Fate
Of A Thousand Worlds is the second album by Gran Torino, an
interesting prog band from Verona. It was released in 2013 on the
French label Musea Records, two years after the promising debut
grantorinoProg, with a renewed line up featuring Alessio Pieri
(keyboards, piano), Gian Maria Roveda (drums), Fabrizio Visentini
(bass) and Leonardo Freggi (guitars). According to the band's
website, this is a conceptual work about a man who travels in space
and in real time throughout the universe that is based on a short
sci-fi story written by one of their friends, Paolo Gadioli, that you
can find in the booklet and that's also mirrored in the beautiful art
work created by Ed Unitsky. The music was conceived as a soundtrack
to describe the adventures, emotions and torments of the
protagonist...
The
opener, "Child of the Stars", sets the atmosphere and
introduces the protagonist, Velasquez, a kind of super-hero created
by a superior race whose mission is to conquer the whole universe.
His birth required a huge amount of energy that was obtained by
destroying a planet... The music starts softly, then the rhythm
gradually rises, calms down for a while and rises again, powerful and
threatening...
Then
comes the frenzied "Absolute Time". Here every now and
again I'm reminded of bands such EL&P and Goblin... The merciless
protagonist can travel through space and time and when he finds a
planet inhabited by a superior race he can go back to an era when
that civilization was not so evolute and can't resist to his
powers...
"The
Battle of Velasquez" is a dark, powerful track that could recall
some passages from Darwin! by Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. It's a
perfect score for the destructive actions of the protagonist who
defeats powerful armies and ravages fortified cities. It leads to the
following "Dead Suns" where you can hear the great poem of
the extinguished suns and the last pulses of the worlds swept away by
Velasquez...
The
melancholic "The Fog of Time" describes the feeling of
loneliness and deep sadness of the protagonist. Velasquez can't find
anyone who can match him. They call him just the child of the stars,
they fear him, they hate him... Next comes "Empty Soul"
that tries to capture in music the strange feeling that the
protagonist experiences by approaching a new planet: it's just like a
deep emptiness in his soul. So, he begins to observe this new planet,
to explore it from above...
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| Gran Torino 2014 |
The
delicate, romantic "Arìda" is a piano solo track that
describes the meeting between Velasquez and a beautiful woman called
Arìda who lives on the mysterious planet. The heartless protagonist
finally falls in love and the following "The Short Dream"
describes in some way this complicate, unsettling romance...
"End
of a Planet" breaks the dream, the rhythm rises suggesting an
impending danger, something is going to happen. Suddenly Velasques
has to go back in his spaceship, there's something wrong... As he
gets on board the planet blows up and his love is lost forever...
Here the music reminds me slightly of other two planets in a distant
solar system, hidden behind the jewellery of a thousand stars and
forests of coral...
The
title track, "Fate of a Thousand Worlds", ends the album
describing the dark thoughts of the protagonist, condemned to live
alone in his immense spaceship, master of time, master of the
universe... Master of nothing!
On
the whole, this is an excellent instrumental album and the music is
really worth listening to. Have a try, even if you don't like the
storyline!
Gran
Torino: Fate Of A Thousand Worlds (2013). Other opinions:
Mark
Johnson: The musicianship is inspired and unique sounding enough
to set this band apart from the many instrumental prog bands that
roam the universe. Imagine all of the things that you might encounter
on a journey through the universe. Without lyrics you are left to
your imagination... and sometimes that can provide its own horrors as
well as inspirations... (read the complete review HERE)
Pedro
Bekkers: Gran Torino have made a lot of progression compared to
their debut. With the replacement of the guitarist they moved the bar
up by a few notches and forced themselves to create more challenging
compositions shifting toward a heavier prog rock or prog metal style.
With an album like Fate Of A Thousand Worlds Gran Torino may be very
proud of themselves! They can face the future with confidence...
(read the cmplete review HERE)
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