“Neo”, the second studio album by La Torre
dell’Alchimista, was released in 2007, six years after their beautiful
debut eponymous work. The line-up is slightly changed and now it
features Michele Mutti (keyboards), Michele Giardino (vocals), Davide
Donadoni (bass) and Michelangelo Donadini (drums, percussion). During
the recording sessions they were helped by some guest musicians that
enriched the sound of the band providing guitars, sax, violin and flute
and the result is really good. La Torre
dell’Alchimista sound is definitely “keyboard driven” (Michele Mutti
plays acoustic and electric piano, Hammond C3, Minimoog, organ, synth
and Mellotron) and blends strong classical influences with prog-rock and
Italian melody. Good also the art cover (painted by Michele Mutti) and
the booklet containing some particular pictures and the lyrics. This
work could recall bands as Le Orme, PFM and BMS but it’s not too
derivative and it’s really worth listening to. “Neo” is conceived as a
concept album describing the end of a love story in an original way,
through a continuous parallelism between personal feelings and the
images taken from ancient myths. The lyrics are not banal and it would
be very unfair to define this work as just dealing with Greek
mythology...
The
dreamy outro of the first track leads to “Medusa”, a complex piece in
four parts (Faith, Fugue, Chorale, Samba V) that was inspired by the
mythical character of an unfortunate woman raped by Neptune in Athena’s
temple. After the rape, Medusa’s long hair was turned into snakes by the
goddess and she was given the power to turn anyone who dared to look
directly at her into stone. According to the myth, the head of Medusa
was cut off by Perseus who looked at her through a mirror-like shield.
Once cut off, the head maintained its power and was at last placed at
the centre of Athena’s Aegis as a symbol of her power. The music
perfectly fits the lyrics with well balanced changes in moods and
rhythms that blend prog rock, classical music and melodic vocals...
“You, who confound my thoughts / On the shield of knowledge / Reflected
image, You don’t scare me / You, who confound my thoughts / You turn
into stone the stupidity / Of the people who stare at you / The men who
lived with you are stones now / The heart that loved you beats no
more... I won’t follow you, I’m free now...”. Well, a complex, dangerous
and charming woman indeed! One who can drive you crazy dancing samba
and who could be very difficult to forget...
“Idra”
(Hydra) is a short instrumental interlude for piano solo that leads you
to the first part of the long, complex “Risveglio, Procreazione e
Dubbio” (Awakening, Procreation and Doubt) where, after an amazing
instrumental prelude, nice melodic vocals come in to change atmosphere.
The lyrics depict some experiments to overcome the split-up where you
can find shadows and wasted days fading out until your arms will fall
and wings will take their place to let you fly on the horizon just
before falling back with your doubts... “So I feel like the father of an
unknown son, scared by these signs / If the giant rides the dwarf / How
can his arms carry that weight?... Idra, Cerbero and Medusa were born
from waking-hours not from sleep / And they devour the remnants of my
greatness... And suddenly, I lose myself...”.
“L'Amore
Diverso” (The Different Love) is another short instrumental for piano
solo that leads to “Cerbero” (Cerberus), an intricate track in three
parts (Promenade, The Three Heads, The War Against Hydrogenous). The
sound of a piano leads you softly to the gates of madness... Cerberus is
the name of the three-headed monster hound guarding the entrance to the
Greek Underworld. No-one can enter or leave without getting past him...
“Six eyes, six shouts, you are everywhere I turn my eyes / Six times
you promise, but seven times you disappoint / You are blood, you are
tears but no sweat!...”. The music is haunting, swinging from frenzied
keyboard rides to calm, romantic violin melodies... Well, the nightmares
that rise when a love story comes to an end can really haunt you like
omnipresent ghosts. Trying to fight them could bring dangerous
side-effects and for your soul it could be destructive as an atomic
war... “It’s my rage, it’s your craziness / To win, to lose, what’s
really important? / A hot wind blows now / My breath is dying / My way
to think about the future is dying...”.
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| La Torre dell'Alchimista live in Trieste 2008 |
The
last track “Risveglio, Procreazione E Dubbio Pt. II” is another
beautiful complex piece in three parts (Epilogue, Coda, Farewell) where
you can find a nice flute passage and even some echoes coming from “the
court of the Crimson King”. The lyrics deal with the awareness of past
errors and the condemnation of arrogance, haughtiness and pride... “Time
that has joined us is already splitting us / But how slowly moves the
time of the split-up! / Like a leaf in the wind / You are going away
from here / Leaving my body naked / The image of your diversity remains /
You are like a wave, you slowly wear out / You used to confound my
thoughts / Now you’re going away / Leaving a void and a closed
speech...”. A beautiful farewell for an excellent album!
La Torre dell’Alchimista: Neo (2007). Other opinions
Erik Neuteboom: La Torre Dell'Alchimista has made a lot of progress on their new album and especially the vintage keyboard aficionados will be delighted! (read the complete review HERE)
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