Unreal
City began life in Parma in 2008 on the initiative of Emanuele
Tarsconi and Francesca Zanetta, rising from the ashes of another band
called Syllogism. After some line up changes, an intense live
activity in the local scene and a first self-produced demo, in 2013
the band finally released their début album, La crudeltà di
aprile (The cruelty of April) on the independent label Mirror
Records. The album was recorded at the Hilary studios in Genoa with
the help of experienced producers such as Fabio Zuffanti and Rossano
Villa and with a line up featuring Emanuele Tarasconi (vocals, piano,
organ, Moog, Mellotron, synth, harpsichord, Theremin), Francesca
Zanetta (electric and acoustic guitars, lute), Francesco Orefice
(bass, vocals) and Federico Bedostri (drums, percussion, vocals) plus
the special guest Fabio Viale on violin. The result is a brilliant
mix of memory and desire that the
band achieved stirring dull roots with spring rain for
the pleasure of the listener: well, it's not by chance
that both the name of the band and the title of the album are in some
way related to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and maybe some
other verses from this poem could give you an idea of the content of
this charming work... “Unreal City / Under the brown fog of a
winter dawn / A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many / I had not
thought death had undone so many...”. The sound of vintage
instruments, a solid classical background and a fresh creativity
evoke ghosts, melodies and dreams from the past and give them a new
life.
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| Unreal City 2013 |
The
opener “Dell'innocenza perduta” (Of the lost innocence) begins
with a tense section, then a calmer part follows featuring soaring
vocals evoking the almost human voice of the wind in a dark,
enchanted wood. The music and lyrics describe in an original way the
trauma of a boy who has to tackle the loss of family and security,
his necessity of rapidly growing up to face the world and the
hypocrisy of the people around him. As the innocence of the childhood
gives way to rage and awareness the rhythm rises again with a
beautiful collage of vintage sounds and a raging wave of fresh
energy.
The
second track, “Atlantis (Conferendis Pecuniis)”, was inspired by
the myth of Atlantis as narrated by Plato and deals with the dark
side of human nature. The atmosphere is dark and you can almost feel
an impending sense of tragedy. The fall of Atlantis and its
civilization here is just a metaphor used to describe the punishment
for the guilty behaviour of people corrupted by greediness, ambition
and an infinite thirst of power. Eventually virtues and culture
succumb to the spreading materialism but mother nature always takes
its revenge. A flood that no one can stop pours on the crowded
square... “The large slab of aurichalcum that gave us wisdom is now
reduced to dust / It rang our guilt...”.
“Catabasi
(Descensio ad Inferos)” was inspired by Goethe's character Faust
and describes the timeless trip of a damned scientist to the
underworld in search for knowledge. It begins by a dark church-like
organ passage and vocals. You can hear the sound of a bell in the
background, a man is walking in the twilight on an Autumn evening,
then a thousand spectres begin to dance around him to the sound of a
violin while the rhythm rises evoking an eternal Sabbath that draws
the listener towards black flames and mud, down into a merciless
abyss. Nevertheless the damned scientist doesn't fear the devil,
during his meeting with him he's calm and remorseless like a man who
eats a prohibited fruit and taste it... “I'm ready, take me away
from here... Time is running out / Stop the time!”.
The
beautiful “Dove la luce è più intensa” (Where the light is more
intense) describes in music and words a man on the border of madness
that runs away from reality. Prisoner of his poetry and of his
nightmares, he becomes a hermit hiding in a hollow tree in a wood,
not far from a graveyard... “Among white statues and tombstones /
Grey and soulless / I heard his voice...”. The theatrical vocals by
Emanuele Tarsconi are very effective here while the music perfectly
fits the content of the lyrics.
The
lively “Ecate (Walpurgisnacht)” was inspired by the Goddess
Hecate and by the pagan rites of the Walpurgis Night. Hecate in Greek
mythology is associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light,
the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants,
necromancy and sorcery. The music and lyrics evoke a solitary village
in the mountains not far from a mysterious place where the witches
used to gather to celebrate the new moon with their dark lady. All
the travellers who had the chance to see those celebrations lost
their reason... “If you follow the route beyond the mountain /
Beyond the black of its darkest path / There you'll find her, queen
of the horizon / In her eyes burns a fire, eternal and still...”.
The
last track, “Horror Vacui”, is a long, complex suite divided into
four parts that deals with the disquieting feelings of a serial
killer. It begins with a tense instrumental part, “Le radici del
male” (The roots of evil), that could recall Goblin and the
atmospheres of Dario Argento's movies. The second part, “L'assassino”
(The murderer), introduces the protagonist of this piece, that is set
in a surreal, nightmarish New York City where you can see black
butterflies in a sky of lead, living dead sitting in the metro and
hungry monsters walking on bloody streets. The third part, “Nel
sonno della ragione” (In the sleep of reason), is a calm, dark
instrumental passage that leads to the the last part, “Il baratro
della follia” (The chasm of madness), where the voices of the
victims of an absurd, cruel game echo in the insane mind of the
protagonist, soaring from rusted metal boxes hidden in dark, red
rooms. Well, I think that this could be a perfect background for a
Stephen King's novel!
You
can listen to the complete album in streaming HERE
Unreal
City: La crudeltà di aprile (2013). Other opinions:
Michael
“Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: Immaculately produced, endlessly
melodic and catchy without sacrificing sophistication and artistic
integrity, `La Crudeltà Di Aprile' really knocked many of us RPI
fans back even upon the first listen. It's rare to hear a band so
confident, playing with such vigor and power. Sure they take on
endless ideas and styles, but it's all so pleasing to the ear and
well composed with a great sense of flow that the endless different
sections shift seamlessly. I fully applaud Fabio Zuffanti's urging
that the band sing in their native language, and a recent interview
seemed to suggest they relished singing in Italian to `take advantage
of all the quotes and expressions that would have been lost in
English'. To the lads and lass in `Unreal City', real Italian
progressive fans admire and are very grateful for this devotion and
respect to the true sound of the RPI genre... (read the complete
interview HERE)
Thomas
Szirmay: Musically sensational, visually attractive and fresh, we
are offered a vision where classic progressive meshes with absolute
modernisms, a young quartet of Northern Italian fashionistas who
happen to master their instruments (besides looking hot) and
incorporate all the classic RPI traditions of clever melodies, artful
presentation, impeccable delivery and dramatic performances...
(read the complete review HERE)
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