Avocado Moon Experiment is a project from Turin started in 2016 with
the aim of composing a sci-fi rock opera blending progressive rock
and metal. The project took a more definite form in 2020 and on the
30th of December of the same year the band digitally
self-released a promising debut album entitled Darrell's Journal
2116 with a line up featuring composer and multi-instrumentalist
Giuseppe Floridia (guitar, keyboards, bass, vocals) along with Marco
Benigno (vocals), Giulia Valerin (vocals), Luca Ragusa (guitar, bass)
and Luca Zanon (drums) plus the guests Jacopo Albini (clarinet),
Madalina Smocov (flute), Maria Beatrice Venanzi (violin) and Giuseppe
Vizzini (flute). The album was recorded and mixed by Giuseppe
Floridia in his Floryd Sounds Studio and collects the first five
chapters of what is meant as a work in progress telling a long story
set in a dystopic future...
The nervous opener “Chapter 1: Dawn In Salem” sets the atmosphere
and introduces the subject matter. In 2116, in a dreamless world,
after a restless night the protagonist, a man called Darrell who
lives in the city of Salem, volunteers for a project named Avocado
Moon Experiment. The A.M.E. project was launched by the firm Avocado
Industries that after the construction of a city on the moon named
Jera, now is looking for some people to send there to experience a new
utopia: a life where money and work are not necessary in a place
where everything is in charge to the machines...
In “Chapter 2: The Spacewhale”, on a steady marching pace we can
follow the journey from the earth to the moon through Darrell’s
journal. The following “Chapter 3: Beyond The Clouds” begins by a
guitar arpeggio and soaring, dreamy notes of flute in the forefront
backed by the rhythm section and the organ. Three months after the
arrival in Jera life goes on lazy and peaceful but the protagonist
feels that something is missing and his sense of nostalgia and
confusion is strong. Then Darrell begins a relationship with a woman
called Scarlett and they find mutual understanding and comfort...
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| Avocado Moon Experiment, 2020 |
Next comes “Chapter 4: Innocence” that tells of the doubts and
regrets of Darrell and Scarlett. They wonder where’s gone the inner
fire that can stir desires and emotions and, between instinct and
reason, they realize that something is lost while memories come back
and the awareness of a new responsibility emerges... The last track,
“Chapter 5: The Star Rover”, features some excellent, classical
inspired, instrumental passages and welcomes the birth of the son of
Darrell and Scarlett, Charles the Star Rover, who will learn to
travel through space and time...
On the whole, this is a good album with an interesting concept, nice
melodies, a good interaction between theatrical male and female
vocals and some beautiful instrumental passages. Waiting for the next
chapters of the story, we have here a work of more than 32 minutes of
music that is really worth listening to...
You
can listen to the complete album HERE
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