Tenebrae
began life in Genoa in 2005 on the initiative of guitarist Marco
Arizzi with the aim to blend rock music with other forms of art such
as painting, theatre and literature. After an EP in 2008, in 2010 they self produced an
interesting début album, “Memorie nascoste” (Hidden memories),
with a line up featuring Marco Arizzi (guitars), Fabrizio Garofalo
(bass), Fabio Bignone (keyboards, synthesizer), Emanuele Benenti
(drums) and Davide Faudella (vocals).
Tenebrae 2010
“Memorie
nascoste” is a concept album that tells about a strange meeting
between a boy and a mysterious painter. The atmosphere swings between
dream and nightmare, a hypnotic hourglass blurs the borders between
time and space while the power emanating from the tableaux in an art
gallery stirs hidden memories, then ghostly visions begin to dance
among games of mirrors and dark shadows. The overall sound of the band
reminds me in some way of another Italian band called Minstrel. Their
approach is theatrical and emphatic while the music draws from heavy
metal, opera, new wave, psychedelia and many other sources of
inspiration.
You
can listen in streaming to the complete album from the official
website. Click HERE.
In
2012 Tenebrae released their second album with a renewed line up
featuring along with Marco Arizzi (guitars) Francesco Mancuso
(keyboards, synthesizer, back vocals), Fabrizio Bisignano (bass),
Alessandro “Attila” Fanelli (drums) and Pablo Ferrarese (vocals).
Antonella Bruzzone helped the band to write the lyrics while Sara
Aneto took charge of the artwork and of the booklet that she enriched
with many nice drawings. The result of their efforts is “Il fuoco
segreto “ (The secret fire), a beautiful concept album inspired by
Goethe's Faust.
The
overall sound is heavier than in the previous work and the new
vocalist showcases a great personality delivering some operatic
passages, dark growling and soaring melodies. The band interpret
Goethe's story freely, adding a touch of original poetical
inspiration and dark, Gothic sounds with good results. Despite the
changes in the line up there is a strong stylistic continuity with
the previous work and maybe Mephisto is just the name of the
mysterious painter we met before...
Troubled dreams, foggy memories
hanging over the secret fire that burns in your soul, broken mirrors
and haunting illusions take you to the limit of reality, towards a
new awareness. Well, on the whole another album that is really worth
listening to.
Vidocq
come from Turin and began life in 2009 on the initiative of vocalist
Enrico Rigolli, an experienced musician in love with hard rock and
melody. The name of the band was inspired by the character of Eugène François Vidocq, a famous French adventurer and criminologist. In
2012 the band released an eponymous debut album on the independent
label Andromeda Relix with a line up featuring Enrico Rigolli
(vocals), Graziano Picco (guitars), Massimo Martinetto (bass), Alex
Quagliotti (drums) and Marco Veretti (keyboards). Some prestigious
guests contributed to enrich the overall sound and the result is a
good album of classic rock with some progressive influences and nice
melodies.
Vidocq 2012
The
opener “Cuore nero” (Black heart), starts with a short accordion
introduction, then veers towards melodic hard rock atmospheres. The
lyrics tell about a romance with a dangerous, cheating woman. The
following “Polvere da sparo” (Gunpowder) is a lively hard rock
piece with electric guitar riffs in the forefront. It tries to evoke
in music and words a story of pirates in the Caribbean sea with
thundering guns and a rattling of swords under the shadow of the
jolly roger flag. It reminds me of the atmospheres of some works by
the Italian writer Emilio Salgari.
“Volo”
(Flight) is nocturnal and dreamy. It describes a flight in a starry
sky following the acrobatics of Peter Pan. Next comes “Il volo
del falco” (The flight of the hawk), a delicate acoustic ballad
featuring on vocals two prestigious guests such as Vittorio De
Scalzi (New Trolls) and Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme). The lyrics
invite you to observe the flight of a hawk and then to look at a
little child and to an old man and to reflect about their desire to
fly for different reasons.
“Frà
Diavolo” is a frenzied, southern blues rock ride inspired by the
character of an Italian famous brigante, Michele
Pezza,best known with
the nickname of Fra' Diavolo. “Tanto tempo fa” (Long time
ago) features a nervous pulsing beat and evokes a feeling of
nostalgia for a past love where new fears feed a vague sense of
solitude. “Welcome (resta tra gli dei)” (Welcome – stay with
the gods) is another nocturnal track where dreams clash against a
bleak reality.
“Genesi”
(Genesis) is in a more progressive vein and features some nice piano
passages and evocative melodies. The lyrics depict a sky which is
vomiting its rage upon men incapable to react against the decay of
their environment and invoke the rebirth of a humankind that this
time would be wiser and less greedy. The following “Contro il
tempo” (Against time) is more aggressive and is about a pointless
quest to eternity. Then the short title track brings a change of
atmosphere and a softer mood. The accordion and the female vocals of
the guests Gianni Ceretto and Laura Conti take you to Paris while the
lyrics conjure up the ghost of the adventurer after whom the band was
named.
Vidocq on stage
Two acoustic covers, credited as bonus tracks, conclude the
album, a nice version of BMS' “750.000 anni fa... l'amore?” and
Franco Battiato's “No Time, No Space”.
Well,
despite some ingenuities and the lack of really outstanding tracks I
think that this album is worth listening to.
“I
am a singer of songs that I learned in the far city, and my calling
is to make beauty with the things remembered of childhood. My wealth
is in little memories and dreams, and in hopes that I sing in gardens
when the moon is tender and the west wind stirs the lotos-buds...”
(H.P. Lovecraft, from The Quest Of Iranon). Well, I think that
this quote could describe in some way the spirit and the mood of
Goad's new album, “Masquerade”. Maurilio Rossi and his band have
been around for many years although they have never emerged from the
underground scene. Luckily they never gave up the musical dreams of
their youth and in my opinion “Masquerade” is their best work so
far. It was recorded between 2007 and 2011 with a line up featuring
Maurilio Rossi (organ, keyboards, bass, guitars), Francesco Diddi
(violin, flute, sax, guitar), Gianni Rossi (guitar, backing vocals),
Vick Usai (drums), Tommaso Baggiani (drums), Luis Magnanimo (bass),
and Antonio Vannucci (piano, keyboards) but during the recording
sessions they were helped by many guest musicians. The album was
finally released in 2011 on the independent label Black Widow Records
and I think that the result is excellent. You can find here all the
passion of the band for vintage sounds and the literary works of
artists such as Edgar Allan Poe or Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Among
Goad's sources of inspiration there are bands such as Van der Graaf
Generator, Genesis or King Crimson, of course, but the song-writing
of this Florentine band is good and rich in ideas.
The
opener “Fever Called Living” features heavy electric guitar
riffs, touches of flute and dark organ rides. It describes a
desperate escape from reality where the grave becomes a shelter, a
peaceful bed where you can rest and dream for the eternity... “Thanks
Heaven! The crises, the danger is past... And the fever called living
is conquered at last...”. The following “Eldorado” is a hard
rock track in two parts that could recall Deep Purple. The lyrics are
taken from a poem by E.A. Poe describing a gallant knight and his
pointless quest for the land of gold... “But he grew old / This
knight so bold / And o'er his heart a shadow / Fell as he found / No
spot of ground / That looked like Eldorado...”.
“The
Last Knowledge” is another track divided into two parts. It is
calmer, melancholic and evokes overwhelming memories, the dark shadow
of a missing lover and the killing strength of her absence. Next
comes the reflective “The Judge” which describes in music and
words a strange meeting with a talking painting crying blood. It's
the painting of an old judge who during his life condemned many
people to death and now is haunted by their ghosts for the
eternity... “I spent all my life sitting on that chair / Trying to
understand, trying to be fair / Many and many lives I had in my hand
/ I was a judge, I was like God / They gave the power to punish with
my rod...”.
The
next three tracks are also taken from E.A. Poe's poems. “The Valley
Of Unrest” features an ethereal, sad atmosphere evoking perennial
tears which descend in gems from a cloudy sky, “To Helen”
features a strong classical inspiration and is an unconventional ode
to beauty while the delicate, introspective “Alone” expresses
isolation and inner torment. Then comes “Masquerade (Fast &
Short)”, just an appetizer for the long conclusive suite.
The
nice classical inspired instrumental “Intro (Classic Guitar
Prelude)” leads to the mysterious, mystic “Slave Of The Holy
Mountain” which describes an unsuccessful, metaphorical climbing to
Heaven. The following “Dreamland” is another good track inspired
by Edgar Allan Poe's powerful poetry and precedes a beautiful, dark
instrumental titled “The Haunted Palace”.
The
last track, “Masquerade (With Dance Macabre)”, is a long, complex
suite divided into five parts. It describes a strange dream and
reminds me of the atmosphere of a H.P. Lovecraft's story... “There
in the moonlight that flooded the spacious plain was a spectacle
which no mortal, having seen it, could ever forget. To the sound of
reedy pipes that echoed over the bog there glided silently and eerily
a mixed throng of swaying figures, reeling through such a revel as
the Sicilians may have danced to Demeter in the old days under the
harvest moon beside the Cyane. The wide plain, the golden moonlight,
the shadowy moving forms, and above all the shrill monotonous piping,
produced an effect which almost paralysed me...”. (H.P.
Lovecraft, The Moon-Bog). The musical texture here is
extremely rich, there are many nuances and every time you'll listen
to this piece you'll discover something new...
Well,
all in all I think that this is a very good album... Have a try!
Goad:
Masquerade (2011). Other opinions:
Jim
Russell: At 77 minutes "Masquerade" is a long and chilling journey which some will say could use editing, but
those who enjoy it will not want it to end. Driving heavy guitars and bass, chunky, lumbering and
distorted are featured with all manner of dark keyboard textures, saxophone, and larger than life
vocals. The moods are powerful and thundering, occasionally contrasted with eerie softer sections
which just make the tracks pop with intrigue. In these sections you will experience sumptuous solo
string performance, flute, and acoustic guitar----even a classical solo interlude at one point. But
the most important impression to convey is the sense of unease and imbalance foisted on the listener
as this unfolds like a tale from a dusty old magician's book... (read the complete review HERE)
Aldo
Tagliapietra is the historic vocalist and bassist of Le Orme, a band
that he contributed to found in 1966. In 2009 he went solo and, after
a double unplugged live album, in 2012 he self released an
interesting studio work with the help of some members of The Former
Life, a very promising young prog band from Vittorio Veneto. On this
album, titled “Nella pietra e nel vento” (In the stone and in the
wind), the line up features, along with Aldo Tagliapietra (vocals,
bass), Aligi Pasqualetto (piano, Minimoog, keyboards), Andrea De
Nardi (organ,
keyboards), Matteo Ballarin (electric and acoustic guitar) and Manuel Smaniotto (drums, percussion). There are no
long, complex suites here but just ten beautiful ballads with a mild
progressive rock vein that in some way recall the atmospheres and the
melodic passages of some albums by Le Orme such as “Elementi” or
“L'infinito” whilethe art work by Paul Whithead adds a touch of charm and mystery
Aldo Tagliapietra 2011
The
opener title track is a melancholic piece about time passing by. It
was inspired by some words in Latin carved in an ancient sundial,
Felicibus brevis miseris hora longa. Time can cover with a
magic veil memories and nostalgia even if it is too slow for those
who have to wait, too fast for those who are scared, too long for
those who feel pain, too short for those who are happy.The
following “Silenzi” (Silences) brings a gust of optimism and the
atmosphere is brighter. What will remain of us after our time will
come to an end? Nothing can last forever except our souls and a smile
which will shine in the silence of immensity.
“Il
santo” (The saint) was inspired by the character of the Dalai Lama.
It tells about a meeting with a smiling man born from a dream, with
no home nor land but with a border-less love in his eyes.The
delicate, sweet “La cosa più bella” (The most beautiful thing)
is dedicated to Aldo Tagliapietra's grand-son Francesco Ian while the
following “Un grande giardino” (A wide garden) is for all the
children of an ancient mother called Life, flowers of light in a wide
garden who need all our love to grow up.
“Sette
passi” (Seven steps) is full of spirituality and was inspired by
the character of Siddhartha. It evokes the morning wind and a
peaceful, almost magic sense of freedom where flowers shine in the
infinite.“C'è
una vita” (There's a life) invites you to open your mind, look
beyond appearances and search for the life that flows inside your
heart... “There's no light without dark / There's no night without
day / There's no sound without quiet / There's no peace without war /
Inside every pain there's a hidden love / In every morning there's
the evening...”.
“Tra
il bene e il male” (Between good and evil) features on bass the
guest Claudio Galieti who was a member of Le Orme in the sixties.
It's another track that draws some reflections about the meaning of
life in a world divided between silence and noise. We have to walk on
a tightrope hanging on the void, between joy and pain in the never
ending game between good and evil.
“Dio
lo sa” (God knows it) is full of positive energy, almost an ode to
a merciful God who is aware of our weakness. For Him we're just
angels living between dream and reality who keep on rolling down from
a steep hill like stones, lost in the dark and looking for an
ephemeral freedom that we can't find.
The
conclusive “Il sutra del cuore” (The sutra of the heart) in some
way is linked with the title track and closes the circle. It invites
you to open your mind to love without hypocrisy nor fear. You have to
forget the evil ways and look for love without any compromise, you
have to carve in the stone all the positive things and remember all
the love you have received from the others. As for the bad memories,
let the wind blow them away and keep on searching for the light of
love, beyond the immensity.
Tony
Pagliuca was Le Orme's keyboardist until 1990. In the early nineties
he went solo following a personal artistic path and since then ha has
released six albums so far. His last work, “Après Midi –
Ormeggiando”, was recorded between 2007 and 2010 with the
supervision of Le Orme's historic producer Gianpiero Reverberi and
features twelve tracks from Le Orme's repertoire re-interpreted for
piano solo. The album was finally self released in 2010 with an
elegant packaging featuring an art cover taken from a painting by
Walter Mac Mazzieri,Canzoniere notturno. Well, in my opinion the art
cover depicts in a very effective way the mood of this charming work
full of delicate nuances and evocative, nocturnal passages.
The
opener “Gioco di bimba” sets the atmosphere. From the very first
notes you can realize that this is not just an unplugged album or the
fruit of a nostalgia operation. The music respects the feeling of the
original pieces but explores new melodic solutions drawing beautiful
games of lights and shadows.
The
following “Aliante” is the only track recorded live and it's
taken from a concert in Florence in November 2009. “Venerdì” is
an instrumental piece originally released in 1981 and this “naked”
version, purified from the sounds of the eighties, in my opinion adds
new perspectives and colours with an excellent result...
Tony Pagliuca 2010
Just
imagine to sit in a café in San Marco Square, in Venice, and let the
music stir your fantasy, unveiling hidden melodies and unexpected
rhythmical solutions... “Verità nascoste”, “Aspettando l'alba”,
“Immagini”, “La fabbricante d'angeli”, “Era inverno”, “Se
io lavoro”, “Cemento armato”, “Sguardo verso il cielo”,
“Collage”. The music flows away as in a beautiful dream and if
you like Le Orme's historic works I'm sure you'll enjoy all this new
instrumental versions as well. Have a try!
