NEL REGNO DEI CIECHI

Ah, Italy! The cradle of so many bands, so many classic bands. In fact, almost an uncountable number of bands came from there and still come. Periferia Del Mondo is one more band that comes from Italy and has roots in their glorious musical background. Periferia Del Mondo is not a new band, though. They were formed in 1996 as a side project of Alessandro Papotto (vocals and wind instruments), also the member of the classic Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso. The band's line up also includes Claudio Braico (bass), Giovanni Tommasi (guitars), Bruno Vegliante (keyboards) and Tony Zito (drums).

Nel Regno Dei Ciechi (2013) is Periferia Del Mondo's 4th album and it was released in April by Aereostella/Immaginifica. The album was produced by the band itself and was recorded, mixed and mastered in Rome, Italy, in the Recording Solutions studio.

Nel Regno Dei Ciechi (2013) is my first contact with the band. I wasn't really aware what kind of Prog they would come with, but as soon as the album starts you can tell that the band is drinking in 'heavy' waters. 'Sakura Zensen' starts Nel Regno Dei Ciechi (2013) as a homage to the catastrophe that happened in Japan in 2011. Then 'I Need U' follows and it is a straight forward Heavy Rock, not much Prog in here. The title-track 'Nel Regno Dei Ciechi' starts with some very heavy guitars by Giovanni Tommasi, which will happen quite often throughout the album, but soon the song becomes a bit more calm with Bruno Vegliante keyboards softening the sound. When the solo section comes in, they have the heavy guitars back, some Hammond kind of keyboards and saxophones. It is also one of the two tracks sung in Italian.

'The Bridge's Resilience' is an instrumental piece, and to be honest, VERY weird. Giovanni guitars seem to be out of place and then a wave of almost silence comes in. Interesting and weird at the same time. 'Purity' comes in as a complete alien within the record, almost electronic music. The track changes a bit in the middle, but it doesn't change the fact that it is a totally unnecessary track in Nel Regno Dei Ciechi (2013).

'Suburban Life' is the longest track in the album and changes the mood completely with flutes and Gilmourish guitars. Soon a nice riff comes in and weird vocals follow up. In the middle the track changes completely. It is basically a part 2 of the same track. This is quite an interesting song. Then the album goes towards the end with two instrumental pieces of music in a sequence: 'A Rutta U Jelu' and 'Suburban Landscapes'. The first one has an oriental feeling, the second is a short song pretty much like the intros you have on the Pink Floyd albums from David Gilmour era. An intro for the last track. 'Alibi' closes the album and once again the band shows some Heavy Prog. As soon as the vocal starts the track changes a bit into more calm and melodic pace with the heavy guitars coming back in the vocal breaks. Interesting keyboard bit in the end.

Periferia Del Mondo delivers a weird mix of Heavy Prog in Nel Regno Dei Ciechi (2013) with some really unnecessary 'modern' touches here and there. Sometimes not even much Prog. All in all, Nel Regno Dei Ciechi (2013) is an interesting effort made by the Italian band, quite a few catchy moments here and there, but nothing really groundbreaking can be found on the album.

(Originally posted on progshine.net)