STRANGE WAVES

Live: Waves From the Underground is the ninth studio album by Daal and was released in 2025 on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash Records label. Despite the title, it’s not a live album but the fruit of three days of jam sessions that took place in Rome during October 2023. During those days the band featuring Alfio Costa (Mellotron, MiniMoog, PolyMoog, Rhodes piano, Hammond organ, synthesizers), Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion), Ettore Salati (guitars) and Roberto “Bobo” Aiolfi (bass) the band was particularly inspired and productive, so much so that they decided to select the best moments from the jam sessions and rework them, giving them a more definite shape and meaning. Anyway, the artwork seems to suggest a rather dark atmosphere...

Almost all the individual tracks are identified by a date and a location derived from geographical coordinates. The first, “W.F.T.U. 09.03.2020 (45°41'42''N 9°40'12''E)”, takes us to Bergamo during the sad days of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, when the number of victims was so high that military vehicles were required to transport the bodies and incinerate them. The images of those events, broadcast by the media, are etched in the memory of all Italians and it's not by chance that the music here is so sinister and disturbing...

The following “W.F.T.U. 15.09.2008 (51°30'N 0°11'W)” takes us to Kensington, London, on the day of Richard Wright's death, to whom the piece is dedicated. On the same day, Lehman Brothers (the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank) went bankrupt in New York, and soon the streets of London would be invaded by protests over the Wall Street Crisis, but this is another story... Her you have a slow pace, melancholy atmospheres, and Gilmour-esque guitar sounds for a requiem in honour of the Pink Floyd keyboardist, an artist who, with his talent, opened new paths to travel to the far side of the moon...

“W.F.T.U. 26.04.1986 (51°23'21.98''N 30°05'57.01''E)” takes us to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at the moment of the explosion of reactor No. 4. The tragic consequences of the episode are well known. In the background, a female voice can be heard speaking in Russian, while percussion instruments and strange sound effects convey a strong sense of anguish. A warning about the mistakes of the past and the dangers of the present...

“Daeconstruction Brain Melody” is a brilliant new interpretation of a piece that appeared on the band's debut album from 2009, Disorcanicorigami. Compared to the original, it lacks the unsettling power of Alessandro Papotto's sax, but its absence is compensated by the excellent guitar work...

“W.F.T.U. 20.07.1969 (8°30'N 31°24'E)” takes us to South Sudan on the day a human being walked on the Moon for the first time. The rarefied atmospheres of space soon give way to ethnic influences reminiscent of caravan journeys through the desert: two different types of desert to explore. What emerges is the contrast between humanity's ambition to explore space and its inability to focus on the desolate realities of Earth, forgotten because they hold no interest...

“Daeconstruction Decalogue Part 1” is the reinterpretation of a piece from the 2018 album Decalogue of Darkness. Back in 2018 the band shot a video for it: the video features the images of some monks attempting to defeat the devil, followed by rides of witches, dark Sabbaths and satanic rituals. Well, this new version captures the atmosphere of the original perfectly...

“W.F.T.U. 01.09.1928 (51°31'2'N 0°10'23'W)” is a long piece with a dreamy and relaxed atmosphere, but not without rhythmic and melodic surprises, that takes us to St. Mary's Hospital in London at the time when the Scottish doctor Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. Regarding his discovery, later Dr. Fleming stated: "One sometimes finds what one is not looking for. When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did..."...

“W.F.T.U. 02.06.1946 (41°53'35'N 12°28'58'E)” takes us to Italy on the day the Italian Republic was founded. From the Tyrrhenian Sea, we can admire the coast of a country at the dawn of a new era, a country eager to leave behind the burdensome legacy of monarchy and fascism and turn the page. Drum rolls and a disquieting opening reminiscent of Goblins in Deep Red seem to suggest that this day of celebration is only the beginning of a long and challenging journey...

The last track, “W.F.T.U. 25.07.1943 (41°53'46.32''N 12°28'53.4''E)”, takes us to Rome on the day of the fall of fascism. World War II was still raging, but the piece's solemn pace seems to suggest feelings of hope, resilience, and faith in the future...

On the whole, an interesting and challenging album that need its time to be fully appreciated but that will reward you in the end.

You can listen the complete album HERE

More info:

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FLYING ACROSS A DARK VOID

Daedalus is the seventh studio album by Daal and was released in 2022 on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash Records label. The line up features, along with founder members Alfio Costa (Mellotron, Moog, piano, organ, synthesizers) and Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion), also Ettore Salati (guitars) and Bobo Aiolfi (bass) here promoted to effective members while they were credited just as guests on the 2018 album Decalogue Of Darkness. The art work by Davide Guidoni in some way reflects the musical content with its dark, oneiric figures loosely inspired by ancient Greek mythology...

 

The long opener “Journey Through The Spiral Mind Part I” begins with a slow pace. The cinematic intro conjures up a creepy atmosphere and might recall Goblin, then hypnotic notes take you across mysterious places where the world under your feet suddenly seems no more real than the world of a dream, apt to dissolve without warning and send you tumbling into a great, dark void... (the short quote is from Lightning, a novel by Dean Koontz).

“Icarus Dreams” begins by a surge of energy. As the rhythm rises you can set off on an interstellar journey on the wings of fantasy. In the open space, as the dizziness of the departure dissolves, darkness becomes an excellent screen on which the mind can play out its architectural whims. For this track the band provided a video to give you an idea of what the music is about...

 

“Painting Wings” starts softly, the atmosphere is relaxed and dreamy but after three minutes the music takes a different direction and dreams seem almost turning into nightmares as the rhythm becomes more obsessive and threatening. When the calm comes back you could feel scared by your own lethal visions...

Then it’s the turn of the long, complex “Labyrinth 66 Part I & II”. Here the music depicts a sinister place, where some evil and malignant force lurks behind sombre corners, a kind of dark presence coming in steady, inexorable waves. You’re prisoner of your dreams and waking up will be hard...

 

The ethereal “In My Time Of Shadow” starts by the sound of the wind and a delicate piano pattern. It’s a calm piece with beautiful melodic lines and a nocturnal mood. For this track the band shot an interesting video where two statues come to life in a deserted atelier. They’re like sleepwalkers dancing to a surreal choreography, assailed by their own inner demons... Eventually they turn to stone again, after all, a moving statue becomes grotesque, it only has majesty in immobility... (quote from Le Roi Squelette by Serge Brussolo).

“Journey Through The Spiral Mind Part II” ends the album and closes the circle by taking back the atmosphere and the melodies of the opener. The dream reaches its climax in a crescendo of tension and desire, then slowly fades away...

On the whole, a magnificent album that, in my opinion, might be a perfect score for an adventure in the crazy, ancient world of Brussolo’s characters Shagan and Junia...

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Daal: Daedalus (2022). Other opinions:

Nick Hudson: All labyrinths have an inherent duality, embodying simultaneously great artistry, design, and order; and confusion, chaos and dissonance. Daal’s music has also always had the same duality, being both beauty and beast chasing itself through complex patterns that beguile and bewilder in equal measure. Without ever really sounding like either, there is surely a good deal of influence from Pink Floyd and King Crimson, and for added colour, perhaps a little Tangerine Dream. I could probably draw a list of A to Z of artists I’m reminded of – or, at least Art Zoyd to Zappa. But Daal really do sound like no other band, and for that I’m glad as I doubt I’d keep coming back to them otherwise... (read the complete review HERE)

 

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DARK ORIGAMIS

After a long period of silent work, in 2018 Daal expressed their creativity by releasing contemporaneously on Agla Records two excellent albums: Decalogue Of Darkness and Navels Falling Into A Living Origami. The first one features dark atmospheres and vintage sounds that could recall some seventies soundtracks of horror films. Here the line up features along with Alfio Costa (Mellotron, Moog, piano, synthesizers) and Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion) the guests Ettore Salati (guitars) and Bobo Aiolfi (bass). According to the liner notes, this work is dedicated to the memory of some dear persons that the musicians lost and miss but who are still present in their hearts. The art cover, taken from a 1508 woodcut portraying the devil taking the soul of a dying man, and the pictures in the booklet try to describe the musical content, conceived as an inner mirror reflecting the dark side of a man with his nightmares and fears…

Despite the gloomy subject matter and the Gothic art cover, the music has nothing to do with depressing black metal or dissonant passages evoking infernal sceneries. On the contrary, all along the untitled ten chapters in which is divided this long album, the music is always characterised by a sumptuous, symphonic beauty... Delicate, dreamy passages evolve into nervous parts with the rhythm section giving a strong sense of tension while light, soaring melodies alternate with sudden surges of dark, mysterious energy. At times bands such as Goblin or L’Albero del Veleno might come to mind, but this work has it’s own originality and deserves a very attentive listening from the very first notes to the last...

By chance, recently, while re-listening to this album I was reading a novel by Gaston Leroux and I stumbled in a passage that in my opinion seems to capture its spirit: “He called out, with all the strength of the sorrow that filled his breast... He called in the way in which you call not upon a living, but upon a dear dead woman, in the hope that she may appear to you. For there are moments when human sorrow does not dread ghosts and when it conjures up shades to press them to its heart, without trembling on the threshold of the great mystery; moments when love would have the dead come forth from the dark and when it is astonished - so loud has been its call - that the spirits do not come and kiss its lips!” (quote from Balaoo, by Gaston Leroux). Well, I think that this music is a kind of powerful call to the ghosts, a lay requiem mass able to stir emotions and even to express a sense of positivity by exorcising the evil spirits of melancholy and sadness. One of my favourite 2018 albums!

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Navels Falling Into A Living Origami if compared to the symphonic sounds of its 2018 “different twin” is more experimental and dissonant. Here the line up features along with Alfio Costa (keyboards, piano, Mellotron) and Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion, loops, soundscapes) the guests Simone Montrucchio (bass), Lorenzo Fasanelli (guitars), Salvatore Lazzara (oud, guitars), Marcella Arganese (guitars), Guglielmo Mariotti (vocals) and Mir Khista (violin). The album features just one long track, a disquieting suite that blends different influences such as psychedelic folk and electronic music with ethereal, eerie atmospheres and cosmic couriers. 

The albums begins by the sound of the wind blowing through the trees in what seems to be a forest, then an acoustic guitar arpeggio and a soaring melody conjure up a mystical atmosphere before a change of direction and a plunge into mystery. Every now and again you can hear Pink Floyd echoes or passages evoking exotic, nocturnal landscapes and incense smells. It’s like the soundtrack of a film where you have to add you own images...

The plot of this imaginary film is revealed in the short lyrics at the end of the suite. It tells about an introspective journey back in time and of the meeting with a very strange little creature. You’re walking in a forest coloured in autumnal, purple colours when you hear a strange noise. There’s little, furry creature sitting on a trunk. You pick it up and try to shave off its greasy hair and then you look at it, at its frightened expression... Then you see it implode and feel that something is atrophying your soul!

All in all, this is an intriguing, complex album that needs many spins and the right mood to be fully appreciated for all its inspiring, melancholic beauty.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC

THE CYBERNETIC WITCH

Dances Of The Drastic Navels is the fifth album by Daal, a project that began life in 2008 on the initiative of composer and keyboardist from Bergamo Alfio Costa and Roman drummer Davide Guidoni. It was released in 2014 on the independent label Agla Records and confirms all the good qualities of Daal's previous works. During the recording sessions Alfio Costa and Davide Guidoni were helped by some guest musicians such as Ettore Salati (guitars), Bobo Aiolfi (bass), Tirill Mohn (vocals), Letizia Riccardi (violin) and Guglielmo Mariotti (vocals) and the final result is an interesting, well balanced mix of vintage sounds and electronica, classical influences and an experimentalism that never falls in the trap of self-indulgence and never loses touch with melody and rhythm.

The dark opener "Malleus Maleficarum" is a long epic that could recall Goblin or Antonius Rex. The title refers to The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for “The Hammer of Witches”), one of the best known medieval treatises on witches whose main purpose was to challenge all arguments against the existence of witchcraft and to instruct magistrates on how to identify, interrogate and convict witches. Although officially banned by the Catholic Church, it soon became a kind of handbook for witch-hunters and Inquisitors throughout Late Medieval Europe. So you can imagine charms and spells, wicked monks and exorcisms conjured up by the music... This track is completely instrumental but for the murmured narrative vocals in Latin provided by Guglialmo Mariotti and it goes through many changes in rhythm and atmosphere. Anyway I can find in this piece also a pinch of light irony that every now and again makes me think of Good Omens, a funny novel written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman about the birth of the son of Satan and the coming of the End Times...

Next comes "Elektra (An Evening With...)", an eerie instrumental piece that, according to Alfio Costa, was inspired by the memory of a dear friend of the night who's not with us any longer. It features an exotic, disquieting atmosphere and alternates calm passages to sudden surges of electric rage. The title and the music could recall Elektra, a 2005 Canadian-American superhero film directed by Rob Bowman... It leads to the following "Lilith", a short, delicate track filled with a nice sense of ethereal romanticism. According to Alfio Costa, it's an hypnotic lullaby that was inspired by the carving on a tree...

Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa

"The Dance Of The Drastic Navels" is a long, complex suite that in some way summarizes, develops and concludes the story begun on Daal's debut album Disorganicorigami and its sequel on the following Destruktive Actions Affect Livings. It's the story of a man from the future bewitched by a strange, beautiful creature half-woman and half-robot. Eventually the unfortunate man becomes just a toy boy in the hands of the cybernetic witch but most of the narrative is up to your imagination that the music just tries to inspire and stir... On the conclusive track, "Inside You", Tirill Mohn's suggestive vocals in some way give shape to the witch, a dark angel in a dream that becomes nightmare, a magic dancer able to drive you insane and to damn your soul... "We'll never be the same / We'll never see this light / Your sun will fall in my dark sea / And my drastic navel will dance over your soul...".

Well, probably the beautiful art work by Davide Guidoni describes better than all my words the spirit of this excellent album. Anyway, have try and judge by yourselves: you can listen to the complete album HERE

Daal: Dances Of The Drastic Navels (2014). Other opinions:

Michael "Aussie-Byrd-Brother": With it's sinister and unsettling cover artwork to the Gothic inspired creeping suspense with the music itself, DAAL's fascination with real mood and black atmosphere ensures the album is their most cultivated and mature work so far. Those who find darker Italian prog artists, as well as the poetic sadness of bands like My Dying Bride will very much relate to this one, and even more adventurous metal and Gothic fans will find plenty to interest them here... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC 

TWELVE SHORT STORIES

“Dodecahedron” is the fourth album by Daal and was released in 2012 on the independent label Agla Records. The project is always led by drummer David Guidoni and keyboardist Alfio Costa and this time the guest musicians who joined the party are Ettore Salati (guitars), Luca Scherani (bouzouki), Roberto “Bobo” Aiolfi (bass), Alessandro Papotto (sax, flute, clarinet), Vincenzo Zitello (Celtic harp, flute), Marcella Arganese (classical guitar), Chiara Alberti (cello) and Sylvia Trabucco (violin).



Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa

The album features twelve instrumental tracks that were built upon words and the sound is more compact, richer than in the past. The tracks have no title but every one is linked to a short story that you can read in the enclosed poster. In fact, this is a kind of conceptual work: Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa wrote some short stories, then asked their fans to send them other short stories, chose the better ones and composed the music trying to capture the spirit of the words and their emotional content. In my opinion the result is surprisingly good, the musicians reached their goal and delivered twelve charming, evocative pieces drenched in emotion.
 

art cover

The opener was inspired by a disquieting story of madness and solitude, “Bianco” (White), by an unknown author. The interaction between the piano and the other instruments marks the contrast between an external, apparent calm and inner the feelings of inquietude and fear of the protagonist while threatening shadows are approaching... “My words have no voice any more, my soul has no light and my thoughts melt into the oblivion of this room with padded white walls...”. Next comes the track inspired by “Sclerotics Days”, by Davide Masciavé. Here malady is compared to an uninvited guest that haunts you, invisible and ever present. Sadness is all over the place, your enemy hides in the dark while your senses frequently confound night and day, dreams and nightmares. A sick, obscure moon lights your way...

The third track was inspired by “La suora nera” (The black nun) by Alfio Costa. The dreams of a little child turn into a nightmare and the Devil comes in disguised, hidden by religious symbols. There are autumnal colours and sinister shadows, a hard rock incipit, a classical inspired passage with piano and violin, another tense, dark section followed by a pastoral one, then the rhythm rises again with a Martial bolero pace. Well, a wonderful track full of nuances and surprises! The following track was inspired by “La bambola di lana” (The doll of wool) a sad, evocative story by another anonymous author where you can see the trauma of the loss of the parents through the innocent eyes of a little children. Here Death appears as a dreadful swarm of moths devastating the house.

The fifth track was inspired by “L'ultimo incontro” (The last randez-vous), a short story by Mauro Marino describing the agony of a man who is not ready to die, not yet! He asks for a last breath of life, a last ray of sun while sax notes soar like desperate prayers in the wind. The sixth track was inspired by “Dodecahedron”, a Gothic story by Davide Guidoni about a haunted country house. The music is excellent, it flows away like the soundtrack of a horror film and features a guitar solo that could recall David Gilmour.

The seventh track was inspired by “La Torre” (The tower) by Daniela Cologgi and features Celtic influences and an atmosphere full of mystery. It describes the tower of a medieval castle and the tragic flight of some women haunted by its ghosts. The following track was inspired by “Il bambino e il sogno” (The child and the dream) by Marco D'Andrea, a short story dealing with the fears and the dreams of a child. The music underlines the contrast between dark and light, dream and reality. The child opens the window, the dream is frightened by a scarecrow and melts at dawn...

The ninth track was inspired by “I Can Not Let Go...”, a story by Galina Azarenkova about the “thick but echoing emptiness” that the slow agony of a dying man provokes in his wife. The music begins with a sudden surge of rage, then many changes in mood and rhythm follow. Next comes the track inspired by “The Moon Is Pale Tonight” by Miroslav Gasko that depicts a wooden house on a hill where crazy musicians play, then poets who write their poems with their tears and a lonely child unable to live outside his dreams...

The eleventh track is taken from “I Left For Home” by Drew May that describes a cathartic listening experience. The mood is dreamy, almost hypnotic... After a hard day we meet a man on his way home, he looks forward to listen to his beloved music losing the concept of reality, at least for a short time... The last track was inspired by “Il padre che vedevo distante” (The father I used to feel far) by Daniele Cutali. A man sees in a dream his late father. Father and son never got along with each other but now the dead father comes just to say “Thank you” and appears to his son nearer than ever before. The music here features strong classical influences and a very suggestive mood.

After more than seventy minutes of music and emotions the album comes to an end. There are no weak moments nor fillers, everything works. Bravi!

Daal: Dodecahedron (2012). Other opinions:

Conor Fynes: The music is full of potential, but the album seems content to wander, and 'window shop' through a variety of sounds, without picking one and developing it long enough to create something truly magical... (read the complete review HERE).

More info:

http://www.daal.it/

http://www.myspace.com/daalband

http://www.reverbnation.com/daalband

http://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC

ORIGINAL ORIGAMIS

In 2008 two experienced musicians, Roman drummer Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa, keyboardist from Bergamo, shared a vision and came up with a new project called DAAL (the name is an acronym inspired by the first letters of their first names). They spent together a week in a country house in the province of Viterbo, in the Cimini Hills area, putting together and recording their musical ideas, then they refined and chiselled them in studio with the help of some guest musicians. The result is “Disorganicorigami”, a debut album that was released in 2009 on the independent label Mellow Records. It's a work full of enthusiasm and passion where the musicians blend vintage sounds with modern influences and up to date technology looking for “an absolute freedom of expression”. Although the album is completely instrumental the art work by Davide Guidoni and some liner notes in some way explain what the music is about...



The short opener “Holocaustica” is about the never ending human tendency to self-destruction. You can hear screaming hooters and synthetic sounds then a threatening, distorted marching beat. There's an overall disquieting mood... “Tell me... Man... Aren't you tired of breathing death yet?”. Next comes the dark “Chimaira” that, according to the liner notes, was inspired by a Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novel of the same name dealing with Etruscan rites and a mysterious statue called “L'ombra della sera”. The guests Flavio Costa (guitar) and Cristiano Roversi (Chapman stick) add deep red colours to this excellent track... “I was only a child, but when I become a warrior I saw its eyes and lost my sense, forever...”.

“Mo(o)nso(o)n” leads you far away towards East with its frenzied percussion work and its nocturnal, exotic flavour. A strange presence is following you keeping to himself, following a path on his own... The electric violin provided by the guest Riccardo Paltanin add a touch of mystery. “Brain Melody” is another dark, hypnotic track enriched by Alessandro Papotto's Turkish sax obscure melodies... “I am the way to the night, the wanderer following the tracks of time... Dancing to the rhythm of madness...”.

 

Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa

 

The long “The Dance of the Drastic Navels Part 1” is divided into four parts and was inspired by a sci-fi story about sex between humans and machines that you can read in the booklet. The piece begins with an experimental, suggestive section, “Chapter One: Touch my oscillators”, then comes a part close to free jazz, “Chapter Two: Inside The Electronic Witch”. After eight minutes the atmosphere becomes more relaxed with the beautiful “Chapter Three: Ibrida-Ex”. The dreamy “Chapter Four: Sleeping Away” concludes the story... “And sleep caught up with him dead tired... A sleep he didn't wane to ever wake up from...”.

The short title track is dedicated to the memory of Richard Wright along with the following Pink Floyd's cover “A Saucerful Of Secrets”. Then comes “Children Of Our Dreams”, a short, delicate acoustic track featuring the guest Vincenzo Zitello on flute, viola, cello and clarinet. It's a kind of lullaby for all the suffering children all around the world... Ragnarök's cover “Var Glad Var Dag”, credited as special bonus track, concludes the album drawing other dreamy atmospheres. Well, this is a challenging album and it could be difficult to appreciate it on the very first listening but if you try again I think it can be rewarding.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

Daal: Disorganicorigami (2009). Other opinions:

Raffaella Benvenuto-Berry: To be fair, “Disorganicorigami” does have its moments, and some parts of it are really good, though perhaps not extremely original. Davide Guidoni uses both Mandala drums and a conventional drum kit, which lends the album a remarkably organic sound; while Alfio Costa plays an impressive array of synthesisers, whose ‘whistling’ effects may occasionally come across as jarring... Even if not easy to pinpoint musically, “Disorganicorigami” is a formally impeccable, though somewhat one-dimensional example of instrumental prog based mainly on electronic keyboards and percussion. While it occasionally sounds a tad sterile and detached, fans of electronic and spacey prog in particular may find it a worthwhile listening experience... (read the complete review HERE)

Daal's sophomore album, “Destruktive Actions Affect Livings”, was released in 2011 on the independent label Agla Records. Davide Guidoni and Alfio Costa went on with their musical project with the help of some prestigious guests such as Alessandro Papotto (sax), Guglielmo Mariotti (bass, vocals), Riccardo Pantanin (violin), Salvo Lazzara (guitar, oud), Bobo Aiolfi (fretless bass) and Ettore Salati (sitar). In my opinion this work marks a step forward for the duo. The result of their efforts is a well crafted and balanced mix of vintage sounds and sonic experiments but the experimentalism is never unfocused or invading.

The short, disquieting opener Redroom introduces the claustrophobic, tense “AnarChrist”, a piece dedicated to Giovanni Passannante, an Italian anarchist sentenced to death for a failed attack to the king of Italy Umberto I in 1878. The death penalty was commuted into life imprisonment and Passannante served his time in very hard conditions in a dark, wet cell until his death. On the following track “Noises from an Interlude” you can hear a sound of paces and a door opening. It's just a short introduction for the esoteric, almost mystic “Level 6666”, one of my favourite track on this album. Daal shot a video for this track providing evocative images for the music...

The long “The Dance of the Drastic Navels Part II” is divided into six parts. It's the sequel of “The Dance of the Drastic Navels Part I” on the previous album and begins softly with “Awake”. The second section, “Artificial Desire”, features a dreamy vocal part sung in English... “I'd like to be the wind / Caressing your face / Lost in your hair / I'd like to be fire... I'd like to be the blood inside you...”. Well, this story of sexual attraction between a man and a beautiful cybernetic-woman is rather strange. The music stirs your imagination and features many changes in mood and rhythm going on with “Inside The Electronic Labyrinth”, “Ibridance”, “Flying To You” and “The Oblivion”.

Next comes “Cry-Hologenic” that begins with a delicate, dreamy piano pattern, then the dream turns into an ethereal mystic experience with ethnic instruments and synthesizers. The following “Aglatarium” begins with a calm, jazzy mood then the rhythm rises for an unexpected finale. The long title track features an ethnic flavour and a good percussion work while the last track, the melancholic “Memories of Old Pictures”, is dedicated to the memory of a friend, Giuseppe Ottoni and features an intriguing spacey finale. The band shot a video for this piece as well...

All in all a very good album! By the way, Daal released in addition to the official edition, a limited edition featuring a box with a bonus CD that later became their third “official” album, “Echoes of the Falling Stars”.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

Daal: Destruktive Actions Affect Livings (2011). Other opinions:
Assaf Vestin: This album is one of those experience albums. An album I listen to for the ambiance, the peculiar sounds and moods it conjures and not so much for the melodies. In that aspect, I find it a successful release. Its wide range of styles and sound and its exploratory nature make it an experience I enjoy and want to come back to... (read the complete review HERE).

Lee Henderson: Daal present things in a very artistic way, as each song stands like a portrait. The music here does not terrify you, but it seems to just be sad that things are the way they are, and wonders how they got like this. So while you do not have lyrics and vocals on the recording, it is still a social commentary with just the music speaking. I really liked this release and look forward to many more from Daal... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

http://www.daal.it/
http://www.myspace.com/daalband
http://www.reverbnation.com/daalband
http://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC