INSTINCT AND FAIRY TALES

Conqueror come from Sicily and began life in 1994 in the small town of Santa Teresa di Riva, in the province of Messina, on the initiative of drummer Natale Russo. After many problems, in 2003 they finally released an interesting debut album, “Istinto”, with a line up featuring Natale Russo (drums, backing vocals), Simona Rigano (keyboards, vocals), Gaetano Scarcella (guitar) and Tony Rose (bass). “Istinto” was self-produced by the band and the sound quality is not flawless but you can find here some very good ideas and an undeniable freshness. The music draws on the Italian “prog-masters” of the Seventies but the song-writing is good enough and the soaring melodic voice of Simona Rigano gives a touch of “lightness” to the compositions. Well, the lyrics are maybe a bit “naive”, as if the words were just hanging on a dream, but they perfectly fit a music that seems desperately trying to “break through the barriers of time”.

 

Conqueror 2003



The opener “Storie di favole” (Stories of fairy tales) explores the borderline between imagination and real life. The lyrics conjure up icy waves that wash away pale memories of ancient lores and fairy tales while timeless, mysterious shadows melt in the dark. Next comes the dreamy “Quartar”, where the memories of a crumbling utopia get lost in games of lights and shadows and ironic ghosts mock your madness. “Pensieri fragili” (Fragile thoughts) begins with a nice piano pattern, then the other instruments come in. The lyrics evoke immortal dreams and confused fantasies, arcane melodies and mysterious harmonies while some electric guitar riffs take off like Zeppelins in the sky... “Imagines, fragile thoughts disperse into overwhelming vortices of masks without identity that cover the face of reality...”.

“La strada del Graal” (The road to the Grail) is another dreamy track featuring cryptic lyrics and exotic aromas. Despite the English title, the following track “In The Cave” is sung in Italian and evokes the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice... “Into the bare earth / Hidden to our sight / Lies the gate of Love / Let's remove this mantle / And she will appear...”. The melancholic, reflective “Cristalli di solitudine” (Crystals of solitude) depicts a sad, rainy day in May when you can breathe an air full of ancient memories while the light sound of the water on the river banks follows the rhythm of the wind. Then comes the intense, quirky “Porte straniere” (Foreign doors) that evokes stolen desires and obscure clouds of vanity effacing your fantasies. To find what's true in your heart you have to cross many unknown doors while your worries conceal the path you're walking on... The long, excellent instrumental “Entropia” concludes the album.

Conqueror: Istinto (2003). Other opinions:

Bob Moore: Conqueror is a relatively new band and seems to have successfully fused the best of modern rock, some nuances of symphonic prog arrangements, and Italian expressiveness into a pretty appealing album. Kudos to them for that... Recommend for neo-prog fans and Italian proggers who are willing to look beyond PFM and the seventies for some decent Italian prog... (read the complete review HERE).



Conqueror 2005



Conqueror's sophomore album, “Storie fuori dal tempo”, was released on the independent label Ma.Ra.Cash in 2005, two years after the good debut work “Istinto”. The line-up features here the veterans Natale Russo (drums and percussions) and Simona Rigano (vocals, keyboards and synth) along with new members Sabrina Rigano (flute, sax), Tino Nastasi (guitars) and Fabio Ucchino (bass). The sound quality of the recording is excellent and the new members seem to get along perfectly with the rest of the band. The song-writing is good and the band did a good job combining their own ideas and feelings with sources of inspiration ranging from classical music to Italian prog bands like PFM, BMS, Le Orme or Goblin...

The opener “Ouverture”, featuring well balanced changes in rhythm and melodic passages, is an instrumental that grows like a blossoming flower. It leads to the dreamy “Mosaico di colori” (Mosaic of colours), where Simona Rigano's voice soars weaving a beautiful melody... “My light thoughts travel and blow away as eagles / In a free wind they run and foreign memories write the epilogue... White clouds get lost in a coloured mosaic...”.

The hypnotic, suggestive “No Photo” features an Oriental flavour. Here you can lose yourself under “a ray of moonlight” that seems popping out from “The Book Of One Thousand And One Nights” while Simona Rigano’s vocals could remind you of an ethereal modern Scheherazade... “Now I see again a shadow beside me / It is something I have known for a long time / It grazes me and then it looks at me, here it is, near me / But what’s reality? / If we are prisoners of the world where we live / That decides for us, solitary shipwrecked persons who sail without being free...”.

“Pagine di poesie” (Pages of poems) is another good track that in some passages reminds me of PFM’s “Impressioni di settembre”. The lyrics describe in a poetical way a meeting with an old fisherman. Next comes the beautiful instrumental “Klaus” where quiet melodic passages are well intertwined with more pulsing moments, as if “sounds and voices were looking for an illusion in the silence”.

The final track “Morgana” is a long suite inspired by Sicilian folklore where you can find a blending of Celtic and Mediterranean elements. It tells the story of Morgan le Fay (Fata Morgana), a sorceress who escaped from Camelot on a ship and landed on the Sicilian shores where she built a crystal palace... “The dream lives once again, it renews spells, love and madness...”. The music flows dreamily with many changes in atmosphere and the band showcase great musicianship and inspired song-writing skills. Well, on the whole I think that this is really an album that is worth listening to!

Conqueror: Storie fuori dal tempo (2005). Other opinions:

Tarcisio Moura: It´s the kind of album you hear from beginning to end with the same pleasure. Of course the last song, the 30 minute epic Morgana is the highlight, with its shifting moods and rhythms, nice solos and overall working concept. But the whole CD is actually very good and it will please any prog lover who enjoys melodic music... (read the complete review HERE).

More info:

http://www.conqueror.it/

http://www.myspace.com/conqueror1

ON THE ROCKS

Gran Torino come from Verona and their roots date back to 2000 when Cristiano Pallaoro (guitars), Alessio Pieri (keyboards, piano), Gian Maria Roveda (drums) and Fabrizio Visentini Visas (bass) started to play for fun as a cover band. In 2009 they began to work on a more ambitious project featuring only original compositions blending influences of bands such as PFM, Genesis, Spock's Beard or Kansas with a personal touch. In 2011 they finally released an interesting debut album on the Swiss independent label Galileo Records, “grantorinoProg”, featuring ten instrumental tracks and a nice art work by Mark Wilkinson. The band showcase here an excellent musicianship and the music flows away like a river on the rocks with a great interplay between keyboards and guitar and a pulsing rhythm section in the background.

Although all the tracks are completely instrumental the band provided some short liner notes for every track, just to give you an idea of what the music is about. The opener “Sinapsi” is full of obscure energy and invites you to dream and vibrate to the rhythm of music... “You sleep but you can hear it. You don't know what is it, but you know it is real...”. Some passages recall Goblin and are painted in disquieting deep red colours. The following “Jack Montorio” tries to evoke a search for tranquillity that drives you far away from home and an emotional storm due to a broken relationship. On the powerful “Rock Waters” the electric guitar comes alive while the music is in some way related to the images of the art cover. Next comes “Joy” where the band mix Eastern flavoured harmonies with neoclassical influences inviting you to seize the day.

“Miridiana” is another excellent track full of colours. A mysterious woman paints her face with red eastern dust and looks towards the horizon while ancient maps resurface in her mind... “Fox Box” is frenzied, claustrophobic. You can run and jump like a fox in a box but you can't break through because the only freedom is in your mind. For this track the band shot a video set in the Roman theatre of Verona.

“Five” is a nice short acoustic track that leads to the aggressive “Radio Vox” where the electric guitar is the protagonist. The following “Eco” recalls Goblin once again with its suggestive atmosphere and its dark organ rides backed by the rhythm section. The long final track, “Zorro”, starts calmly, the mood is dreamy, nocturnal... “A mask hides your face, a sword defends your feelings. Harmony takes away the mask, melody defeats the sword, and you fly on the wings of your instrument...”.

Well, all in all I think that this is a very good album where the musicians managed to express all their great passion for the music they love without sounding too retro.

Gran Torino: grantorinoProg (2011). Other opinions:

Jon Neudorf: All four musicians are very good and the band has plenty of chops but they don't go overboard with excessive noodling and can slow it down when the need arises. That said, there are lots of tempo changes and stop/starts that demand your attention. Heavy guitar riffs abound and the band's hard rock beginnings shine through often although the music never gets too heavy. You will hear lots of interplay between guitar and keys and both instruments shine throughout... grantorinoProg is a fine debut release from a band that should have a bright future as long as they continue to move forward and carve their own niche. Nice stuff indeed... (read the complete review HERE).

Vitaly Menshikov: What may initially seem as a certain sameness in the band’s music (due to the fixed instrumentation and the aforementioned similarity in the development of tracks as well), will fade on subsequent listens, as the subtle complexities of the arrangements reveal themselves... This disc is an auspicious debut for the quartet to appear on Top-20 lists of many art-rock and related publications this year. I think only those who are exclusively into the most complicated forms of the genre (e.g. King Crimson, early ‘70s Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes circa 1973-’74) might omit it in this respect... (read the complete review HERE).

More info:

http://www.grantorinoband.it/

http://www.myspace.com/grantorinoprog

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gran-Torino-prog-band/116388991763308

TWELVE SHORT STORIES

“Dodecahedron” is the fourth album by Daal and was released in 2012 on the independent label Agla Records. The project is always led by drummer David Guidoni and keyboardist Alfio Costa and this time the guest musicians who joined the party are Ettore Salati (guitars), Luca Scherani (bouzouki), Roberto “Bobo” Aiolfi (bass), Alessandro Papotto (sax, flute, clarinet), Vincenzo Zitello (Celtic harp, flute), Marcella Arganese (classical guitar), Chiara Alberti (cello) and Sylvia Trabucco (violin).



Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa

The album features twelve instrumental tracks that were built upon words and the sound is more compact, richer than in the past. The tracks have no title but every one is linked to a short story that you can read in the enclosed poster. In fact, this is a kind of conceptual work: Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa wrote some short stories, then asked their fans to send them other short stories, chose the better ones and composed the music trying to capture the spirit of the words and their emotional content. In my opinion the result is surprisingly good, the musicians reached their goal and delivered twelve charming, evocative pieces drenched in emotion.
 

art cover

The opener was inspired by a disquieting story of madness and solitude, “Bianco” (White), by an unknown author. The interaction between the piano and the other instruments marks the contrast between an external, apparent calm and inner the feelings of inquietude and fear of the protagonist while threatening shadows are approaching... “My words have no voice any more, my soul has no light and my thoughts melt into the oblivion of this room with padded white walls...”. Next comes the track inspired by “Sclerotics Days”, by Davide Masciavé. Here malady is compared to an uninvited guest that haunts you, invisible and ever present. Sadness is all over the place, your enemy hides in the dark while your senses frequently confound night and day, dreams and nightmares. A sick, obscure moon lights your way...

The third track was inspired by “La suora nera” (The black nun) by Alfio Costa. The dreams of a little child turn into a nightmare and the Devil comes in disguised, hidden by religious symbols. There are autumnal colours and sinister shadows, a hard rock incipit, a classical inspired passage with piano and violin, another tense, dark section followed by a pastoral one, then the rhythm rises again with a Martial bolero pace. Well, a wonderful track full of nuances and surprises! The following track was inspired by “La bambola di lana” (The doll of wool) a sad, evocative story by another anonymous author where you can see the trauma of the loss of the parents through the innocent eyes of a little children. Here Death appears as a dreadful swarm of moths devastating the house.

The fifth track was inspired by “L'ultimo incontro” (The last randez-vous), a short story by Mauro Marino describing the agony of a man who is not ready to die, not yet! He asks for a last breath of life, a last ray of sun while sax notes soar like desperate prayers in the wind. The sixth track was inspired by “Dodecahedron”, a Gothic story by Davide Guidoni about a haunted country house. The music is excellent, it flows away like the soundtrack of a horror film and features a guitar solo that could recall David Gilmour.

The seventh track was inspired by “La Torre” (The tower) by Daniela Cologgi and features Celtic influences and an atmosphere full of mystery. It describes the tower of a medieval castle and the tragic flight of some women haunted by its ghosts. The following track was inspired by “Il bambino e il sogno” (The child and the dream) by Marco D'Andrea, a short story dealing with the fears and the dreams of a child. The music underlines the contrast between dark and light, dream and reality. The child opens the window, the dream is frightened by a scarecrow and melts at dawn...

The ninth track was inspired by “I Can Not Let Go...”, a story by Galina Azarenkova about the “thick but echoing emptiness” that the slow agony of a dying man provokes in his wife. The music begins with a sudden surge of rage, then many changes in mood and rhythm follow. Next comes the track inspired by “The Moon Is Pale Tonight” by Miroslav Gasko that depicts a wooden house on a hill where crazy musicians play, then poets who write their poems with their tears and a lonely child unable to live outside his dreams...

The eleventh track is taken from “I Left For Home” by Drew May that describes a cathartic listening experience. The mood is dreamy, almost hypnotic... After a hard day we meet a man on his way home, he looks forward to listen to his beloved music losing the concept of reality, at least for a short time... The last track was inspired by “Il padre che vedevo distante” (The father I used to feel far) by Daniele Cutali. A man sees in a dream his late father. Father and son never got along with each other but now the dead father comes just to say “Thank you” and appears to his son nearer than ever before. The music here features strong classical influences and a very suggestive mood.

After more than seventy minutes of music and emotions the album comes to an end. There are no weak moments nor fillers, everything works. Bravi!

Daal: Dodecahedron (2012). Other opinions:

Conor Fynes: The music is full of potential, but the album seems content to wander, and 'window shop' through a variety of sounds, without picking one and developing it long enough to create something truly magical... (read the complete review HERE).

More info:

http://www.daal.it/

http://www.myspace.com/daalband

http://www.reverbnation.com/daalband

http://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC

DANGEROUS DOVES

From Rock Progressivo Italiano: an introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

Alphataurus were one of the many Italian “one shot bands” of the early seventies. The line-up featured Michele Bavaro (vocals), Pietro Pellegrini (keyboards), Guido Wasserman (guitar), Alfonso Oliva (bass) and Giorgio Santandrea (drums). They released only one eponymous album in 1973 for Magma Records, an independent label founded by I New Trolls member Vittorio De Scalzi and by his brother Aldo (founder of Picchio dal Pozzo). In 1973 this work passed by almost completely unnoticed and Alphataurus disbanded after awhile during the sessions of a second album that was released, incomplete, only in 1993 by Mellow Records as “Dietro l’uragano”. Nonetheless this eponymous excellent debut work became later a “cult album” among Italianprog fans... It was remastered and re-released by Btf in 1995 and it should be considered a must-have in every Italian prog collection, especially for the papersleeve package...

Alphataurus 1973

The art cover is wonderful and perfectly depicts the content of the album. It’s a painting by Adriano Marangoni spread on a three fold jacket featuring white doves with olive branches in their beaks dropping bombs on a dreamy landscape... “You’re going towards the void without a goal now / Don’t be afraid, come back among us / You have experienced everything, a whole life / In a phoney light you used to build up your reality... It was a sin of pride / Remember you’re a man / You can still live on...”. On the long, complex opener “Peccato d’orgoglio” (Sin of pride) the mood hangs between dream and nightmare, in the lyrics you can perceive the fear of nuclear war and the hope for a better world, while the music swings from soft acoustic passages to hard rock, from beautiful harmony vocals to instrumental “electric tarantella” passages that every now and again recall PFM’s “E’ festa / Celebration”.

The second track “Dopo l’uragano” (After the storm) describes in music and lyrics a bleak landscape, solitude and fear then give way to hope... “The echo of a song tells about a flower and a stone / And on that stone another life will come into the world...”. Then the tension melts into the beautiful, dreamy short instrumental “Chroma”, symphonic and “classically inspired”.

“La mente vola” (The mind flies) is another long, complex track that begins with a hypnotic marching beat leading to a sudden awakening featuring dramatic vocals and “moog waves”... “Suddenly you see the sun / You breathe air, you pick up a flower / You don’t know anymore / What you were yesterday... Now you know / What’s the wish to prey / Now you know / What’s the strength to hope...”.

 

 

The last track “Ombra muta” (Silent shadow) is another great one. Before the dream comes to an end there’s still time for almost ten minutes full of beautiful music featuring shifting tempos and inspired vocals... “Then suddenly I woke up / With your voice hanging in my mind / I’m just at one step between the shore and the sea / Looking at the way to start again...”.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

More info about the band:

http://www.alphataurus.it/

http://www.reverbnation.com/alphataurus
http://www.facebook.com/AlphataurusBand

FROM A JAPANESE SHRINE

Alberto Rigoni was born in 1981 and comes from Montebelluna, a little town in the province of Treviso. Since 2003 he as been the bass player of a prog-metal band called Twinspirits but he is a sensitive composer as well and in 2008 he released a debut solo album, “Something Different”, on the Finnish label Lion Music.

In 2011 Alberto Rigoni released a second album, “Rebirth”, with the help of many friends and some prestigious guests by the likes of Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), John Macaluso (Ark, TNT) and Michael Manring, just to name a few. This album gained him some attention and in 2012 he self-released what can be considered his best work so far, “Three Wise Monkeys”, a concept album freely inspired by a Japanese myth evoked in an original way by the beautiful art cover by Davide Guidoni. Among the musicians that helped Alberto Rigoni this time you can find, among others, former Dream Theater's keyboardist Kevin Moore, Göran Edman and Jonas Erikson. On this album you can find prog-metal influences, of course, but also many fine melodies and a touch of jazz. The great musicianship of all the musicians involved in this work is not ostentatious in any way and the final result is a well crafted, balanced mix of passion and competence.

The short opener “Toshogu Shrine” sets a mystic atmosphere and takes you far away, to the far east, into a shrine in Nikko, in Japan. In fact, the Toshogu Shrine is one of the main attractions of this city and here, in the Sacred Stable, you can find a famous carving of the three wise monkeys, a traditional symbol in Japanese culture. Together they embody a principle: “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. The instrumental “Mizaru” describes the meeting with the first monkey. Mizaru is the monkey who covers his eyes, the one who sees no evil. The music starts softly, then a more aggressive section follows, the atmosphere becomes tense, dark clouds are gathering all around you...

Next comes the title track, featuring Göran Edman on vocals. The music is aggressive, it begins with a thundering drum roll and flows like a raging river. A day dreamer is breaking all the rules, fighting for his dreams and living day by day searching for the truth, but someone warns him... “You should trust me, my friend / I know it's hard to live that way / I can tell you what's the plan for you... Three wise monkey’s golden rule / Looking the other way / Pretending that you are a fool / Cause you don’t wanna play / Wilfully turning a blind eye to all immorality...”. Then the instrumental “Kikazaru” describes the meeting with the second wise monkey. Kikazaru is the one who covers his eyes, the one who hears no evil. The atmosphere is softer, the music features some jazzy influences and a mystic mood but the pulsing bass lines suggest that something is moving undercover, a black iron man looking for his Sabbath, ready to strike like a tornado...

“Blackened Tornado” soars like a Zeppelin in the sky with its biting electric guitar riffs. The heartfelt Jonas Erikson's vocals describe the inner conflict that is storming inside the young day dreamer. Reality seems going out of his reach while he's fighting against dark winds... “I'm a victim of my own thoughts / My mind is sick and I can't go on / I can't see what's reality / It's like a nightmare living in a dream...”. Then the instrumental “Iwazaru” describes the meeting with the third wise monkey. Iwazaru is the one who covers his mouth, the one who speaks no evil. The atmosphere is dark and tension rises, no need of words for that!

“Free Falling” is about the sense of impotence that comes from the awareness that mother nature is crying and you can't help her, your are not strong enough to change the way things are going on and speaking up is pointless. Fear is growing inside you, there's no time for prayers and you have the feeling that the ground is crumbling under your feet, you're falling into the void... “Have you seen the news today? / Poisoned air is everywhere / I've seen the words before / It’s hard to see the earth bleeding / Tragic times, what can we do? / In the end there's nothing new...”.

The delicate, dreamy “Between Space And Time” comes like the calm after the storm and leads to the melancholic, reflective “Coming Home”. The day dreamer is on the way back, homeward bound, and carries on his shoulders the heavy burden of his broken dreams... “I'm coming home love, this is my home town / I've tried my wings, I lived my dream... A few more miles and then I'm done...”. The melodic final track, “Believe”, brings back a bit of optimism encouraging you to hang on your dreams and to fight for what you think is right... “I believe in you / I believe what we can do...”.

Well, all in all I think that this a really good work. Anyway, you can listen to the complete album in streaming on bandcamp.com, so have a try and judge by yourselves! Click HERE!

Alberto Rigoni: Three Wise Monkeys (2012). Other opinions:

Joe Mis: Bass players everywhere could learn a lesson from Alberto Rigoni. His eclectic mix of influences and styles proves him to be a complete musician who fully explores the limits of his instrument of choice. He is an outstanding performer whether delivering simple rhythms or pounding out complex riffs. He never neglects the melodic elements of songwriting and plays with his heart, not just his fingers. Three Wise Monkeys should be seen as a solid progressive rock-fusion “journey,” and NOT a bass player’s ego trip. Very highly recommended! (Read the complete review HERE)

More info:

http://www.albertorigoni.net/

http://www.myspace.com/albertorigoni

http://www.reverbnation.com/albertorigoni

http://www.facebook.com/AlbertoTHEBASSRigoni