Dama del Lago began life in Capua in 2008 on the initiative of Valerio Casanova, Armando Lo Savio and Ettore Mariano. After many problems and a hard work in studio, in July 2010 the band self-released a debut album, “Echi d'acqua” (Water echoes), with a line up featuring Valerio Casanova (guitar, vocals), Antonio Di Lullo (keyboards), Martino Impemba (drums). Armando Lo Savio (bass) and Giulio Verazzo (guitar, vocals). Dama del Lago's main influences range from 70s Italian progressive rock to post rock and but the musicians manage to blend them with a fresh, personal touch. The name of the band means “Lady of the Lake” and all the five tracks of this work are in some way characterized by the common thread of the water element. The art work by Enrico Campanino tries to capture the spirit of this element...
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| Dama del Lago 2009 |
The instrumental title track opens the album drawing evocative soft post-rock atmospheres. The sound of rain conjures up a cloudy sky, then some electric guitar notes begin shining through the clouds like crazy diamonds in the eye of a hurricane. Next comes the dreamy “Onirica (Oneiric) that starts softly, evoking silent visions under the moonlight. The vocals seem a bit uncertain, almost shy, then the rhythm rises and a more aggressive section follows to describe a burning soul struggling on the border between reality and illusion.
The long, complex “Venezia, 1736” (Venice, 1736) is my favourite track on this work. It tries to take you back in time... In 1736, in Venice, while people is celebrating the Carnival you can see the mysterious shadow of a man who walks along narrow alleys, ready to set off on a long journey for new adventures, trying to escape from the ghosts of his obscure past...
The following “Gli abissi del ricordo” (The abysses of remembrance) is a slow, disquieting instrumental with psychedelic echoes that leads to the conclusive “La torre del tempo” (The tower of Time), a good allegoric track about the impossibility to stop the eternal flowing of time where lyrics describe an improbable army of day-dreamers and desperate people trying to take by assault the tower of Time... “The columns of clay collapsed / The hourglass welded the sand / And maybe someone shouted / When Time ended its time...”.
Well, on the whole this is not a flawless album. The vocal parts could be improved and there are some ingenuities, but I think that there are many good ideas as well. Anyway, judge by yourselves: you can listen to the complete album HERE
Soon after “Echi d'acqua” was released Antonio Di Lullo and Armando Lo Savio left the band and were replaced by Domenico Cimino (guitar) and Maria D'Errico (keyboards) while Giulio Verazzo passed from guitar to bass. Unfortunately, in 2013 the band called it a day: it's a real pity, they were working on a new album and I was really curious to listen to it.
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