IN A STRANGE KINGDOM

Le Porte Non Aperte took form in Florence in 2010 thanks to the initiative of Daniele Cancellara and Jacopo Fallai and their passion for the Italian Progressive Rock of the seventies. After a period dedicated to composition, rehearsals and some concerts on the local scene, in 2013 they released their debut album, entitled Golem, on the independent label Ma.Ra.Cash Records, with a line-up including Sandro Parrinello (vocals, piano, acoustic guitar), Marco Brenzini (flute), Jacopo Fallai (electric guitar), Filippo Mattioli (organ, synth, backing vocals) and Giulio Capitano Sieni (drums, percussion) plus the guests Daniele Cancellara (bass), Maria Paula Calderon (vocals), Saeed Aman (vocals) and Sanaz Partow (vocals). According to the liner notes, it is a conceptual work inspired by the "Imprevedibili" movement, a group of anarchist intellectuals rooted in Tuscany in the 60s and 70s and tells the story of a man who, through an introspective journey, tries to free himself from his own conditioning. The colourful art work by Silvia Brullato try to give a visual form to the musical and lyrical content...

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The album begins with a beautiful solo piano passage and background voices. “Preludio al sogno” (Prelude to the dream) is a just a short instrumental introduction that, according to the liner notes in the booklet, codifies the passage into the dream world of the subconscious and serves as an impromptu prelude to the story. The joyful yet decadent atmosphere depicts a fractured human condition within which the story of the Golem is set...

“Il re del niente” (The king of nothing) introduces us to the story's protagonist, played with remarkable energy and strong theatricality. He is a man who feels like a king, but whose kingdom exists only in his mind. His imposing castle has walls made of wind, his loyal subjects are figments of his imagination, but he still feels like a king, albeit a king of nothing. A king who wanders alone in his gardens, a prisoner of his madness...

“La città delle terrazze” (The city of terraces) describes the surreal landscape of the city where the king of nothing rules. Monuments, shopping malls, a breathtaking view that can be enjoyed from the terraces of the houses. However, the inhabitants have lost their joy in life, suffocated by the cumbersome presence of their lord. There are no riots, but the colours fade, the inhabitants have lost their memory and the ability to laugh at themselves. The atmosphere created by the music and lyrics here is truly sharp and neurotic...

“Binario 8” (Platform 8) depicts a crowded train station where long lines of people can be seen waiting to depart towards the unknown to forget their future. After some hesitation, the protagonist trades his dream for a ticket and dashes through the crowd to find a seat on the departing train. On endless tracks, he is following a mirage in search of new emotions and his reality...

A brief drum solo takes us into the hypnotic atmosphere of the next track, “Il vicolo dei miracoli” (The alley of miracles), which leads into the dark alleys of the mind. A voice reminds the protagonist that unpredictability is what separates man from beasts and machines, and that unpredictability is the path to freedom from the slavery of those who speculate on mass opinion. If statistics are used to make predictions, unpredictability makes them go haywire...

Harsh electric guitar riffs and flute notes over a frenzied rhythm introduce “Rigattiere dei sogni infranti” (Junk dealer of broken dreams), a description of the delirious and visionary encounter between the protagonist and his alter ego. This new character offers illusions in exchange for dreams and demands fragments of dream matter from the protagonist in exchange for freedom. The result is a clash between memory and the consciousness of the ego, resulting in a punishment for disrupting the order of the universe...

Le Porte Non Aperte, 2013

The disquieting short instrumental piece that follows, “Nemesi” (Nemesis), according to the liner notes, describes precisely this punishment. Here the liner notes also cite the Isaac Asimov's novel Nemesis as a source of inspiration...

In the long, complex “Oceano - Nel canto della sirena” (Ocean - In the singing of the mermaid) the protagonist finds himself on a creaking wooden boat, sailing aimlessly on the ocean of memories, filled with regret and melancholy. Lost and confused, always searching for an impossible dream and haunted by a siren song that torments and intoxicates him, forgetting all logic, the protagonist finally finds the strength to scream for his freedom...

The atmosphere in “Giardini di sabbia” (Gardens of sand) becomes calm and relaxed with just piano and flute to back the vocals. The protagonist finally lands on a distant island where he can rest. There, in the sand gardens, dreams are free but the ego must face the solitude of thought. The protagonist feels traversed by emptiness, unable to grasp his dream. He has finally arrived where wings still beat, but the landscape rapidly changes...

The following track is divided into three parts, “Animale del deserto Part I” (Animal of the desert, part I), “La rivolta della tartaruga Elsie” (The revolt of Elsie the tortoise) and “Animale del deserto Part II” (Animal of the desert, part II). The rhythm is tense and nervous as the protagonist finds himself walking and running on sandy paths. All he can see is himself. Time, behind him is smiling. It's a place that, according to the liner notes, is in the meantime ever-changing and contradictory, with a technology that, dominated by man, escapes beyond the limits of emotion. There's room for an encounter with Elsie the turtle, a rarely talkative devourer of light, and amidst contradictions, disjointed conversations, and sudden emergences of the subconscious, the protagonist finally seems to reach the point where he can take off...

Then, the last track, the instrumental “Imprevedibilità” (Unpredictability) describes the protagonist at dawn. He wakes up tiredly and soon discovers that only unpredictability exists...

On the whole, an excellent album, even if the concept might seem a bit convoluted. Anyway, that's exactly what dreams are...

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066665148487#

FROM THE SEVENTIES

Live, as you can guess, is a live album by Genfuoco, a Siena-based group linked to the Gen movement, that was self-produced and released by the band in 2001, over twenty years after the release of their only official studio LP, Dentro l'infinito (1979). It collects some live recordings made between 1976 and 1978 by the line-up comprising Tarcisio Bratto (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, flute), Franco Cecchi (keyboards, acoustic guitar, vocals), Paolo De Luca (electric guitar, harmonica, vocals), Marco Naldini (drums), Marco Scala (percussion), Marco Borgogni (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Marco Masotti (drums) and Giovanni De Luca (bass). None of the songs presented were included on the 1979 studio work and here you can listen to them for the first time. The quality of the recordings is far from perfect, but it is nevertheless a good document of the band's experience that will be of interest to fans of Italian prog...

The opener “Solo per poco” (Just for a while) is a simple ballad with vaguely Latin flavours that describes a young man feeling sad and lost after a party, but only briefly. Indeed, the young man soon returns to dance on a green meadow for an adventure in the sun: that's where the real party is, a celebration of the communal ideals of peace and freedom...

“Canzone da leggere” (Song to read) is a longer piece, with a more complex rhythm and an interesting interweaving of electric guitar and flute. The atmosphere is dreamy while the hermetic lyrics invite you to follow the path that leads beyond your dream and your walls to seek for stones sculpted by time. You follow it, continuing to retrace your steps on the fallen leaves in a dance of a thousand sounds. Without words or shouts, you untie the ropes that bind your wrists and wash away the dust that dulls your face...

“Dolce momento” (Sweet moment) is a soft ballad led by guitars and vocals that tries to evoke a moment of peace and love lost in memory while the following “Favola vera” (True fairy-tale) is a piece with vague Renaissance references that portrays an old man who told stories and children who listened to those stories to make them the game of life. It reminds me slightly of the Italian singer-songwriter Giorgio Laneve...

Genfuoco in the seventies

“Piccolo sole” (Little sun) is a dreamy, melodic piece that depicts the image of a small flower in the middle of a meadow. The flower, bathed in dew, almost seems to be crying, but once its smile is set free it shines like a little sun...

“Dentro” (Inside) is another slow and dreamy song full of nostalgia where hermetic lyrics juggle between regrets and memories to find people and sensations lost in a day out of time and space...

The album closes with two long instrumental pieces. The first, “Jam Session”, lasts nearly twenty minutes and features influences from ethnic and folk music, tinged with psychedelia and blues. Soft, relaxed atmospheres alternate with more rhythmic, edgy passages... The second, “La suite del vento” (The suite of the wind), features an ethereal atmosphere and some good flute parts. At times, it reminds me of Delirium's first album, Dolce Acqua...

On the whole, a still immature work, but not lacking in interesting ideas.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Genfuoco/

INVISIBLE FIRE

Genfuoco are an Italian prog band that was formed in Tuscany in the early seventies. The members of the band were linked to the Gen Movement, a Christian movement founded in 1967 by Chiara Lubich to promote among young people from all over the world a peaceful revolution able to change hearts first and then to change society bringing everywhere the spirit of the gospels. Genfuoco started playing covers of other bands linked to the Gen Movement as Gen Rosso but later they managed to shape their own sound writing original songs in a progressive rock style that could recall bands as PFM, BMS or Le Orme, with a good use of flute and sax. The line-up featured Marco Borgogni (vocals, flute, guitar), Tarcisio Bratto (sax, guitar), Franco Cecchi (keyboards), Paolo De Luca (guitar), Giovanni De Luca (bass) and Marco Naldini (drums). They had a good live activity all over Europe in the “Genfest circuit” and, after a self-produced demo-tape called “Antichi confini”, in 1979 they released an interesting album for the Catholic label Città Nuova, “Dentro l’invisibile” (Inside the invisible). The album was mainly distributed through Catholic bookshops and almost completely “out of the market”. Luckily the independent record label Mellow Records re-released the album on CD in 1992. The sound quality is not perfect, nonetheless the music is really worth listening to...

The calm, dreamy instrumental opener “Ouverture” sets the atmosphere. It begins with a solemn marching beat, then pastoral acoustic passages and delicate melodies played by keyboards, electric guitar, sax and flute follow in a perfectly balanced way...

“Dalla tana” (From the burrow) is darker and disquieting. It describes a strange dream, a stroll through a blurred past where ancient scimitars on the stones of a temple reflect the light and mummies lurk in the shade. “I painted with my thoughts / What the dark lacks...”.

The reflective “Traspare” (It shines through) is about the ephemeral values of everyday life and the need to look for a more spiritual way of life... “Who are you? / Things turn around you... It shines through / Night and day / You leave your footprints on the sand / Well, they are already vanishing into eternity / Forever...”.

“Terra promessa” (Promised Land) is a complex track in two parts, inspired by the Holy Bible... “On the sand / In the silence / The infinity is a breath that goes / A few men are staring / They are walking on their footprints / The night is falling / Slow steps, hopes and distress / Tears in the void / Many years have passed by / And sweat dug the faces / But they keep on walking...”. Never give up! Beyond the hills a virgin land and a new story is waiting... A percussion passage with a Latin flavour seems to set a happy end for people who don’t lose hope...

Next comes the meditative “Galassie” (Galaxies). The music starts softly, featuring acoustic guitar and a soaring sax solo, then the rhythm takes off. The lyrics invite you to the contemplation of the stars and constellations under a sky of glass. Just try to think about the mysteries of the cosmos... “Lost in paradise / Hanging in space / We’re walking in a fabulous reality... Now we’re gliding below / We fall into a vortex / We’re getting lost in the dark / The dream is coming to an end... Let’s take back our time!”.

“La serenata del fiume” (The serenade of the river) is a beautiful acoustic ballad that streams away in a fairy tale atmosphere. Once upon a time the Earth was generous and the water pure... “Like water that flows relaxed on the river / And dance while carried away / He will gather all the flowers for you / The flowers on the bank that have the same colour as the moon...”.

Last comes the title track “Dentro l’invisibile” (Inside the invisible), my favourite piece on this album. It begins with a spacey flavour, as if coming from the dark side of the moon... “Here you are / The King is there / Fragile flower in a muddy desert / In the night, alone, without anything / Hanging in the emptiness of the cosmos... It’s the absurd, the separation, the cry, the scream / Loneliness, moments of death... Who will be able to read in the invisible? / Who will sit on the throne of deliverance? / Who will dig beyond the abyss of the ego / And then will find himself inside us?”. Well, the influence of Pink Floyd here is clear but the band managed to shape an original, intense track full of spirituality.

From the book Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Genfuoco/

SAD SUN

The Ikan Method is a project based in Alessandria, Piedmont, that came to life in 2019 on the initiative of drummer and composer Luca Grosso (who previously collaborated with Projecto, Narrow Pass, Marcello Chiaraluce, The Rome Pro(g)ject and others). Their debut album, inspired by bands such as Marillion, IQ and early Genesis, is entitled Blue Sun and was released in 2020 on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash Records label with a line up featuring along with Luca Grosso himself (drums, keyboards) also Marcello Chiaraluce (guitar), Davide Garbarino (vocals) and Fabio Zunino (bass) plus the guests Piergiorgio Abba (keyboards) and Giacomo Grosso (flute). According to the official website, the title of the album refers to a concept that encompasses all the alienation and unease of a world that has become enslaved by technology, where the individual is isolated from each other, in a sort of ‘golden cage’ where solitude reigns...

The first track, “The Great Opening”, is a caustic piece that describes in music and words the spectacle of the commodification of one's dreams. It takes us to the inauguration of a new temple of modern society, a huge shopping mall. There one can wander freely among the crowd under the lights, forgetting anger and frustration, and it doesn't matter if it's raining outside! There, it's always spring and everyone can find everything they desire in exchange for their savings. And if their savings aren't enough, they can buy on credit... Welcome to the show!

“The Journey” is a beautiful instrumental piece that alternates dark and alienating atmospheres with bursts of furious energy and electric tension and leads us to following “No More Lies” that portrays a man in front of the television, overwhelmed by images of catastrophes and wars around the world. He wonders what kind of world we will leave to the future generations if we continue to greedily consume all available resources, thinking that we enjoy life without realising that we just bring death. We think we are free, but in reality we're nothing but slaves to a machine that never stops turning. We need the illusion of an enemy to hate and we are no longer able to think. Eventually, the protagonist falls asleep and is overcome by sadness, fed up with weapons, words, tears and lies...

“The Long Way To Madness” is another good instrumental piece, rhythmically intense and in line with what the title suggests. It brings us to “The Storm”, a long and complex piece divided into three parts. The first part is a brief, calm and dreamy instrumental introduction titled "The Grand Illusion Of Life". It is followed by a long central section, titled "The Calm Before The Storm", where the music and lyrics describe an approaching storm, metaphorically referring to life: an unexpected and violent event capable of unsettle the protagonist's life, who must now prove himself strong. The description of this event is left to the instrumental coda, titled "The Storm"...

“Golden Cage” describes the protagonist's reflections on the illusion of freedom when we're constantly busy and immersed in the daily routine of the life we ​​think we've chosen. In truth, it's difficult to escape the control of those in charge, and we end up moving between different scenarios, all within a golden cage to which we don't have the keys and from which we can't escape. Thus, we waste our time waiting for something that will never come and we realise too late that the time to make our dreams come true has already passed... Next comes “Time Lost”, a beautiful instrumental piece drenched in regret and nostalgia with a flamboyant finale that might recall Genesis...

The title track, “Blue Sun”, is an instrumental piece in a melancholic vein that leads to “Changes”. The final piece starts with a delicate piano intro and marks the protagonist's awakening after a restless sleep, pervaded by a sense of loneliness and confusion. Slowly, the images of his nightmares fade, giving way to a sense of confusion. The protagonist feels that something has changed in him and finally finds the strength to move forward, supported by the love of his children...

On the whole, a very interesting work that deserves a try.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.theikanmethod.com/

STRANGE WAVES

Live: Waves From the Underground is the ninth studio album by Daal and was released in 2025 on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash Records label. Despite the title, it’s not a live album but the fruit of three days of jam sessions that took place in Rome during October 2023. During those days the band featuring Alfio Costa (Mellotron, MiniMoog, PolyMoog, Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, synthesizers), Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion), Ettore Salati (guitars) and Roberto “Bobo” Aiolfi (bass) the band was particularly inspired and productive, so much so that they decided to select the best moments from the jam sessions and rework them, giving them a more definite shape and meaning. Anyway, the artwork seems to suggest a rather dark atmosphere...

Almost all the individual tracks are identified by a date and a location derived from geographical coordinates. The first, “W.F.T.U. 09.03.2020 (45°41'42''N 9°40'12''E)”, takes us to Bergamo during the sad days of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, when the number of victims was so high that military vehicles were required to transport the bodies and incinerate them. The images of those events, broadcast by the media, are etched in the memory of all Italians and it's not by chance that the music here is so sinister and disturbing...

The following “W.F.T.U. 15.09.2008 (51°30'N 0°11'W)” takes us to Kensington, London, on the day of Richard Wright's death, to whom the piece is dedicated. On the same day, Lehman Brothers (the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank) went bankrupt in New York, and soon the streets of London would be invaded by protests over the Wall Street Crisis, but this is another story... Her you have a slow pace, melancholy atmospheres, and Gilmour-esque guitar sounds for a requiem in honour of the Pink Floyd keyboardist, an artist who, with his talent, opened new paths to travel to the far side of the moon...

“W.F.T.U. 26.04.1986 (51°23'21.98''N 30°05'57.01''E)” takes us to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at the moment of the explosion of reactor No. 4. The tragic consequences of the episode are well known. In the background, a female voice can be heard speaking in Russian, while percussion instruments and strange sound effects convey a strong sense of anguish. A warning about the mistakes of the past and the dangers of the present...

“Daeconstruction Brain Melody” is a brilliant new interpretation of a piece that appeared on the band's debut album from 2009, Disorcanicorigami. Compared to the original, it lacks the unsettling power of Alessandro Papotto's sax, but its absence is compensated by the excellent guitar work...

“W.F.T.U. 20.07.1969 (8°30'N 31°24'E)” takes us to South Sudan on the day a human being walked on the Moon for the first time. The rarefied atmospheres of space soon give way to ethnic influences reminiscent of caravan journeys through the desert: two different types of desert to explore. What emerges is the contrast between humanity's ambition to explore space and its inability to focus on the desolate realities of Earth, forgotten because they hold no interest...

“Daeconstruction Decalogue Part 1” is the reinterpretation of a piece from the 2018 album Decalogue of Darkness. Back in 2018 the band shot a video for it: the video features the images of some monks attempting to defeat the devil, followed by rides of witches, dark Sabbaths and satanic rituals. Well, this new version captures the atmosphere of the original perfectly...

“W.F.T.U. 01.09.1928 (51°31'2'N 0°10'23'W)” is a long piece with a dreamy and relaxed atmosphere, but not without rhythmic and melodic surprises, that takes us to St. Mary's Hospital in London at the time when the Scottish doctor Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. Regarding his discovery, later Dr. Fleming stated: "One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did..."...

“W.F.T.U. 02.06.1946 (41°53'35'N 12°28'58'E)” takes us to Italy on the day the Italian Republic was founded. From the Tyrrhenian Sea, we can admire the coast of a country at the dawn of a new era, a country eager to leave behind the burdensome legacy of monarchy and fascism and turn the page. Drum rolls and a disquieting opening reminiscent of Goblins in Deep Red seem to suggest that this day of celebration is only the beginning of a long and challenging journey...

The last track, “W.F.T.U. 25.07.1943 (41°53'46.32''N 12°28'53.4''E)”, takes us to Rome on the day of the fall of fascism. World War II was still raging, but the piece's solemn pace seems to suggest feelings of hope, resilience, and faith in the future...

On the whole, an interesting and challenging album that need its time to be fully appreciated but that will reward you in the end.

You can listen the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC