BOKEH

"Bokeh" is a double album containing the remixed and remastered version of Logos' eponymous album from 1999 and the remastered version of the following "Asrava", from 2001. It was released in 2023 on the Andromeda Relix label and distributed by Pick Up Records. According to the liner notes, this is a photograph of the early years of the band, when their artistic identity was still out of focus but their project was full of fresh energies and enthusiasm. As you can guess from the art cover, the aim of the band was to look back at their youth and save those memories from oblivion trying to improve the sound quality of the old tapes but avoiding re-recording and overdubbing to let the magic of the moment linger...

The eponymous debut album was recorded in the spring of 1998 and self-released in a few physical copies the following year with an art cover by Luca Zerman inspired by the style of the painter Giorgio De Chirico. According to the official website of the band, it was recorded live in the studio with an old 8-track deck, with all the members playing together, except for the overdubbing of the voices and some guitar solos. From a sound quality point of view the result was very far from perfect, but the band is still very proud of it, in particular of the long suite "Il grande fiume", inspired by Herman Hesse's novel "Siddhartha" and of "Sentiero nel prato, porta nell'universo", which tells of the meeting between a child and an alien. Given the quality of the sources, the band couldn't do miracles but, in my opinion, the result is remarkable...

Logos' second album, "Asrava", was recorded in Verona between August 2000 and January 2001. The art cover by Luca Zerman tries to describe the musical and lyrical content, harder and darker if compared with their previous work. The overall sound quality is better since the band spent a lot of time in the studio working painstakingly to properly record all the pieces in a satisfactory way. Originally it was self-released in a few physical copies and, unfortunately, in 2001 it went under the radar but it's an excellent work and the new version offers to possibility to fully appreciating it...

On the whole, I think this double CD is an excellent chance to complete your Italianprog collection with two very interesting albums in a restored version and a beautiful packaging. It's a kind of gift the band made to their fans and I'm happy about it.