For me, I’ve been a huge fan of the Rock Progressivo
Italiano since 2005 and I always wanted to see where the genre would go to next
and it has landed on my lap with such amazement of a group from Bologna called,
Accordo dei Contrari. Since forming fourteen years ago, the band have the
elements between the Jazz Fusion and Chamber Rock with an aggressive sound.
With line-up changes and having two albums up in their sleeves, the quartet has
me on the edge of my seat.
That and their third album, released on the AltrOck label
back in 2014, entitled AdC, is an
intense jazz-avant-rock adventure into unexpected territories. The band
recorded the six compositions for two days and a one day period between January
17th and the 18th and on February 15th of last
year. And the result here, is a marvelous powder keg waiting to erupt at the
right moment. AltrOck have scored another homerun.
Tiglath goes into
the Fender Rhodes improvisation and exploring the Space Rock-Canterbury touches
between Soft Machine and Ash Ra Tempel for a haunting ambient noise for the
first three minutes before it ascends into the heavy guitar and drums go into a
mid-tempo mode through the passages along with the melody structure of guitar and
synth playing simultaneously. Seth Zeugma
starts off with a dramatic and intense structure of the string section and
piano before the blasting different time signatures of the rhythm section heads
into place to go into the town of the city of Frank Zappa and Chamber Rock with
fireworks!
Opener, Nadir is
Jazz Rock with momentum. Marco Marzo Maracas is exhilarating through his
guitar. Both acoustically and electrically, he go harder and softer at the same
time both Jazz and Classical at the same time. As keyboardist Giovanni
Parmeggiani and drummer Cristian Franchi along with bassist Daniele Piccinini,
head into town for some fast-driven improvisations between each other before
the last 3-minutes brings everything together.
Marco and Giovanni go into dual between guitars and
keyboards as if they were Allan Holdsworth and Jon Lord and nailing it each
time they hit the road which is evidential on Dandelion. When you listen to this track, you could tell how
amazingly good they really are.
And it isn’t just them, but both Cristian and
Daniele helping them out as a team to see where the time signature they land
on, would lead them into a different area.
Giovanni moves back into the acoustic piano for an
incredible concerto-like beauty that resembles Keith Emerson and Oscar Peterson
combined into one before heading back into the organ and just hammering it down
on his improvisations. It’s almost as if he’s switching back and forth before
ending in the styles of Greenslade in a mellowing beat with Dua.
The closing track, Piu
Limpida e Chiara di Ogni Impressione Vissuta, part II, is the band going into
a lukewarm sunset for a string section, piano, and classical guitar. Dark,
moody, and somber, it sees Accordio Dei Contrari going back into Chamber Music
to give that haunting finale.
Strong, powerful, somber, and intense, Accordio
Dei Contrari’s AdC is one of the
finest instrumental progressive chamber jazz rock albums I’ve listened to. It
shows how much they can take those elements into bringing amazement and wonders
in their music.
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