Dada - Dada

Originally released in 1970 on the Atlantic’s ATCO record label, Dada was formed at the very end of 1969 and they created this combination of Jazz, Blues, Soul, Hard, and Brass Rock that were arranged by Pete Gage and featured artists including keyboardist Don Shinn and vocalists Elkie Brooks and Paul Korda. Listening to this album, you can see where the incarnations of Vinegar Joe would later be as Dada would be no more.

And then, Elkie and Pete would be fronted along with the late great Robert Palmer and it would launch both of Brooks and Palmer’s successful solo career. This year, Esoteric Recordings have reissued this amazing gem as the first ever UK CD release of the sole self-titled debut of the band’s work. This is a joyful and mind-blowing reissue that Esoteric have unleashed this year and you can dance, enjoy and close your eyes and imagine buying this album at the time it was released at the beginning of the hey-day of the ‘70s.

Their take of the Rolling Stones’ The Last Time it starts off with in the style of Blood, Sweat, and Tears and The Staples Singers and then for a brief second into a fast-tempo groove. It has a soul-like praise as if it was recorded inside the church for a killer morning service to lighten up everyone’s mood. Opener, Big Dipper goes into a crunchy bluesy brass-rock groove with a powerful guitar riff and as you can imagine the sounds of Traffic featuring Steve Winwood, Chicago, and It’s a Beautiful Day.

Elkie and Paul themselves in which they take turns on the vocals, really do a great job sharing and knowing where they would head in the different verses on the 11 tracks on here. Don Shinn brings the essence of a mourning and classical approach in a gothic cathedral on the church organ for the Organ Interlude as it segues into the moody vocalizations of waiting for your dreams to be awaken for Tonite Is.

Elkie Brooks comes in front and center as she nails those powerful arrangements to sing her heart out and come out in full swing and Shinn himself brings a Jazz and at times Carousel section and Concerto moment in his keyboards on the Organ. Both of them followed by Martyn Harryman’s drum patterns are in the sections of the time signatures for the Eyes of the Warren. It’s another classic gem thanks to the brass section followed by Korda’s vocals that bring forth the rock musical, Hair.

The balladry for the Seed of Peace brings the gospel, soul and jazz into a full circle. Here, again, the essence with The Staples Singers, Randy Newman, and Thelonious Monk. Korda is nailing those high vocals and Brooks herself gives Paul a helping hand followed by the waking bass lines into the heavenly clouds to fade into the sunset. While the band would later form as Vinegar Joe, this is almost an earlier beginning of the roots of the band’s formation.

The 16-page liner notes are done by Sid Smith about the history of the band and an interview with Pete Gage who is now a teacher in Australia teaching Music Production. But in the booklet, it features quotes about the surrealism of the art movement of Dadaism from the realms of; Richard Huelsenback, G.E. Blosche, Hugo Ball, Andre Breton, Tristan Tzara, and the artistic cultural movement of New York Dada from the 20^th century from the late 1910’s and the beginning of the 1920s.

Esoteric have never disappointed me when it comes to reissues and Dada’s sole self-tited debut (Pre-Vinegar Joe) is where I recommend delving into the essence of Jazz, Soul, Church, and Brass Rock. This is an exciting beginning of what is to come in those different styles on here. As Kahlil Gibran says, “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”

Knifeworld - Bottled Out of Eden

“Hi, we’ve only got these words why are we all/Falling upwards looking down at Hell?/The Devil keeps a close watch on his entryphone/Waiting there for you to ring the bell.” That is the beginning line of the droning introduction turned psych/surf adventure of Knifeworld’s new song, High/Aflame. Whenever I would go for my afternoon walks, I always put on some music to get me going and one of them is Knifeworld’s third studio album on the record label, InsideOut Music entitled, Bottled out of Even.

Kavus Torabi is for me, one of the most mind-blowing musician when it comes to projects. From his own record label, Believer’s Roast, and his work with; Cardiacs, Guapo, Gong, and the upcoming Admirals Hard album, Upon a Painted Ocean coming out this June. And also, as a DJ every Monday night with snooker legend Steve “Interesting” Davis of The Interesting Alternative Show on Phoenix FM in which I consider both of them to be the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson of playing interesting gems of the sounds of; alternative rock, Prog, Avant-Rock, Canterbury, and the RIO (Rock In Opposition) movement.

But let’s get to Knifeworld’s new album. This is a dedication to the late great Daevid Allen, Nick Marsh (Flesh for Lulu), and a few others who left this earth as their memory and legacy lives on as their follow up to 2014’s The Unravelling which was my album of the year on Music from the Other Side of the Room, shows that Knifeworld are still roaring out the big guns.

Bottled Out of Even is where the band still carry the Alternative, Avant-Garde, Psych, and Progressive approaches to keep the flickering flames going with no sign of burning out. The psychedelia and dramatic yet catchy section of the woodwinds and ‘60s garage-guitar rock sounds of the vision of the future and where will you be with a fortune teller on what will happen with questions and answers in a parallel universe for The Germ Inside.

Jazz-Art Rock comes in with its best as Melanie Woods takes over on lead vocals as Charlie’s Cawood’s Bass lines touches to the references of Herbie Hancock’s golden-era, comes in with a big shebang on I Am Lost while the gothic-acoustic folk tale dealing with a man taking over power as he watches come crumbling down by everything he’s done turned into a nightmare in this mourning kingdom collapsing of his Foul Temple.

I Must Set Fire To Your Portrait sees Knifeworld heading into the styles of XTC’s Nonsuch-era as you can imagine this track being recorded during those sessions in the early ‘90s and I can imagine Andy Partridge being in awe of this track and you can close your eyes and flashback to the year 1992 all over again. The woodwinds and brass section, blare out the eruptive sections as if Kavus is conducting them to show where he wants them lead into.

The rumbling punch of Ben Woolacott’s drumming/percussion set gives it the Indian Tribe and psychedelic swirl of an ambient/atmosphere of travelling into a thumping mid-tempo march of The Deathless. When I listened to this, I can imagine a sense of The Moody Blues’ In Search of the Lost Chord-era of the song, Om. With a touch of Tim Smith into the mix to send you in a journey of the reverb textures of Kavus’ guitar to bring forth the late ‘60s.

Bottled Out of Eden is another inventive follow-up and it shows that they still have the influences where they left off with their second album. Whenever Kavus Torabi is doing other projects, you never know what to expect from what he will do whether it is good or not. But here, it is another proper return of the band to show the Avant-Pop, Progressive, and Psychedelic approach and adding the darker tones that keeps the Knifeworld train going.

For me, I always wanted to wait and hear what Torabi himself will come up with next and maybe he will come up with darker short stories for the next one. All in all, Bottled Out of Eden, is a creative and mind-boggling gem for 2016.

Zhongyu - Zhongyu

With a mesmerzing artwork of the album cover done by Tristan Olson, I always imagine what to expect from Dennis Rea. Whether it is his work with Moraine, solo work or his next by working with Jon Davis on his project released this year from the MoonJune family entitled, Zhongyu. It’s a translation that means “Finally” in Mandarin Chinese. And according to the sleeve notes done by Davis himself, he lived in Beijing for three years of his love of music and seeing the performances in China before heading back to Seattle in 2009.

What Jon wanted to do with Zhongyu, is to create a mixture incorporating the sounds of Jazz, Classical and Progressive Rock that felt like coming back home and it’s a wonderful scenario of Jon’s concept of his tribute to the country he loves. And adding the essence of Avant-Rock, World Music, and the Rock In Opposition movement, it is a collaborative brainstorm that will take you into brilliant, haunting, and mind-blowing music that will have your ears perked up.

There are twists and turns that will make you think back of the golden-era of King Crimson, Present, Yes, Univers Zero, and Magma. Those elements work well and Davis, who arranged and composed the 12 tracks on here, will make you feel that you’re witnessing something special that is hypnotic. Iron Rice Bowl Has Rusted features Jon on the Guzheng in which it’s a traditional plucked string instrument that has been around 2500 years of history.

Featuring some helping hands from three of the members from Moraine including the soaring electric violin, flute/clarinet, and percussion done by Alicia and James Dejioe, Randy Doak, and a waltz bass line from the Chapman stick by Jon Davis, the time signature of 3/4, takes you back into a trip of the fondest memories of being in the ancient cities of visiting the grounds and the great wall itself at Jinshanling. The Torture Chamber of Commerce, shows Davis and his friends delving into some darker territories.

Here, they channel the haunting forces of the Larks’ Tongues in Aspic-era of King Crimson where Dennis Rea channels the Fripp and Zappa’s virtuosity as Alicia takes her violin into the ominous beauty a-la David Cross style as Randy takes mid and Bill Bruford drumming into the highway while Hydraulic Fracas begins with reverb-delay echoing effect by James DeJoie’s flute improvisation.

He brings to mind Dieder Mahlbre of Gong, Ray Thomas (The Moody Blues), bits of Peter Gabriel’s time with Genesis when he channels his flute into unbelievable areas that you can imagine he is not all over the place but walking to the sound of the beat and the rhythms that he and the band would walk into. Half Remembered Drowning Dream, is an alarming composition.

Mid-chaotic percussion's with a string-section style of classical music on the Guzheng followed by the clarinets and violin with an echoing feedback context and with Sleepwalking The Dog, Jon heads towards the Mellotron by creating an ambient text that recalls both of the Yes albums, Close to the Edge and Tales from Topographic Oceans. Not to mention the mind-blowing wah-wah improvisations that Alicia and James bring to send you into Space as they create the melodies followed by Doak’s drumming and seeing where in the passages of time they head towards to.

With Cat Hair All Over It, it transforms into a Free-Jazz Avant-Rock improvisations whilst the chaotic structures into uncharted results as they let the instruments go into in what I call it, the Haywire effect as it crescendos like a twisting tornado ready to hit before seguing into MBBL. Jon takes the bass effect by creating this intense walking line on the Chapman as the heavier tones in which Rea goes forth a-la Steve Vai and I can imagine the sounds of Yugen in there and the RIO genre is in full circle. And featuring the blaring trumpet works in the styles of Miles Davis from Daniel Barry as a special guest on the track.

I have enjoyed listening to Zhongyu. This is my third or fifth time listening to this. MoonJune Records have never, ever disappointed me when it comes to releases of amazing Jazz and Progressive Music. I always imagine what will Jon Davis and Moraine will think of next because I would like for them to continue with more of Zhongyu’s music in the near future and see what Davis has come up with. 

Baron - Torpor

Since forming in 2010, Baron is the brainchild of two former members of Diagonal, Alex Crispin and Luke Foster. Soon later joining the group is Peter Evans and Blue Firth. They have released two albums and now last year on the Svart label is their new release, Torpor. The band recorded the album in a medieval barn located at Suffolk at Purton Green. There is a darker sound in Torpor of the mysticism behind the album and a stunning yet haunting beauty in what is on here.

You can imagine the essence of the Ladbroke Grove scene from the sounds of bands such as; High Tide, early Hawkwind, Bo Hansson, and bits of Ash Ra Tempel with some twists of the golden-era of the Vertigo label in the early ‘70s that you can close your eyes and imagine if Hansson and High Tide had worked together and made this innovative and hypnotic obscure gem in a gothic cathedral in that time period.

Here, Baron show no sign of stopping. With Stry, Blue Firth’s keyboards take you into a deeper, darker voyage that gives a chilling scenario as if she’s paying tribute to Klaus Schulze with a gothic orchestral twist before delving into a psych-hard rock powder keg that Joe Hollick of Wolf People does to blow the door down with a battering ram. I can hear also the sounds of Annot Rhul’s Leviathan and ASTRA’s The Weirding.

He’s taking his guitar into unbelievable results as if he is taking the listener into outer space and into time with an incredible voyage that is out of this world for the last few minutes of the song. Crispin’s vocals resembles the twist of Scott Walker and Tony Hill (High Tide) as his arrangements will send the chills as if something is crawling underneath your back.

I love how the Space-Rock voyages take the styles of Manuel Gottsching into the time in the outer limits which is evidential on the opener, Dragonfly while walking into the darkness and telling the creepy camp tales of Mark Maker with an Acid Folk approach. But it’s Wild Cry that pays tribute to the Occult Rock band, Black Widow as Crispin repeats the line “Can you see in the dark?”

Peter Evans, Blue Firth, and Luke Foster take the way of calling the spirit of the gods with their instruments as Luke channels the drums of thunder of the Indian tribe while Blue herself channels a gothic-organ style that gives it an ominous surrounding. Sleepless creates this massive style of Psych-Doom Folk Metal before Alex and Peter go into territorial directions.

Here, Peter’s Fuzz-tone Bass riffs and Alex’s psychic guitar powers create a visual intensive power of their homage to the Krautrock scene as they are on the other planets to combining into one with an atmospheric swirling finale thanks to the band’s landing spaceship at the right exact hit. Peter goes into town with a haunting bass line for a mid-tempo driven into the darkness of Deeper Align.

Albedo Dei, closes the album in a heart-warm and emotional hymn with a church-like organ and feedback as we watch the dawn approaching for a chance of a glimpse to start all over again and never look back at the danger that happened. Torpor is one of the most haunting and powerful albums I’ve listened to from beginning to end. The booklet features these short stories that you can imagine the poetry in the styles of H.P. Lovecraft, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Ted Hughes. You can close your eyes and as I've always say, imagine the album as a movie inside your head with an ominous score.

I really enjoyed what Baron have accomplished on here and Svart Records have done one hell of a job of releasing this amazing yet vitalize album they’ve released last year and I hope to check out more of Baron’s music in the times to come. Svart are the real deal. Alex Crispin and Luke Foster aren't just the face of Baron, but they are a team along with Peter Evans and Blue Firth. 

The Move - Move (Deluxe Edition)

A lot of the British Rock scenes get a lot of the recognition and influences with bands and artists such as Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones. Amazing, but they are explained over and over again. A few of them who were overlooked and underrated with the realms as The Pretty Things, Procol Harum, and one of my favorites from the Brumbeat scene, The Move. This year, marking the 50^th anniversary of the band’s formation the band’s first two albums get the Esoteric treatment.

The band were known for their wild set by wielding an Axe, Exploding TVs, Smashing Junked-Up Cars, and for their gangster look. But they were more than just that, they were more about the Music. Their sole self-titled debut album released in 1968 on the Regal Zonophone label is released in a 3-CD set in which features the original Mono album re-mastered, Stereo Mixes, BBC Sessions, and a Local Radio Station they did in Birmingham in January, 1966.

Roy Wood was the brain behind the songwriting and compositions he brought to the sound and vision. There are elements of Psych-Pop, Power Pop, Proto-Punk, Glam, and early sounds of Prog thrown in. The swirling adventurous opener of Yellow Rainbow featuring Ace Kefford on Lead Vocals and thumping his bass as Bev’s thunderous drumbeats sets the tempo as their take of a sci-fi dystopian sing-along mini opera of Kilroy Was Here still sounds fresh in a folk-like composition.

There’s also the hit singles including; (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree, Fire Brigade, I Can Hear the Grass Grow, Night of Fear, Flowers in the Rain, and Walk upon the Water. They show a sense of humor as their cover of the 1930’s classic Zing! Went the Strings of my Heart. Here, Bev brings his bassman-like vocals in the first and last verses as Ace comes in with the second verse as both Carl Wayne, Roy, and Trevor Burton handle the background vocals.

On The Girl Outside and Mist on a Monday Morning which features arrangements done by Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie, and Procol Harum), it shows Roy going into a pastoral mode and using classical ideas to pay homage to the sounds of The Beatles with the strings, woodwind, and harpsichord touches that give an insight of where Roy himself was about to move into. And the evidence of a mental patient with a blaring woodwind and string section to lock the door and throwing the key away inside the Cherry Blossom Clinic.

The bonus tracks in which they recorded at Ladbroke Sound Studios 50 years ago. It shows The Move channeling The Yardbirds with the Garage-Rock crunch of a shuffling blues approach of You’re the One I Need that resembles Train Kept A Rollin’ while carrying a bit of a Country side in an acoustic side in a mid-tempo beat of Winter Song and a waltz section of being framed and escaping the prison of hell from The Fugitive.

And with the Birmingham Radio Session, it shows also The Move paying tribute to the Soul/R&B sound with five songs they did including Too Many Fish in the Sea, Respectable, Is It True, Don’t Hang Up, and I Can’t Hear You No More. The late great Carl Wayne really is for me not just a lead vocalist, but he brings the power into heart and soul of The Move’s music. Both he and Roy share vocals together in the singles including the psych-fuzz turned deadly nightmare of Disturbance which features at the end the snarling screams by manager Tony Secunda and producer Denny Cordell in the styles of the Hammer Horror films.

Their take of Eddie Cochran’s Weekend shows a bit of the early Punk influences that an early throttle of a blistering adventure with the three-chord textures in the major section of F, G, and C. You can imagine they were having a blast enjoying this classic as both Roy and Trevor head into the rhythm between acoustic and electric followed by a clapping rhythm section whilst the crashing drums by Bev himself is exhilarating. But the second disc of the Stereo Mixes, shows there’s more.

You can hear a lot of Visconti’s arrangements in front on Flowers in the Rain, the double-tracking background vocals on Zing, and an un-dubbed piano version of Fire Brigade featuring Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum on Piano handling the piece with a classical twist. There’s the soul/blues rock shuffle dance groove with the essence of the early Who records of Move where you can get to the dancing sensation of hitting the floor to your feet.

The BBC Sessions on the Third Disc, is a rare treat. Close your eyes and pretend it’s both 1967 and 1968 and being there for the Saturday Club, Easybeat, and Top Gear and watching in awe of the sessions that The Move did recorded live which there are 19 tracks that show some unearthed gems including interviews with Carl Wayne.

Covers of The Byrds (So You Want to Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star), Love with Arthur Lee (Stephanie Knows Who), Joe Tex (You Better Believe It Baby), and Gladys Knight and the Pips (Stop and Get a Hold of Myself) are evidential. Inside the 3-CD set, there is a 20-page booklet featuring liner notes by Mark Paytress about the history of the band with photos and promos of the band’s material. And also, a poster of the band’s debut along with news, posters, and reviews.

This is a must have for any fan of either ELO, Wizzard, or Roy Wood to delve into the history of The Move’s music. Esoteric Recordings have done another job well done and I’ve really enjoyed listening to this a lot and I can’t wait to delve into the other reissues of the Move catalog soon (Shazam, Looking On, and the full live album which was originally release as an EP, Something Else). So let’s get up and sing this line “Kilroy Was Here/Put his Name around the place/Kilroy Was Here/Though I’ve never seen his face.”

Kevin Kastning & Carl Clements - A Far Reflection

Last year, I championed one of the most mind-blowing guitarist and one of his albums entitled Otherworld last year on Music from the Other Side of the Room. This year, he’s released album number 21 and his fourth time collaborating with woodwind artist Carl Clements. Carl Clements plays Tenor/Soprano Saxophone, Alto Flute, and Bansuri Flute. 

He received a BM in 1987 for Jazz Composition and Arranging at the Berklee College of Music, a year of study that he completed 26 years ago in the DMA Program in World Music at the New England Conservatory, an PhD in Ethnomuiscogology in 2010 from the CUNY Graduate center on his dissertation of Pannal Ghosh and the Bansuri in the Twentieth Century.

Alongside Kevin Kastning, Clements himself has performed and recorded with people such as Sundan Shor, Jean-Yves Jung, Ed Byrne’s Latin Jazz Evolution and Alex Syndman. He’s also released four albums with Crosscurrent and performed in festivals including Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, New York, and Boston to name a few. Now I’m very new to Carl Clements’ music, but for me when I listened to A Far Reflection, it’s a surreal twist between the music of Free Jazz, Avant-Garde, Droning, World, Chamber, and Classical Music.

It has a dark cavernous atmosphere that makes you feel that you are wondering the sounds of a haunted abandoned house. You can almost hear a pin drop the moment something had gone wrong inside the house. The music really hits you hard and both Clements and Kastning are setting the tone and scenery of what is going through with 11 compositions that they wrote and clocking in at 70 minutes and 59 seconds.

With Carl’s sound on the Woodwind and the Flutes, I can hear the aspects of Lol Coxhill, Gheorghe Zamfir, Didier Malherbe (Gong), and Mel Collins of King Crimson (Lizard-era). It sends chills down my spine the moment I put the CD on and played it all the way from start to finish. The two of them gave me a chill throughout the entire album. It was almost as if something had crawled on the back of my neck with a tingling chill down to the bone.

Clements nails it down, but he and Kevin are a team so it’s a rivalry, but more of a collaboration and honor that they have between the two of them. The development on here is the sequences that is powerful, emotional, sinister, and raw. All in all, this is another achievement for both Kevin Kastning and Carl Clements. I hope one day, they might do a film score together.

If you love Free Jazz, Neo-Classical Music, Chamber Music, and World Music, then delve into the deep, dark  and hidden caves of A Far Reflection.

Hostsonaten - Symphony N.1: Cupid & Psyche

Fabio Zuffanti is a very, very busy man when it comes to projects. From his work with La Maschera Di Cera, Aries, Finisterre, the Rock Opera, Merlin, and La Curva Di Lesmo. One of the projects that has been around for 20 years is Hostsonaten. They have released seven studio albums including one based on Samuel Taylor Coledrige’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in which he turned it into a musical stage version. Their music is symphonic, jazz, classical, folk, and in the styles of Rock Progressivo Italiano.

And you can kind of expect what you may never know what Zuffanti will come up with next. This year, Hostsonaten have released their new album on the AMS label entitled, Symphony N.1: Cupid & Psyche. It is based on the famous story written by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis. The story is told through Lucius who is turned into a Donkey and goes through this journey and regains the human form by eating sacred roses to Isis. Psyche is a woman who goes through the trails, the punishments, and redemption of getting married.

It’s a strange story, but the music gives it a dramatic and epic score that Zuffanti and his Luca Scherani (La Coscienza Di Zeno) drive through into the story. There’s also Laura Marsano on Electric and Classical Guitar, Daniele Sollo on Fretted and Fretless Bass, and Paolo “Paolo” Tixi on Drums and Orchestral Percussion. There’s elements between Ennio Morricone, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco, Van Der Graaf Generator, and Le Orme.

I’ve mentioned a few times with bands that they could have done an alternate score for a few filmmakers. But with Symphony N. 1: Cupid and Psyche, it feels like this combination between Federico Fellini, Sergio Leone, and Alejandro Jodorowsky as if the three of them had worked together and created a surreal and embarking collaboration of making the story a twisted yet mind-boggling tour de force.

The galloping intro of The Sacrifice features dramatic string and brass sections as Luca conducts them and showing where he and Fabio would take them into. It has a spaghetti western-like energy before the dooming sax resembles David Jackson of VDGG fame kicks into gear. Zephyr is the cross-between ELP, Rick Wakeman, and Laura’s energetic guitars creating a sort of Symphonic Metal approach that flashes through the golden years of the 1970s.

Woodwinds set up the sexual momentum for Psyche as she encounters the god to have a chance to never-ending nights between the two of them, the Love Scene finds a higher orchestral ballad with soaring guitars to fill the atmosphere as the sex sequences really hit at those right moments. The tension you can cut with a knife and kicking you in the gut with Unmasking.

Intense time changes between saxes, keyboards, and as I’ve always say, Mellotron’s galore! It goes through various movements between Classical, Jazz, and an evil force that shows Psyche to go through the four trails she will go through her punishment. Venus (1^st Trial) features a Jazz-Symphonic Rock approach. Think the cross between Gershwin and Traffic’s John Barleycorn Must Die-era meeting King Crimson’s Larks Tongues in Aspic sessions as it displays a surreal water-pool effect in the last minute of the price she pays while Entrapped gives the heavier instruments a chance to relax as the string section, classical guitar, and piano take a trip into the spiritual boundaries to find the inner self.

There’s are times it reminded me of both Beauty and the Beast meets the 1970 surreal cult classic Western, El Topo, and Zuffanti knows his musical inspirations well into the conceptual storyline. Sheep and Water with its Rhodes-like intro is heading into from the Wakeman-sque approach and even giving Daniele’s fretless bass lines a chance to really go in there for some Jazzier lines between him and Luca.

Eruptive and roaring, Underworld completes the trials that Psyche embarks on in the reign of Hades. It sounds of a mission and task complete and allowing to see where she will take the next logical step to be a better person. I love the Gilmour approach that Laura pays tribute to. I can hear the early Pink Floyd in the last 2-minutes on this track. It shines brightly as he nails those chops before kicking into overdrive with The Awakening.

It’s back to the driven sections of the keyboards and drums. Luca takes the listener into a swirling synth adventure before the horn and brass sections come marching in power. And then suddenly the Strings and Woodwind followed by the drums shows that knowing that Psyche has become a better person, but then Cupid leaves her behind once again after that brief embrace they have together with a climatic erupt end.

The Ascension doesn’t stop there as it closes the album off with a big bang. Here all the instruments come together in full circle for the banquet and intense enchanted dance to get you into the floor for the marriage between Cupid and Psyche. You can hear the touches of Edenbridge’s The Bonding meets Le Orme’s Felona E Sorona flown in to come at you in full swing like a roller-coaster ride of your lifetime.

All in all, this is a crowning achievement for me. Whilst I’m getting on the bandwagon of Hostsonaten’s music, this is the movie and soundtrack inside your head. I hope Fabio and Luca continue the story of what will happen next for their daughter, Voluptas. AMS Records for me, have scored another home run in the adventures of Rock Progressivo Italiano (RPI).