Mad
Fellaz III is the third album by Mad Fellaz and was self-released
in 2019 with a renewed line up featuring Paolo Busatto (electric and
acoustic guitar), Marco Busatto (drums), Ruggero Burigo (electric
guitar, electric sitar), Carlo Passuello (bass), Enrico Brunelli
(electric and acoustic piano, synthesizers, Hammond organ,
Mellotron), Rudy Zilio (flute, sax, synthesizers, backing vocals),
Lorenzo Todesco (percussion) and Luca Brighi (lead and backing
vocals) plus some guests such as Luca Ardini (sax), Davide Baratto
(12 string acoustic guitar), Jacopo Mazzarolo (oboe), Mattia Marangon
(French horn), Sergio Orso (violin), Louise Antonello (violin), Elena
Ceccato (viola) and Rolando Moro (cello). During the recording
sessions they were helped by producer Fabio Trentini (Moonbound, Le
Orme) and the result is a rich, colourful and refined sound that
emphasizes the skills of the musicians. In some way this work can be
considered a concept album telling the story of a man who tries to
fight against his madness. All the pieces follow a thread and the
artwork by Marco Tosin could give a clue of its musical and lyrical
content...
The
opener “Es / Frozen Side” starts by a frenzied instrumental
section, then the mood becomes dark as the music and lyrics evoke the
inner voices haunting the protagonist, invasive ghosts tormenting
him, sneaking into his dreams in the frozen side of his brain. He
can’t stand it any more, he tries to escape but there’s no way
out, his inner demons want to take control of him and surround his
consciousness suggesting to surrender with soothing words... All in
all, madness is a friend!
The
melancholic “Leaf” describes the protagonist wandering around
like a leaf lost in the wind, a broken man waiting for his chance but
with no master plan to escape... Then the following “Liquid Bliss”
with its Latin rock influences and an electric guitar solo that could
recall Santana conjures up subtle, diabolical temptations... Have a
drink and relax! But alcohol addiction or the use of other chemical
substances can’t save the protagonist from his inner ghosts...
Next
comes “Fumes From The Ruins”, an excellent short instrumental
track with a melancholic, dreamy atmosphere that leads to the folksy
“Under These Clouds”, a beautiful piece that begins by a soft
acoustic guitar arpeggio, then soaring vocals and a good flute work
depict a growing inner emptiness that makes the protagonist cry and
feel terribly bad... He’s stuck under grey clouds of sadness, his
world seems nasty, he left behind his memories, he lost everything,
and now there’s no one that can rescue him...
The
dramatic “Frost” begins with a mysterious mood and an Oriental
flavour, then the pace accelerates as anger blurs the sight... The
protagonist wants to escape but he can’t. A softer, dreamy middle
section follows but the dream soon turns into nightmare and the
rhythm rises again, faster and faster, he’s falling down, breaking
down. When the rhythm calms down he realizes that we’re all
passengers on a train that somebody calls life. Now he feels cold, he
can’t tell anguish from happiness, all the bridges have been burnt
and now he’s alone and cries his eyes out because he doesn’t want
to die...
 |
| Mad Fellaz on stage, 2019 |
“Sweet
Silent Oblivion” starts by acoustic guitar and flute. The mood is
dreamy, memories fade away. The protagonist got out of control, his
mind opened to the evil waves and he was dragged down... Then the
rhythm rises announcing a last desperate struggling to survive but a
spectral marching beat leads to a finale where you can guess who the
winner is... “Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live
inside of us, and sometimes, they win...” (quote from Stephen
King, The Shining).
On
the whole, a very good work!
You
can listen to the complete album HERE
Mad Fellaz: Mad Fellaz III (2019). Other opinions:
Owen
Davies: Whilst there is great variation on display in
III, and many of the tunes have gratifying elements, the decision to
combine exhilarating instrumental sections full of genre busting
complexity, within what are essentially relatively straightforward
vocal tunes does not always work fully. There were times when I felt
that the vocal sections and melodies, which accompanied these
sections, sounded unremarkable and in essence had traits, which
identified them as just another prog band... (Read the complete
review HERE)
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