fully appreciated.