SUMMEREVE

The seasoncycle suite of Zuffanti's Hostsonaten came to end in February 11' with the release of its last part ''Summereve'' on BTF.Again one can find some great line-up changes, only Zuffanti and guitarist Matteo Nahum remained stable in a 11-piece crew of musicians.New entries include keyboardist Luca Scherani, formerly of Trama and a collaborator of Zuffanti in the Finisterre and Aries projects, and drummer Maurizio Di Tollo, past member of Distillerie Di Malto and drummer of Rohmer, Moongarden and La Maschera Di Cera.

With ''Summerve'' Hostsonaten mark somewhat of a return to the sound of their first releases.This is again a good combination of Folklore soundscapes with atmospheric Symphonic Rock, but the balance of these styles is very good and easily distinguishable.Additionaly the folkier parts are more energetic and far from relaxed with the nice acoustic grooves and lovely flute work richly supported by the notes of piano, synthesizers and Mellotron.Regarding the symphonic parts of the album, these sound really modern and fresh, sometimes flirting with the flashy Neo Prog sound, characterized by the grandiose orchestrations, the dramatic guitar solos of Nahum and the carefully structured string sections.Succesfully to say the least, Zuffanti has chosen to fill this album with more optimistic and rather pleasant musicianship with a good dose of dynamics, far from the somber themes of ''Autumnsymphony''.

This one stands somewhere between the very best and the less intricate releases of Hostsonaten.Strong musicianship with nice orchestrations and a good chance to meet Hostsonaten's both folky and symphonic face, if you are not aware of the band's sound...3.5 stars.