Hailing
from Colle Val d'Elsa, a small town in the province of Siena,
Profusion began life as a trio in 2001 under the name Mardi Gras
Experience, influenced by the American prog scene of the nineties and
by bands such as Planet X and Spock's Beard. In 2002 they changed
their name into the current one combining the words "Progressive"
and "Fusion" and four years later they self-released an
interesting debut album entitled One Piece Puzzle. After a
good live activity on the local scene and some personnel changes, in
2012 Profusion released their second full length work, RewoToweR,
on the independent label ProgRock Records with a renewed line up
featuring along with founding members Vladimer Lado Sichinava (drums)
and Gionatan Caradonna (keyboards) also Luca Cambi (bass), Thomas
Laguzzi (guitars) and Luca Latini (vocals) plus some guests such as
Simon Hosford (guitar), Titta Nesti (vocals), Andrea Beninati (cello,
percussion) and Andrea Libero Cito (violin). The overall sound on
this album is rich and full of energy, the songwriting is good and
mixes different influences ranging from metal to world music.
According to the band, their music is a spiral of genres, tones
and rhythms, melted and tangled together that tries to convey an
original message dealing with musical flexibility and research while
the album is conceived as a path that guides the listener into a
tower and where each song reveals a new plan, a new step that
allows you to reach the top. An ambitious project indeed, anyway
there's no real storyline and the meaning of this conceptual work
remains a bit foggy and open to various interpretations and
sensibilities...
The
nervous opener "Ghost House" conjures up in music and
lyrics a nightmarish mansion on a hill overlooking an American town.
It was built long time ago by a mysterious man coming out of the blue
who, since then, has always been locked in, like a ghost. Rumours,
imagination, fantasy, fear, rage... Eventually the town's folk try to
break in the house to see what's hidden in its dark rooms but what
they find there is nothing but a surreal vision of their own lives
under the light of the moon. Here the atmosphere reminds me of some
stories by H.P. Lovecraft or Stephen King such a The Dreams In The
Witch House or Salem's Lot...
Next
comes "The Taste Of Colours" that is divided into two parts
and tells of the personal crisis of man who has lost his identity. It
starts softly, with piano a vocals. The protagonist of this piece
seems condemned to live all his life in black and white but when he's
alone he's still able to see the colours that shine inside his soul
and he can break through the dull sense of apathy that's hanging all
over him, diving in the inner light his of self consciousness to
paint a secret place where to live in peace and harmony...
 |
| Profusion on stage 2013 |
On
the following "Treasure Island" the borders between dream
and reality are blurred while the lyrics quote Robert Louis Stevenson and evoke
a ghostly sea song and fifteen drunken men dancing on a dead man's
chest with a bottle of rum. A man is sailing across an unknown ocean
of hopes and doubts, he can't find the right course and he feels like
a damned fool at the mercy of the waves, deeply falling into
nonsense... Then comes "So Close But Alone", a piece that
starts just by piano and vocals before veering to exotic islands and
spiced atmospheres built upon Latin rhythms and flamenco sketches
while the lyrics evoke the painful memories of a betrayed love...
The
short instrumental "Tkeshi (ტყეში)" features a
strong ethnic flavour. The title is a Georgian word that means "Into
The Woods" and introduces the following "Chuta Chani",
a wonderful traditional Caucasian lullaby from Georgia re-elaborated and
transformed into something unusual and new with sudden bursts of
energy and even tarantella passages. After all, the drummer Vladimer
Lado Sichinava was born in Tbilisi and he's proud of his roots: just
take the time to compare Profusion's version with the one by Lela Tsurtsumia...
"The
Tower" is a complex track divided into two parts that tells
about a man obsessed by the dream of building a tower to reach the
sky. Every night his sleep is haunted by sounds of iron work and
images of incomplete shapes and incomplete walls. Eventually that
tower will be buried and from the top of its ruins he will start to
fly... A nice track that in some way reminds me of some atmospheres
from Stephen King's Dark Tower saga
"Turned
To Gold" is a romantic, melodic ballad that tells in music and
words of the cathartic effects of a new relationship with someone
that seems to understand you and complete your soul... It leads to
the closer "Dedalus", a long, complex track about the
mysterious architect who planned to build the metaphorical,
labyrinthine tower that marks this strange concept album: a living
building where he's imprisoned for the eternity, a building that
irepreents in the meantime the wonderful fruit his creative work and
his damnation. In the end a reprise of the first track closes the
circle inviting you to listen to the album again, reflecting about
time and dreams, hopes and old fears...
You
can listen to the complete album HERE
Profusion:
RewoToweR (2012). Other opinions:
Andy
Webb: While the guys could work on a bit of a more signature
sound, the album is incredibly well produced, put together, composed,
played, and just about everything that can be done "well"
on an album. The huge variety of styles put into the album added a
nice dynamic, and the guys successfully pulled every style off,
which, in many cases with other bands who try the same thing, doesn't
go very well... (read the complete review HERE)
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