Locus
Amoenus began life in 2010 in San Michele di Serino, a small town in
the province of Avellino, in an area called Irpinia. The name of the
band comes from a literary quote that refers to an ideal place where
you can reflect about life and reality: an imaginary, beautiful spot
and a real source of inspiration for the mind. After a hard work and
a good live activity on the local scene, in 2013 the band
self-released an excellent debut album, “Clessidra” (Hourglass),
with a line up featuring Alessio Vito (vocals, guitar, flute),
Raffaele Purgante (electric guitar), Antonio Di Filippo (sax),
Alessandro Ragano (bass) and Mauro Cefalo (drums). The overall sound
draws on many sources of inspiration ranging from classical music to
jazz, from folk to metal, but the members of the band managed to add
a good deal of original ideas, personality and freshness. The result
is pretty good and even if on the album you can hear echoes from the
seventies you can feel that this is not a clone act at all and, in my
opinion, the music is really worth listening to from start to finish
with an open mind.
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| art cover |
The
opener “Tra la mente e gli infiniti inverni dell'anima (Preludio)”
(Between the mind and he infinite winters of the soul) sets the
atmosphere of this work. It's a beautiful instrumental piece that
starts at the sound of a bell and features many changes in mood and
rhythm. The title is in some way related to the art cover by Davide
Panarella that, according to an interview with the band, tries to
capture the spirit of the whole album representing a glance through
the soul's eye over an arid, cold reality.
Then
comes the long, complex “Inverno” (Winter) that every now and
again recalls bands such as Osanna, Van der Graaf Generator and
Jethro Tull, with a good interaction between sax and flute. The music
and lyrics depict an eye in the sky observing the bitter destiny of
the earth: it looks at the earth's defeat from above while a tear
wets its hermitage, sweeping away its malignity. Cold winds blow
shaking the dry branches of a tree, then the tree drops its fruits
and disquieting instrumental passages evoke a never ending winter.
Clouds of smoke cover the sky and the light gets lost into the
darkness while the tired eye keeps on looking at the gloomy landscape
below, crying...
The
following “Il suono di Lei” (Her sound) is another long, complex
track. The mood is lighter, here the music and lyrics try to conjure
up a mystical character, a goddess who can breath a new life into a
bleak reality, waking up the senses with her singing. It's almost a
parable about the cathartic power of music: there's no hope without
the charming sounds coming out from some mysterious, enchanted
woods... Only those sounds can break the chains of the daily grind!
“Lettera
di un folle” (Letter from a madman) begins by the sound of a quill
writing frantically on paper and a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio,
then the rhythm rises. There are many changes in rhythm and mood,
some soft passages remind me of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, some others
are wilder and remind me of Area and Il Balletto di Bronzo. The music
and lyrics depict a man halfway between lucidity and folly who's
drawing some images taken from a blurred reality that Time is
blotting out. The words are moving on the paper like leafs falling
from a tree: tired, they get lost along the way, in an eternal quest
for a Love that whips the heart...
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| Locus Amoenus on stage |
At
over six minutes in length, “Amleto” (Hamlet) is the shortest
track on the whole album but it's not not an easy listening one. In
fact, this is an experimental piece featuring a free jazzy approach
and confused voices in the background declaiming some verses from
Shakespeare's Hamlet. The atmosphere is dark, suspended between dream
and nightmare...
Next
comes the melancholic “Anima” (Soul), a bitter-sweet reflection
about life and afterlife where for a moment your soul breaks through
and your mind begins to fly across a crying sky, over dreams and
illusions, over hopes and disappointments, towards a fairy land where
there's no room for pain. The come back to reality is hard when the
parallel world you were dreaming of suddenly clashes with the usual
routine of a life where everything is normal and boring.
The
dreamy “I segni del Mio tempo” (The signs of My time) closes the
album with a touching reflection about the effects of consumerism. In
a world where materialism and money rule without mercy there's no
room for real beauty and feelings. Music dies and poetry fades away
while freedom fails... Well, after a silent pause there's still time
for a sudden, hidden burst of rage and indignation!
On
the whole, I think that this is a very good album where the poetical
lyrics perfectly fit the music drawing melancholic, beautiful wintry
landscapes suspended between dream and reality. Anyway, have a try
and judge by yourselves!
You
can listen in streaming to the complete album HERE
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