4

As can probably be gathered from the album title, this is the fourth album by Italian instrumental quartet Metronhomme. Formed in the Summer of 2003, the band comprises Mirco Galli (electric bass), Tommaso Lambertucci (piano, synth), Andrea Lazzaro Ghezzi (drums) and Marco Poloni (guitars) and they were joined on this album by guest keyboard player Paolo Scapellato along with Manuele Marani who contributed double bass on one number. The normal way of releasing music independently these days is through digital only releases, and this like many others is indeed available on Spotify etc, or possibly a CD if the band can scrape together the cash or already have a following, but these guys instead came out straight away with an honest to goodness 180 gm vinyl release so needless to say I was already impressed before it made it to the player.

I was even more impressed by the time I had played it a few times, as here is a band who often use piano as the underpinning instrument, allowing the bass and drums to keep a melody in mind while the guitars move in many different styles. Synths are often used to pervade some brass-type sounds as opposed to the massive string-styles so often favoured by Italian progressive acts. One's mind is immediately drawn to the Seventies, as there is a definite flavour for that period, often mixed in with jazz-fusion, but not always. It is music which is immediately accessible, with the melodies intertwining and weaving together to create something which is both complex and immediate at the same time. On Prog Archives they are listed as being crossover progressive, and if I were still in the team I would have definitely have voted yes as this is solidly within that genre with commerciality and progressive attitudes combining together to create something which is incredibly pleasing and interesting to the ear. It is relaxing but never laid back, commercial yet still pushing boundaries and creating something which provides best results when the listener is prepared to do just that, listen with no other distractions. This is my first introduction to the band, but I look forward to hearing much more.

You must hand it to the Italians, they just keep on bursting through the seams and creating a constant river of sensorial delights, seemingly with the uncanny ability to blend traditional and well-proven methods and adapt them to futuristic visions. They have been doing this since the dawn of civilization and can be witnessed in art, design, food, architecture, fashion, engineering, mechanics and of course, music. So not only has RPI maintained credibility with seemingly an inordinate number of musicians (not surprising, prog is a higher school of learning after all), but it has bloomed into variants that yearn to establish a new progression, unafraid of fantasy, courageous in overturning the norms, uncanny ability to veer into going against expectations. Everyone knows that singing is an Italian national sport, so when groups decide to take the instrumental route, the mind does boggle! While that tradition has always existed (Goblin, Arti+ Mestieri, DFA, to name but a few) , in recent years, many bands have left the microphone behind and concentrated on exceptional aural landscapes. Bands such as La Batteria, Protocollo C, Gran Torino, Mad Fellaz, L'Albero del Veleno, Daal, Moogg, Progenesi etc... are keen to display extraordinary musicianship, structural imagination, modern sounds and wizard production.

I have been biding my time in getting Metronhomme into my collection and, of course, patience being a virtue, the band from Macerata has finally asked me to review their albums. I will dispense with the suspense immediately and give the golden buzzer right now. "4" is a masterpiece that has all the hallmarks of a genre defining monument to creativity while maintaining to afore mentioned irrevocable RPI traditions of lyrical beauty, technical mastery and as Franco Falsini of Sensation's Fix once described as "Music is Painting in the Air". The electric guitars are appropriately covering the entire sonic spectrum from serene to sizzling, there is a heavy reliance on the magical piano that pervades quite evidently, though e-piano, synth and organ are also featured everywhere. The thrilling bass carves eloquently, giving the 'prosciutto' arrangement the right amount to fat to amplify the flavour. Mirco Galli is certainly a stunner. The most evident 'modernistic' trait is the drum style of Andrea Lazzaro, a crafty and contemporary upgrade of Brufordian simplicity that is pure beat candy. Overall, there is a solid jazzy approach that seeks to keep everything fresh, tight and impactful, very much like a cinema soundtrack (a common quote from prog neophytes). The fact that there is truly little to no 'noodling' , makes this even more of a revelation. No need whatsoever to provide a blow-by-blow account of each track, as this release can and should be listened to as a stirring whole, eleven chapters of pure sonic joy! Throw in great artwork and you have a flawless package that will keep on giving for many auditions to come, it has all the tools to be continually pleasurable and relevant. My only caveat is that the title "4" does not reflect the number of stars deserved here, which is a definite "5".

5 regulating measures

While I definitely end up saying this quite a few times, it's still no less true that I am quite appreciative of whenever I end up getting requested to review a barely known album like this, gives a nice change of pace from my regular listening and can often feel like it leads to some pretty enjoyable listening experiences. Metronhomme's 4 is yet another situation where this rings true, being a fun, pleasant instrumental prog album that captures a lot of the spirit of past prog acts while having their own bit of identity to it, particularly in the electric guitar tone having quite a clean, modern sound. Furthermore, the piano acts as the instrument that underpins most elements of the album, forming the core rhythmic backbone most of the time, but also breaking into more catchy, melodic territory to make it quite memorable in places as well. That's not to discredit the contributions that the rest of the band make to this either, as they all work in tandem to form the sound of the band, the peaks in intensity being full of energetic, groovy basslines, with the synths working to create a rich atmosphere that makes it all a good listen even during the slight lulls that occur from time to time. This is certainly an important thing in general, but especially for these sorts of albums that sometimes can feel as if they have the common pitfalls that a lot of modern prog can have.

From all the tracks here, the one that easily stands out the most to me is Blow-Up Automatic Chiodi, and it's almost all because of the acoustic guitar that's introduced in the 2nd half of the song. I love the way it not only introduces a different sound to what the listener has heard on the album up to this point, but also evokes a mysterious tone that separates it quite strongly from anything else here. Similarly, L'uomo Ombra is another standout for feeling so energetic and exciting, becoming almost explosive near the end, with the way it falls into almost complete silence before rising up dramatically is without a doubt one of the best moments to be found here. On the other hand, while the more bombastic moments are definitely more memorable and fun, it's the more understated, elegant moments that hold everything together more consistently, especially in terms of the drumming, having a nice bit of flair while maintaining a solid rhythm, playing off the piano remarkably well to establish a series of rhythmically interesting tracks for sure, particularly with Ortega. While I do find this a bit unmemorable at points without enough moments that really stand out to me and "wow" me in any particular way, this is nonetheless a very solid, well put-together album that I've happily listened to quite a few times at this point. Interested to see this band's other output for next time I want this sort of style of prog. Definitely worth a listen for those who are into some melodic, atmospheric instrumental prog, as it has a lot of the hallmarks that can make that music so enjoyable.

Best tracks: L'oumo Ombra, Blow-Up Automatic Chiodi, Salt

Weakest tracks: Hapax, R.I.P. Brian Diy

(Don't take my 3 stars here as a sign that I even slightly dislike it, as said, I find this to be quite a good album that certain people would definitely enjoy)