MEMORIES FROM THE PRESENT

After a long hiatus, Juglans Regia are back with new energies and ideas. In 2019, more than ten years after their previous album, Visioni parallele (2008), the band from Sesto Fiorentino released an interesting EP entitled Memorie dal presente (Memories from the present) with the original line up featuring Alessandro Parigi (vocals), Antonello Collini (guitar), David Carretti (drums), Lapo Martini (keyboards) and Massimiliano Dionigi (bass). After all this time their friendship is still intact and the flame of their passion burning to give form to their personal mix of hard rock, metal and prog. The evocative artwork by Sara Parigi can give you the idea of a motivated band ready to seize the moment...

The powerful opener, “L’imperdonabile” (The unforgivable), is a kind of manifesto of the band’s come back where the music and lyrics invite you to stand up facing the difficulties of life, fighting for your dreams to come true. If you fall get up, it would be a pity to give up without try hard again, unforgivable! Electric guitar riffs and keyboard waves wash out illusions and deceptions backed by a solid rhythm section...

The following “Maschere” (Masks) alternates raging parts to lighter passages depicting a sensation of solitude and alienation: even in the middle of a crowd e person could feel absent and distant from reality, other people pass by hiding themselves behind appearances, time runs out... But the music you love can still stir your emotions and set you free from the chains of an ordinary life. All you have to do is open the doors and follow the harmonic tracks in the air you breathe...

Next comes “Primo istinto” (First instinct), my favourite track on this album. It begins softly by a delicate piano passage and a soaring electric guitar solo, the mood is dreamy but as the vocals come in the dream turns into a nightmare, the rhythm rises, the atmosphere becomes dark and disquieting... The cryptic lyrics evoke something threatening coming up to the surface from under your skin, the fear of the dark and of the unknown, you catch a strange look in the people staring at you, then there’s an explosion as your soul separates from the body... 

“Le virgole del tempo” (The commas of time) closes the album with bursts of energy and some reflective moments. The music and lyrics evoke nocturnal landscapes where rain, fog and darkness fall down covering unavoidable secrets and vain ambitions, pushing you to reflection. Eventually the border between dreams and reality melts under the thundering sky of this restless, mysterious night...

On the whole, a very good album. Welcome back Juglans Regia, don’t give up!

You can listen to the complete EP HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/juglansregiaband/

PARALLEL VISIONS

Juglans Regia are an Italian band from Sesto Fiorentino near Florence. They started their activity in 1992 as a metal band under the name of Raising Fear, influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but their style changed along the years and, according to Massimiliano Dionigi, founder member and bassist of the band, nowadays their favourite album is Biglietto Per L’Inferno’s eponymous one, a classic of the Italian progressive scene of the early seventies. Juglans Regia’s debut album, “Prisma”, was self-produced and self-released in 2002 and it featured in the line up keyboardist Lapo Martini, who left the band in 2003. The present members are Alessandro Parigi (vocals), Antonello Collini (guitar), David Carretti (drums) and Massimiliano Dionigi (bass). In 2005 they released “Controluce”, another self-production with good ideas but with an overall poor sound quality and where some pieces seem suffering the lack of keyboards. In 2008 they released “Visioni parallele” (Parallel visions), their best work so far, featuring an improved sound quality and some guest musicians on keyboards and back vocals that helped to enrich the sound. In my opinion the result is good...

Juglans Regia in 2005

The opener “Dentro... il Palazzo” (Inside... The Building) is just a short “soft” instrumental introduction before the sudden burst of energy of “L’ultimo respiro” (The last breath)... “Time flows away relentless / And I’m standing still, observing the pointers / That are running an endless game...”. This piece was one of the best tracks (along with the epic “Il vento”) on Juglans Regia’s previous album “Controluce” and here it comes to a new life.

The dark, introspective “La sera” (The Evening) is more straightforward and in my opinion not completely convincing (every now and again it could recall a raw version of the Italian rock band Litfiba) while the following “I colori nell’aria” (The colours in the air) is better. It begins softly, with a singing bird and the sound of mother nature in the background, then the electric guitar takes the lead. The lyrics invite you to open your eyes to discover the nuances of the colours of the world around you, you have to respect the different opinions of people around you and their contradictions... “I haven’t opened my eyes for a long time / Everything is broken, lost and has no identity...”.

“Il volo” (The flight) is another good track. It features an interesting bass groove and an apocalyptic atmosphere. The lyrics are about a waning civilization, there is nothing but floods and destruction everywhere, the only way to survive is flying away... “Wings of gold and silver / Uncomfortable is the legacy of timeless lands / That nobody will forget...”.

“Lacrima nera” (Black tear) is a heavy, straightforward piece about the sense of history and the need to learn from the errors of the past to build up a better future... “There’s blood on the pavement / The flag is waving / A wall is crumbled but another one will be built...”. Next comes “Così vicino...” (So close...), a visionary warning about the dangers of technological progress where roofs of plastic and walls of acrylic glass enclose ideas and the quest for a “clean, safe energy” drives to death and destruction.

Juglans Regia's logo

The excellent title track “Visioni parallele” (Parallel visions) is more complex and features sudden changes in mood and rhythm. The introspective lyrics describe a labyrinth, a metaphorical, timeless city that threatens the freedom of the protagonist. The only way out is self-respect and a continuous compromise between ideals and reality. Listen to this track HERE!

Well, on the whole “Visioni parallele” is not flawless but in my opinion it’s an album full of energy and with some very good moments!

More info:

http://www.juglansregia.com/

http://www.myspace.com/juglansregia

TOSCANA (part 1)

And now we cross the northern part of the Apennine Mountains and go to TOSCANA and its capital FLORENCE, the cradle of Italian Renaissance. This is the city of artists and personalities such as Dante Alighieri, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Sandro Botticelli, Niccolò Machiavelli and Amerigo Vespucci just to name but a few. In the past this city gave us prog bands such as I Califfi, Campo di Marte, Sensations’ Fix, Bella Band, Triade, Standarte, Hopo, Chiave di Volta and Il Trono dei Ricordi. Campo di Marte’s leader Enrico Rosa (MySpace) is still active and every now and again he still performs the old tracks of the band, along with some new stuff. He also started a new jazz blues project called Link XII (MySpace).

Founder member of Il Trono dei Ricordi, Alessandro Lamuraglia (MySpace) now is a composer of soundtracks for cinema and TV commercials while his brother and co-founder of the band, Paolo Lamuraglia, started a prog folk project called Carmains Ensemble (MySpace). The best known contemporary prog band from Florence are Nuova Era (MySpace), formed in the eighties and kept alive by keyboardist and leader Walter Pini.

In Florence we can also listen to the Gothic prog Goad (Official Website), the dark, hard Sancta Sanctorum (MySpace) and Funeral Marmoori (Facebook), the psychedelic Alchemy Daze (Facebook) and London Underground (MySpace) and the folk oriented Bizantina (MySpace) whose repertoire features original tracks and traditional songs from the Mediterranean area re-arranged by the band. Bizantina’s latest work is a musical called Orlando tarantato, inspired by the pupi siciliani.

Other local bands that deserve mentioning are Le Porte Non Aperte (MySpace), L'Albero del Veleno (Reverbnation), Stazione Lumière (Facebook), Magredea (MySpace), Biofonia (MySpace), D.S.B. (MySpace), Enima (MySpace), Finister (Facebook), Etesii (MySpace), MotoreImmobile (MySpace), Seldon (MySpace), Merging Cluster (Facebook), Sunday Sheebs (MySpace), the experimental folk Gargamella (MySpace) and the psychedelic Ombra Esterna (MySpace).

But Toscana is not only Florence and in the other cities of the region we can find some interesting prog bands too. From Figline Valdarno come Basta! (Reverbnation) while another town near Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, is home to a heavy prog band called Juglans Regia (MySpace). Juglans Regia started their activity in 1992 as a metal band (under the name of Raising Fear) but their style changed over the years taking a more progressive direction. In 2008 they released Visioni parallele, their best work so far, featuring some guest musicians on keyboards and back vocals that helped to enrich the overall sound.

Heading west we pass through PRATO, home to the experimental Laboratorio del Sogno Lucido (MySpace), Orchestra d'Oblio (Facebook) and the psychedelic Raven Sad (MySpace). Then we go to PISTOIA where we can find some interesting prog folk bands such as L’Apprendista Bardo (MySpace) and Les Griotes (MySpace), then the young, interesting Intarsia, formerly known as Il Giardino del Mago (Facebook), the psychedelic La Favola di Esis (MySpace) and the melodic Fantasia Pura Italiana (MySpace). Pistoia also gave us the best known accordionist Riccardo Tesi who in tha past started a prog folk project called Ritmia. South of Pistoia lies Empoli where we find a promising band called Opra Mediterranea (MySpace).

Then we head north west and pass through the small town of Altopascio where we can listen to a young Christian metal influenced prog band called S91 (MySpace). Finally we reach LUCCA, birthplace of composers as Giacomo Puccini, Francesco Geminiani and Luigi Boccherini, where we can listen to a particular singer-songwriter who could be of some interest to prog fans, Emanuele Bavieri (MySpace).