Trasparenze
is the fifth studio album by Malibran, a band from Catania whose
roots date back to 1987. It was released in 2009 on the independent
label Electromantic, more than seven years after its predecessor
Oltre l'ignoto. Although it was originally conceived as a solo
project of the leader and multi-instrumentalist Giuseppe Scaravilli, later other members of the band joined him during the recording
sessions and eventually this excellent work was released under the
name Malibran with a line up featuring Giuseppe Scaravilli (vocals,
acoustic and electric guitar, flute, bass, keyboards), Jerry Litrico
(guitar) and Alessio Scaravilli (drums) plus the guests Giancarlo
Cutuli (sax) and Toni Granata (violin). Of course, here composer and
lyricist Giuseppe Scaravilli does the lion's share playing almost all
the instruments but the result is in perfect continuity with the band
sound. In the booklet you can find extended liner notes that explain
the genesis of each track while the art cover is taken from a
painting by Karl Friedrich Schinkel that in some way describes the
spirit of this work...
The
opener is the title track, "Trasparenze" (Transparencies),
a complex suite with many changes in rhythm and mood featuring some
passages that could recall Genesis or Jethro Tull. It's about the
passing of time... All along your life there's something or someone
that attracts you and shows you the way you have to follow with its
perfumes and its fire. You have to go on and on as your age flows
away like a short poem, between dreams and reality, led by your will
and by the flames of that fire...
Next
comes the dreamy "In un attimo" (In a while). It starts
with strummed guitar and flute, then the music and lyrics conjure up
a long awaited, timeless moment of peace. You have in front of you a
white canvas that your are going to fill with the colours of your
dreams... You are painting a magic landscape and your soul is flying
over there. Your troubles are left behind and you can smile,
forgetting for a moment all the problems of everyday life, your mind
is already over there...
"Vento
d'Oriente" (Wind from the East) features a mysterious, exotic
flavour. Heavy electric guitar riffs are mixed with Mediterranean
influences while the music and lyrics evoke distant deserts and
ancient sands, lost identities and empty realities. Listen to the
voice of the wind blowing from the East, it carries echoes of ancient
songs and whispers mysterious charms...
"Presagio"
(Omen) alternates calm, pastoral sections to heavy riffs and Latin
rock passages. It tells of obscure presages looming on the horizon
like the thundering sound of the rapids ahead while you are swimming
on the calm waters of a river, cradled by the current. Well, you've
better keep calm and fight against all the adversities of life
without fear...
"Pioggia
di maggio" (Rain of May) is a beautiful, dreamy instrumental
track full of soaring, delicate melodies. It leads to "La marea"
(The tide) that tells in music and words of the contrast between the
need to go away searching for a better way of life and the
responsibilities that prevent you from leaving, keeping you tightly
bound to your routine. You know you have to stay but you feel a
strange emptiness growing inside you, maybe one day or another you'll
turn your glance back and you'll start running after an idea,
following dreams and ideals, drifting with the tide towards new
horizons...
"Nel
Ricordo" (In the memory) is about the power of fate. Your future
turns around you like a dark shadow from whom you can't escape,
you'll soon forget who you are because you're already changing and
moving forward, you can't help it! The days and the nights you spent
are like circles in the water that soon will fade away, the past is
going to melt in your memory, you can't cheat on destiny...
"Volo
Magico" (Magic flight) is a short instrumental track that
conveys a strange sense of mystery. You can hear the sound of the
bumblebees around you as you're flying from flower to flower under
the charm of exotic perfumes and colourful landscapes... It leads to
the nocturnal atmospheres of "Promesse vane" (Vain
promises), a piece about a man who feels like an eternal boy and
finds difficult to accept his everyday life and the burden of time
passing by. Where are the promises of his childhood, what is left of
his old dreams? He's burning out and nothing but his fantasy and
imagination can set him free from the metaphorical chains of reality
and make him happy, at least for a while...
The
short, dreamy "Gioco di specchi" (Game of mirrors) is a
nice instrumental track that introduces the wonderful suite that
closes the album, "Pensieri fragili" (Fragile thoughts), a
long, complex piece that every now and again recalls Arti &
Mestieri and begins by the sound of a pouring rain... Here the music
and lyrics take you back in time to World War I, in a trench along
the front between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian
Empire. Under the rain the thoughts of a young infantry soldier
unfurl while the water washes away a desperate night of waiting.
Around the soldier there is nothing but mud and fog but he dreams of
enchanted valleys and smiling faces that now seem just faded
memories... A thousands eyes observe the human fragility from the
sky, the soldier feels that the real enemy is inside him, he wants to
give up not because of cowardice but because he feels that this war
is not his own business. He doesn't care about honour and glory and
in the fog he gets stealthily out of his shelter and runs for his
life, disappearing in the rain...
On
the whole, I think that this is a wonderful album without weak
moments that will not disappoint Italianprog fans...
Malibran:
Trasparenze (2009). Other opinions:
Chris
"Seventhsojourn": Trasparenze is a long album that
clocks in at 78-minutes, so you get your money's worth. There's not
even much filler on it, with maybe just a couple of slightly weaker
songs. My one criticism is that the album is a bit light on
keyboards, but the loads of great flute you usually get with Malibran
offset this... (read the complete review HERE)
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