FROM SICILY...

ArcaMiri come from Syracuse, Sicily and took shape in 2017 when four talented musicians met to play original compositions with the aim to experiment and find a personal sound. The line up features Vincenzo Arisco (drums), Peppe Capodieci (bass), Simona Minniti (vocals) and Ivan Ricciardi (piano, synthesizers). In 2018 they self-released an interesting EP entitled Contatto (Contact) containing four tracks recorded between December 2017 and May 2018 where they blend classical music, jazz and progressive rock with various exotic musical spices. Ethereal atmospheres, changes in rhythm and mood, poetical lyrics, soaring operatic vocals… If you like bands such as Opus Avantra I think you should listen to them!

The opener “Quasi alba” (Almost dawn) is a kind of disquieting lullaby that starts with far echoes of tango and a melancholic mood. It tells in music and lyrics of a tense silence where haunting nightmares creep in asking for a place in your soul and in your body. There’s a little boat lost on a threatening sea, the people on board feel helpless and fragile like a thin piece of paper that is going to be torn...

“La notte e la luna” (The night and the moon) tells about a sad, unfortunate love where desire and pain seem almost to play to hide and seek with destiny. The pace is slow, the atmosphere dark, the voice of Simona Minniti filled with emotion...

“L’anno dei sogni” (The year of dreams) is a nervous track about the loss of innocence that blends hints of funky with opera. Music and words evoke disquieting images, like the innocent blood on the skin of a little girl and a haunting, treacherous sense of void that hits you in the back taking away a part of your soul...

The closer “In acido” (In acid) tells of the loss of identity in a troubled relationship. The music evokes a kind of game of lights and shadows as reality and thoughts melt away...

On the whole, a very promising debut!

You can listen to the complete Ep HERE

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/arcamiri/

DYSTOPIAN TALES

Hailing from Terni, in Umbria, Tom Shepperd’s Production began life in 2013 from the meeting of Andrea Pierini (guitar), Lorenzo Francioli (keyboards) and Marco Aurelio Ursini (drums) with Emanuele Viali (bass). Inspired by progressive bands from the past and present era, their aim was to compose original music to give form to the thoughts of an invented character, a crazy man called Tom Shepperd.

Tom Shepperd's Production on stage 2016

After a home made demo in 2013, in 2014 they self released an interesting first EP entitled A Quiet Walk In The Desert, featuring an instrumental suite divided into two parts. According to the band, it tells the journey of a boy reliving a trauma during a dream. The music starts softly, in the beginning the pace is slow… Then tension rises and many changes of rhythm and mood follow. Well, the atmosphere and the art cover remind me of a famous novel about a dark tower and a long walk in the desert of a man and a boy... There are quests and roads that lead ever onward, and all of them end in the same place – upon the killing ground. Except, perhaps, the road to the Tower. There ka might show its true face… (quote from The Gunslinger by Stephen King).

In 2017 the band self released another EP entitled Synolon – Subconscious. In my opinion, the new work marks a step forward and features two guest vocalists on one track, Thomas Soares and Weronika Bielecka. According to the band, the EP tells in music and words the first part of a tale set in a dystopic future, in a city where the inhabitants don't have the ability of feeling emotions but where something is slowly changing... 

The opener “Awakening” begins by the hypnotic ticking of an alarm clock and an ominous sound of hooters. The atmosphere is disquieting and frenzied as the metallic noise of time rumbles across the streets… The following “Looping Voices” with its marching beat and the threatening voices in the background describes a nightmarish city where blind work, separation and isolationism rule and nobody cares about each other. “Dead Dream” is calmer and depicts a dark, hopeless night. Here the music could recall Pink Floyd as in the following “The Craze” where you can listen to the voice of a rebel spirit asking for help and to back vocals that seem coming from the dark side of the moon. The last track, “The Thing”, is full of energy and increasing rage and leaves you in front of a difficult choice…

On the whole, an interesting work that deserves a try!

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/TomShepperdsProduction/