Classical. That's the only word with which I could describe Rituale Alieno the latest effort from the Italian Universal Totem Orchestra. Next to the many classically trained voices, there's also lots of attention to violin and cello, not to mention the classical sounding piano in the opening track "Pane Astrale." The rest of the album however is completely different than what we have on offer here. The record company themselves call it a meeting between Carmina Burana (Carl Orff), Magma, and (to a lesser extent) Hawkwind somewhere on Mars! Bass player Dauno Giuseppe Buttiglione has certainly listened to Yannick Top, whilst drummer UTO Giorgio Golin must be close friends with Christian Vander, or in any case would like to be close to Vander! The long "Saturno" houses a strong pastoral feeling what with the superb church organ and Gregorian chant, whilst the integration of saxophone makes the subtle link towards free-jazz. It is quite remarkable how these results can be obtained with little financial resources. As a whole we can certainly speak of a very interesting project indeed plunging us in a completely new world. Certainly an album for those who think black isn't dark enough! If you have names like Deus Ex Machina and Devil Doll in your "book of hours" then do add Universal Totem Orchestra in gold letters!

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Last updated: 30 maart 2003 .
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