Borrello
is a beautiful small town in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo
region, near the border with the province of Isernia in Molise.
Nearby you can visit a natural park with the highest waterfalls in
the Apennines, le Cascate del Verde. Here, in the middle
of these magnificent panoramas, in the late seventies, five young
friends in love with progressive rock music formed a band called the
Sfaratthons, a word derived from the local dialect that can be
loosely translated as "the idlers". The first line up of
the band featured Cecilio Luciano (drums, vocals), Giovanni Di Nunzio
(guitar, sax, vocals), Mario Rosato (keyboards), Bruno Di Nunzio
(bass) and Luca Luciano (vocals, guitar). With the help of another
friend, lyricist Argentino D'Auro, they started to work on a rock
opera dealing with environmental issues entitled La bestia umana.
Unfortunately, the band never managed to release an album during
their early days and eventually split up in the eighties.
In
2011 some of the old members reunited with the idea of making an old
dream come true. With a renewed line up featuring Cecilio Luciano
(drums), Giovanni Di Nunzio (lead vocals, guitar, sax), Luca Di
Nunzio (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Giovanni Casciato (bass, guitar)
and Mario Di Nunzio (bass), the Sfaratthons started to work again on
their old compositions. Another original member, Luca Luciano (Facebook), is now
an appreciated painter and took charge of the art work while lyricist
Argentino D'Auro wrote a book about the concept of the album and the
history of the band... During the recording sessions the band was
helped by some guest musicians such as Geoff Warren (flute), Berardo
Adenolfi (guitar) and Giovanni Ferrari (sax) that contributed to
enrich the sound. The album was finally completed and self-released
in 2016 and I think it's really worth listening to. The music and
lyrics are able to convey emotions and there's a vintage atmosphere
that could recall some Italian album from the seventies...
The
instrumental opener "Overture" is like a kind of time
machine that takes you back in time. Imagine to dive in a sea of
green grass in a foggy September morning... There are evocative
vintage sounds and quiet pastoral atmospheres that could recall bands
such as PFM or Blocco Mentale. Now you are surrounded by a still
uncontaminated nature...
"La
bestia umana" (The human beast) begins by what seems like a
child's lament, a disquieting guitar arpeggio and swirling flute
notes, then a marching beat and the voice of Giovanni Di Nunzio
introduce a strange kind of evil animal, Mankind! Indeed, here the
music and lyrics depict the human madness and its consequences:
self-conceit, ruthlessness, disrespect and a fatal overestimation of
the power of science lead to a natural disaster... The calm middle
section conjure up the gloomy atmosphere of the day after while the
drum beat of the final section come as a kind of funeral march.
The
heartfelt, committed "Civiltà perduta" (Lost civilization)
is a bitter complaint against human greediness and vanity. Men run
after dreams of power and deceiving spectres that made them blind and
unscrupulous, hate and terror become their myths, remnants of a
civilization that celebrated its deadly rites to the gods of pride
and stupidity. The bright sun of progress led men on a dangerous path
and condemned them to doom, arid deserts now cover the land that once
was green and blooming...
The
delicate, dreamy "La dolce illusione" (The sweet illusion)
is a sad, tormented reflection about a generation who lost every hope
and now lives in the sweet illusion of a better future. It leads to
the following "Smog" a frenzied track that describes in
music and words the threatening shadow of a black, venomous cloud.
You can feel here fear, anxiety and a sense of helplessness in front
of another impending tragedy.
"Il
verde" (Green) begins by hard electric guitar riffs and an
almost martial pace. Then, melancholic vocals describe the systematic
destruction of the forests, allowed by indifference and by political
inertia. Men keep on committing the same errors condemning themselves
to death... A bitter-sweet requiem to Mother Nature!
Next
comes "Life In A Prison" a track that, despite the English
title, is sung in Italian. It tells about the hypocrisy of artificial
paradises built on sufferance and exploitation, chains and violence.
You have to look for a way out... The music and lyrics of the
dramatic "Epilogo" (Epilogue) seem to invoke the help of an
extraterrestrial race, more evolute and wiser than humankind, just
before the fatal return to naught.
Too
late! "Dopo" (After) is a melancholic piano ballad that
depicts a gloomy landscape made of lunar deserts... What have we
done? The marching beat and a celestial choir evoke a sad farewell to
humankind. The short closer "Uomo" (Man) features narrative
vocals and poetical lyrics. It's just a final warning about an
impending danger that maybe we are not able to see...
All
in all, this is very interesting work, a labour of love that
deserves a try!
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