IN AND OUT OF FOCUS

Bokeh is a double album containing the remixed and remastered version of Logos’ eponymous album from 1999 and the remastered version of the following Asrava, from 2001. It was released in 2023 on the Andromeda Relix label and distributed by Pick Up Records. According to the liner notes, this is a photograph of the early years of the band, when their artistic identity was still out of focus but their project was full of fresh energies and enthusiasm. As you can guess from the art cover, the aim of the band was to look back at their youth and save those memories from oblivion trying to improve the sound quality of the old tapes but avoiding re-recording and overdubbing to let the magic of the moment linger...

 

The eponymous debut album was recorded in the spring of 1998 and self-released in a few physical copies the following year with an art cover by Luca Zerman inspired by the style of the painter Giorgio De Chirico. According to the official website of the band, it was recorded live in the studio with an old 8-track deck, with all the members playing together, except for the overdubbing of the voices and some guitar solos. From a sound quality point of view the result was very far from perfect, but the band is still very proud of it, in particular of the long suite “Il grande fiume”, inspired by Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha and of “Sentiero nel prato, porta nell’universo”, which tells of the meeting between a child and an alien. Given the quality of the sources, the band couldn’t do miracles but, in my opinion, the result is remarkable...

 

Logos’ second album, Asrava, was recorded in Verona between August 2000 and January 2001. The art cover by Luca Zerman tries to describe the musical and lyrical content, harder and darker if compared with their previous work. The overall sound quality is better since the band spent a lot of time in the studio working painstakingly to properly record all the pieces in a satisfactory way. Originally it was self-released in a few physical copies and, unfortunately, in 2001 it went under the radar but it’s an excellent work and the new version offers to possibility to fully appreciating it...

On the whole, I think this double CD is an excellent chance to complete your Italianprog collection with two very interesting albums in a restored version and a beautiful packaging. It’s a kind of gift the band made to their fans and I’m happy about it.

Judge by yourselves, you can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.logosprog.it/

ORIGAMIS FROM THE SKY

 Sadako e le mille gru di carta is the fourth studio album by Logos, an Italian prog band from Verona whose roots date back to the nineties. It was released in 2020 on the independent Andromeda Relix label with a renewed line up featuring Luca Zerman (vocals, Hammond, synth), Fabio Gaspari (vocals, bass, guitar, mandolin), Claudio Antolini (piano, synth) and Alessandro Perbellini (drums) plus some special guests such as Elisa Montaldo (vocals - from Il Tempio delle Clessidre), Massimo Maoli (guitar), Simone Chiampan (drums) and Federico Zoccatelli (sax). It’s a wonderful conceptual work inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who died because of the consequences of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the American Air Forces during World War II. As you can read in the liner notes, a Japanese legend tells that anyone who folds one thousand origami cranes will see his wishes come true. Sadako unfortunately didn’t complete her task and stopped at 644... The beautiful artwork by Marica Fasoli reflects the subject matter.

 

The short instrumental opener “Origami in Sol-” (Origami in G-) sets the atmosphere with its strong symphonic flavour and solemn pace. It leads to the disquieting “Paesaggi d’insonnia” (Insomnia landscapes) that starts by a frenzied rhythm and a stormy atmosphere. The music and lyrics depict apocalyptic sceneries where you can see asbestos flowing into a creek and deer with amaranth fleeces, deformed lanterns in fire slowly moving in a strange bronze ballet between mad chants and litanies, there’s anguish and fear all around... Then the rhythm slackens and soaring sax lines drive you through sad expectations and dark omens. As the nightmare fades away you’re exhausted but lying in bed in not enough to sleep...

“Un lieto inquietarsi” (A happy way to get worried) is another long, complex track evoking troubling visions and nightmarish atmospheres. As the music goes through many changes in rhythm and mood, the hermetic lyrics evoke a pain that lies somewhere below the sounds, beyond the frontier between obsession and vice, among half crumbled skyscrapers and gloomy thoughts, collective hysteria and dull ignorance. There’s people who need just a room to pray while others need a church or an altar. Then, there are those who can imagine a merry countryside and meadows in bloom behind origami paper figures and colours in the chemical warmth of desire...

 

Logos 2020

“Il sarto” (The tailor) is an amazing, dreamy acoustic ballad, enriched by the charming vocals of the guest Elisa Montaldo, that conjures up with passionate sounds and extraordinary poetical force the image of a fantastic, merciful guardian. It’s the image of a tailor who creates magical clothes for a little girl by weaving bits of sky and sea waves, sun rays and fabrics stolen from the fairies, stars and dreams. All in the desperate effort to keep her close and not let her go. But in the end there’s nothing to do, silence falls down, tomorrow there will be someone else who will have to provide her with a new dress of musical notes...

The joyful “Zaini di elio” (Backpacks of helium), depicts in music and words the release from pain by a surreal ascension to the sky. The little girl, thanks to a backpack loaded with helium and without ballast, takes off through the smoke of burning trees and plunges into the sky over the icy top of her dreams, crossing rivers of feelings and sensations, gliding over memories and regrets, towards shining suns and soft streets. Her heart is light and she’s ready to fly higher and higher, over and over...

 

The long epic “Sadako e le mille gru di carta” (Sadako and the one thousand origami cranes) ends the story with a message of hope and a warning. The music and words depict Sadako looking down while flying across the sky, hanging on one thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. She can see from above stories of war and ravaged nature that have been unfolding for thousands of years on Earth. There are many people who try to express their grief over a dying little girl, her story moved them. Now she sleeps near a bomb and becomes a symbol. In heaven Sadako can listen to the sound of death rising from below and gets angry because war never stops and so famine, greediness, lust for power. How many years will it take to get rid of hatred and selfishness? One thousand origami cranes get wet and fall down from the sky while a light little girl finds her grave hugging a bomb. But a new war is raging and it’s even worse than those before, hidden behind TV screens, smoothed by the fake news riding on social media. It seems far away, from our safe place we can see only a few glimpses of what’s happening but we’ve better wondering how many more innocent victims are still in danger or suffering because of a brand new shining bomb that’s going to blast...

On The CD there’s still room for a Radio Edit Version of the title track and you can look for the video the band shot for it.

On the whole, a wonderful work!

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Logos: Sadako e le mille gru di carta (2020). Other opinions:

Nick Hudson: My only worry was that LogoS might fall prey to attempting to integrate Japanese instruments or instrumentation into their lush RPI sound, something I'm not sure could work terribly well, and far too easily be tokenism at best, and appropriation at worst. I need not have worried... A wonderful album. Anyone who loved the previous LogoS album, 2014's L'Enigma della Vita, and was worried that the band might struggle to follow it up with something as good need not worry. Anyone who doesn't yet know the band is simply in for a treat... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

https://www.logosprog.it/ 

https://www.facebook.com/logosprog/ 

 

THE BIG SLEEP

L'enigma della vita (The enigma of Life) is the third album by Logos, an Italian prog band from Verona that was formed in 1996. It was released in 2014 on the independent label Andromeda Relix with a renewed line up featuring Luca Zerman (organ, Mellotron, synthesizer, vocals), Fabio Gaspari (drums, bass), Claudio Antolini (piano, keyboards, synthesizer) and Massimo Maoli (guitar) plus some special guests as Alessandro Perbellini (drums), Simone Bistaffa (guitar), Simone Chiampan (drums) and Gianbattista Bodei (narrative vocals). A long time has passed from their previous work Asrava, from 2001, but during all these years the band never stopped and kept on working on the new compositions, refining them, recording them without pressure nor hurry, with care, determination and love. The result is an excellent concept album conceived as a long suite about the life, nature and time passing by, a mature work where the band showcase great musicianship and personality blending vintage sounds, poetry and new ideas. Well, the beautiful artwork by Luca Zerman and all the images that you can find in the booklet perfectly fit the poetical strength of the lyrics and the evocative power of the music: probably they can help you to understand the concept better than all my words... 

 

The dreamy opener “Antifona” is a short instrumental track that sets the atmosphere and fades in the following “Venivo da un lungo sonno” (I was awakening from a long sleep) where a pulsing rhythm conjures up the image of a night train running through dark shadows and ethereal, lunar landscapes. In a wagon a passenger wakes up at the noise provoked by a drought against the curtains. He emerges from a long sleep and can hear some people nearby speaking in a foreign, unknown language. It's still dark, the mysterious passenger has forgotten his destination and now he's on his way leading to nowhere, lost in the mist...

Logos 2014

Next comes the disquieting “In fuga” (Running away) where the music and lyrics draw the image of some soldiers in the snow. They're running away from the battlefield seeking for freedom. Their life is hanging on a thin rope while around them the storm is raging... The following “Alla fine dell'ultimo capitolo” (At the end of the last chapter) is filled with tension and dark visions and depicts an empty town where a fugitive man looks for a shelter from the storm. He walks alone among ruins and crumbling walls but he can feel something in the air, the streets seem haunted by strange presences. Suddenly he sees a dim light glimmering through the dust, a pale flame of life and hope. A ghost gets close to him and tells him to keep that flame burning...

“N.A.S.” is a charming instrumental track that every now and again reminds me of Le Orme and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and makes me think of a glider taking off towards distant planets where there are rivers of lava and creatures generated by earth and electricity. It leads to the ethereal, reflective title track, “L'enigma della vita” (The enigma of life), where the music and lyrics raise questions about the origin of life: was it just the result of vibrating atoms clashing against each other at random or rather the mathematical product of a superior maker? The answer is hidden inside every man but we can't catch it, we keep on running after forces that we can't understand and we are always left in doubt, wandering in the dark and trying to learn how to overcome our ignorance, in vain...

“In principio” (In the beginning) is a long, complex track about the mystery of creation and the relativity of time. It starts softly by an acoustic guitar arpeggio, then goes through many changes in mood and rhythm taking you on a mystical trip across the universe. Stars and planets come to life and die as the men who claim to be the masters of the universe. The wisdom of a superior hand carved and shaped indescribable forms and painted the deserts with infinite colours, gave life to rivers and human beings... In the beginning there was nothing, from nothing we came and we're bound to return to nought...

“Completamente estranei” (Completely aliens) takes us back to Earth. This track starts by painting haunting notes in deep red colours and conveying a strong sense of tension... Here the music and lyrics depict a little tunnel that opens on a side-walk corner. It's the entrance to the hidden part of the city where live the homeless and the poor. The people who pass every day by that place never notice it, they can see distant stars and planets but not the unfortunate men and children in rags who live underground. For them they're nothing but transparent aliens coming from another world...

“In quale luogo si ferma il mio tempo” (Where my time stops) is a melancholic, classically inspired instrumental track for piano solo that leads to the epic “Pioggia in campagna” (Rain in the country), a complex track that depicts in a very curious way the relationship between man and nature. The lyrics draw a parallelism between a man and a feather floating in the air that the first gust of wind will sweep away. He can hear what the leaves on the trees have to tell, he can see how the nature takes his revenge on the wrecks of old cars and trucks that are collapsing in a field, covered by grass and already half-swallowed by the marshy ground... No one can save men and their work from the imperceptible fury of time! The following “Il rumore dell'aria” (The noise of air) closes the circle. It's a short track featuring narrative vocals that takes you back to the starting point, to a man emerging from a long sleep. We can't say how long he had been sleeping, maybe centuries or millennia. We don't know where he fell asleep, maybe under an oak in springtime or on the bank of a river in winter. We can't say when time stopped, all we know is that it was the noise of the air to wake him up and that perhaps he had not been sleeping more than a minute...

You can listen in streaming to the complete album HERE

Logos: L'enigma della vita (2014). Other opinions:

Michael "Aussie-Byrd-Brother": To have the musical skill and confidence to successfully pull of a perfect mix of both vintage influences and modern styles is utterly inspiring, and those who want to experience everything they cherish about Italian progressive music now know one of the best bands that carries on that proud tradition... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

http://www.logosprog.it/ 

https://www.facebook.com/logosprog

FOLLOWING THE TRACKS OF THE DINOSAURS

Logos are an Italian prog band from Verona that was formed in 1996 by Luca Zerman (keyboards), Alessandro Perbellini (drums) and Fabio Gaspari (bass and guitar) as a cover band of Le Orme. Later the guitarists Massimo Maoli and Andrea Dossi joined the band (although Andrea Dossi just for a short period) and they started to work on original compositions.

Logos in 2009

In 1999 they released a first self produced eponymous album that was recorded in two weeks with the help of two friends, Simone Chiampan and Tommaso Carrara, using a 8 track analog recorder in a home-made studio. According to the band, all the tracks were recorded “live” and there is very few overdubbing. As a result, the sound quality is very far from perfect but at least you can appreciate the freshness of the compositions and the good song-writing...

The opener “Il grande fiume” (The great river) is a long suite that recalls Le Orme. It begins calmly with the keyboards in the forefront and a “mysterious” atmosphere, then a repetitive bass line comes in and changes in rhythm follow until the vocals soar upon a classical piano pattern depicting a river slowly flowing towards the sea... The lyrics were inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel “Siddharta” that tells about the spiritual journey of the protagonist to reach the “enlightenment”. After many troubles, he eventually finds his way by listening to the murmurs of a river... The music perfectly fits a subject where joy and pain walk along the same spiritual path that leads to awareness... “Time passes by and doesn’t forgive / The empty days of a sad age / While the old man is still learning / Why to live, why to fight / If life wins against you...”.

“Arc en ciel” (Rainbow) is a short dreamy ballad with a beautiful melody featuring keyboards and strummed acoustic guitar... Imagine to be in the outskirts of a forest with some friends when the dark falls. Near a bonfire your eyes mirror the nature and you can talk to each other about the future and about the past until the morning comes... Well, more or less the lyrics are about this.

“Sentiero nel prato, porta dell' universo” (Path through the lawn, door of the universe) is a long track that starts with an acoustic guitar arpeggio and then develops with fiery organ rides and delicate piano passages. The lyrics tell about the loss of a child in a poetical way... “It’s not a star nor a fire that far light / It becomes just a little point in the universe / Until you can’t see it anymore...”.

“Un giorno...” (One Day), is another good track about an impending journey towards the unknown while “In una nuova terra?” (In a new land?) is about the come back from a journey into the space. In these tracks you can find slight echoes of Le Orme and Franco Battiato... An alternate version of “Arc en ciel” concludes the album.

You can listEn to the complete album HERE

After the interesting but still immature eponymous debut album, between August 2000 and February 2001 Logos recorded their second work, “Ásrava”. It’s another self production but the sound quality is really improved if compared with the previous album. The line up here features Fabio Gaspari (bass, acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, vocals), Massimo Maoli (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, pedal steel guitar), Alessandro Perbellini (drums, vocals) and Luca Zerman (keyboards, vocals).  You can find the influences of artists such as Le Orme, PFM and Franco Battiato, but the band managed to add a touch of originality mixing new ingredients with the classic “Italianprog” style.

The album opens with “Prologo”, a symphonic instrumental introduction featuring a multiple overdub of keyboards. Next comes another instrumental track, “Ezra Pound”, full of energy and well balanced changes in rhythm and atmosphere, from symphonic to funky...

The long and complex “’99” is about the fear for a nuclear disaster... It depicts a nightmare where the protagonist dreams to fall asleep in the footprint of a dinosaur and to wake up alone in that peculiar and gigantic cradle. The music is good enough but vocals every now and again seem to be a little insecure...

“La leggerezza della libertà” (The lightness of freedom) is a beautiful short acoustic ballad featuring acoustic guitar and keyboards,  “not too delicate, not too simple”. Next comes the title track, a long instrumental featuring a trumpet solo where rock, funky and jazz are blended in an original way.

The mysterious “Terra incognita”  (Unknown land) is about the discovery and conquest of a new world in the name of a king that will come to upset the quietness of a beautiful savage nature. Clear melodic vocals alternates with distorted ones while music gives a sense of impending tragedy... “When on the first of these new days / The sunset will come out from its hiding place / It will cover with darkness a new world / The World of the new Kingdom...”.

The last track “Epilogo” (Epilogue) reminds me of some works of Franco Battiato from the eighties and features just keyboards and an acoustic guitar solo... “Wind and snow play together / Ten children run after each other in the empty square...”.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Do not miss the interview with the band on Progarchives that you can find HERE

Other opinions from Progarchives collaborators:

Jim Russell: After spending the time necessary to absorb Logos the beauty of these compositions began to come forth. There are so many different places they venture here that trying to describe the sound is very difficult... In my eyes "Asrava" is a very good album but not the best album Logos will make. All of the potential is there. I believe their growth will continue and have big hopes for their new album coming later this year. But I can recommend "Asrava" without hesitation to prog-rock fans who enjoy a varied and muscular sound. It will not disappoint... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

http://www.logosprog.it/

http://www.myspace.com/logosmusica

http://it-it.facebook.com/pages/Logos/45030817535?sk=info