“Vibrazioni
liquide” (Liquid vibrations), Malaavia’s second album, is mainly
the brainchild of Pas Scarpato, bassist, guitarist, vocalist,
composer, lyricist and only founder member in the present line-up of
the band that now features also Joe La Viola (flute, sax, oboe,
cymbals), Helèna Biagioni (vocals), Jacov Leone (drums), Sebastiano
Mazzoleni (keyboards) and Donato Zoppo (narrative vocals). With the
help of some guest musicians, in 2008 they recorded this concept
album full of spirituality, inviting you to search for higher levels
of knowledge and wisdom. “Vibrations shake and make the walls
inside you crumble... You have to be liquid... You can find the truth
only inside you!”. The result, in my opinion, is definitely better
than Malaavia’s debut album. The music has a strong Mediterranean
flavour and it could recall bands as Abash or Radiodervish but you
can also feel the love of the band for classic prog masters as Le
Orme, BMS and PFM...
The
opener “Deus dementat?” is a beautiful instrumental where
acoustic “ethnic” elements blend with a powerful electric guitar
and it could recall some works of Al Di Meola... It’s a perfect
introduction for the excellent second track “Lakmidi” that begins
with a Middle Eastern melody. The interaction of Pas Scarpato, Sophya
Baccini and Helèna Biagioni vocals is perfect and the “musical
fabric” extremely rich (there’s even a didgeridoo!). The lyrics
are about the mysterious people of Lakhmidis, their cruel rites and
prayers... “They pass by like killing wolves shadows, silently /
What a traffic of camels, Bedouins, women, slaves / And they don’t
talk / And they don’t laugh... Every now and again they stop and
pray when the night is falling...”.
The
next track, “Listen To The Voices”, is like a delicate,
bittersweet, multiethnic and melodic prayer... “Voices spreading in
the air of the evening / Voices that you can hear from here / They
sing the sad litany of a prayer... Shemà shemà Israel / Listen to
the voices today...”. The vocals in the dialect of Naples by Gianni
Lamagna (Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare) give additional value to
this invocation for freedom.
The
long “Vagando” (Wandering) features a darker atmosphere with
vintage keyboards and melancholic vocals that come out as if
“wandering in the shadows” and lead to the next track “La rosa”
(The rose) on the notes of a solitary sax... After a short
instrumental intro the dreamy vocals of Helèna Biagioni soar
bringing hope and light... “New eyes for the invisible / New ears
for the inaudible / New senses for what you can’t gather... The
rose of the desert leads you to the laws of light...”.
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| Malaavia 2008 |
“Il
cedro” (The Cedar) is a beautiful acoustic ballad featuring lyrics
taken from the Bible (Ezekiel 17: 22,24). “I myself will take a
shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a
tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty
mountain. On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will
produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of
every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of
its branches. All the trees of the field will know that I the Lord
bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up
the green tree and make the dry tree flourish...”.
“Elevazione
(recitativo)” (Elevation) is another acoustic track featuring a
beautiful melodic part of oboe and spoken words full of hope... “One
day you will slowly see what the sky is and you will touch it with
your hands... Open your arms to the infinite...”. On the sound of a
bell then comes “Salmo di Lode Universale”, a hymn in Latin taken
from the Christian tradition and musically inspired by Monteverdi.
The
last track is an excellent long suite in five parts, “Stati
superiori (suite in 5 movimenti)”, where the music tries to
describe a kind of spiritual path leading from “Crisis” to
“Sleep”, from the “Spirit Awakening” to “Beatitude”
through a new beginning... “The time is coming / Open the doors of
your night / Show the light to your shadows...”.
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