According to the official website, Braam Van Der Stock is not a rock band but a project, an experience that originates from the need to communicate, to launch messages, to express thoughts and moods through music. The name refers to one of the three prisoners of war who managed to break free from Stalag Luft III camp during World War II, in what is today remembered as the Great Escape, and the aim of the musicians is to pay tribute to this endeavour carried out with rudimentary and unusual means. The names of the artists involved in this project, based in a small town near Turin called Sangano, are not revealed in the booklet nor on the official website where they explain that as in the case of the Great Escape in which the tunnel to freedom was hidden under the name Harry, perhaps also the name "Braam Van Der Stock" hides something different… As for the music, for their self-released debut album, entitled Messa su strada (Mass on the road), they chose to interpret in a prog rock key the musical form of the Missa following the Catholic liturgical canons...
The short instrumental opener “Introitus” starts by a solemn organ solo pattern, then the rhythm takes off and the music veers to hard rock territories. It leads to “Kyrie”, the first sung prayer in the Tridentine Mass, and usually part of any musical setting of the Mass. The Latin words sung on this track mean just Lord, have mercy...
Then it’s the turn of the long, complex “Gloria” that starts by a soaring choir. It’s a powerful piece where the Latin lyrics praise the Lord and the music alternates solemn, joyful passages to calmer, reflective parts… Glory be to God on high, and in earth peace, goodwill towards men...
This particular rock mass goes on with other two Latin prayers, the “Sanctus”, a hymn sung before the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine, and the “Agnus Dei”, a setting of the Lamb of God litany that here takes almost a bluesy pace before turning into a more solemn form.
The heartfelt “Padre (Il nocciolo della questione)” (Father - The heart of the matter) is the only track sung in Italian and tries to convey what’s the most important part of Braam Van Der Stock’s message with a personal interpretation of the prayer Pater Noster, an important part of the Catholic liturgy. In fact, according to the band, the heart of the matter, quoted in the album, is the proposal to look at our expectations toward our god, the claims we have and how we demand that he should accomplish them. From here the twisting of the message in the song Father; no longer Our Father who implicitly suggests the existence of a You or a Them left without a father. In this song the list of requests becomes a list of findings, a fact; a thank for what we have and therefore a spur for us to put effort in our lives… We are the ones who move the pawns.
The short “Ite Missa Est” ends the mass and an interesting album where you can find not only Latin prayers and theological themes but also a good interaction between organ and electric guitar backed by a pulsing rhythm section...
You can listen to the complete album HERE
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