Italy
has always been a pool for excellent progressive rock bands, but this time
the country of Dante delivers a progressive metal band. And you will hear a
lot more of this band, I assure you. The band was founded in 1996 by Emi
Pierro (Drums) and Michele Zanini (Gitaar), later on Marco Donelle
(keyboards), Emanuele Ghedini (guitar) and singer Giancarlo Mattei (ex
Abighor) joined them. End 1997 Emanuele was replaced by current guitarist
Christian Zezza. In 1999 a first demo cd Fickle has been recorded, well
appreciated in the metal world. End 2000 they started to record their first
full cd, officially released in june 2002, mainly because of difficulties
with the record label. A
very surprising cover with excellent artwork, an extended booklet and even a
number of postcards (one per track on the cd), surprising certainly because
‘Rebuilding’ is their debute. A lot of attention was paid to the lyrics,
i’m sure every song could be analysed more profondly, but for now i will
stick to the music. So what can we expect from the music? Well, this is
really a very intresting cd with music, close to Dream Theater and
Rush with a lot of progressive influences. A cd full of variation and
therefore it’s never boring. After
a short noisy introduction a huge wall of sounds overwhelms you and at the
first notes
Leave
it to Nature is perhaps the most surprising track I heard last years on a
progressive metal album. First of all, a lot of different music styles are
mixed throughout the entire song : South American rythms, jazzy interplays,
progressive rock and heavy metal. At a certain moment the music of Santana
crossed my mind, beautifully alternated with breathtaking guitar solos. Island
Lake is the first quiet part of
the album, or should I call it a Rush-part? Naturally the voice of
Giancarlo enforces that impression, but the tracks stand for themselves and
are not at all copies of their predecessors. This track also sounds a bit
neoprog and the initial calm is rapidly moving towards a complex and well
considered song. Shooting
Star is the real ballad, also the proof that these guys can evoke some
emotions. Beatifully sung and accompanied by an acoustic guitar and a
Hammond. Proloud
ever played covers of Dream Theater and you sure can hear it on the
instrumental Gethsemane, again an intricate track with very impressive
drumplay of Emi, who has
nothing to learn from Mike Portnoy. Last
Inhabited Planet is definitely in the vein of progressive metal,
unbelievable those light-fingered guitar solos! The second part of the album
is mostly influenced by Dream Theater, although Proloud has not to be
considered as a clone. Therefore their compositions are too obstinate and
well constructed, each track containing a lot of surprising turns played by
musicians with high technical abilities. Strange that this is only their
first cd, although the band exists for some 6 years. The
longest track on the album ‘To be on Fire’ again shows perfectly how a
song has to be build up. Here you can hear the vocal support of two unknown
Italian ladies, singing together with Giancarlo. The
title track Rebuilding is in fact a reprise of 'Leave it to Nature', again
surprising because of its simplicity and acoustic introduction. The whole
album has links to NATURE: the album ends with the sounds of flying seagulls
on a rustling sea. Reviewed by Claude 'Clayreon' Bosschem |
||||||||||||
