SEMPRE E OVUNQUE OLTRE IL SOGNO

Pandora's debut was followed by some nice live gigs next to both Italian and foreign bands, such as Ubi Maior and Riverside, but according to the band's official site they had to face the departure of guitarist Christian Dimasi.Quite strange thing, as he is listed in the liner notes of the second album of the group with the romantic title ''Sempre e ovunque oltre il sogno''.This one was released in 2011 again on BTF/AMS.

Far from being romantic themselves, Pandora belong certainly among the heavier and more bombastic Italian Symphonic Rock acts, moving a bit away from the classic style of the Italian groups for a more virtuosic and technical approach with strong RICK WAKEMAN influences and similarities to JAIME ROSAS' works, while the guitar follows the long keyboard fanfares with powerful lead parts.The music has often a cinematic flavor with atmospheric dual synthesizers, which are also the leading instrument of the album, although great Hammond organ, piano and Mellotron washes appear quite frequently.Melodies are not absent either, coming mostly in a GENESIS style with delicate synth and piano lines, a couple of tracks even contain some mellow acoustic parts.Vocals are not appearing much, the moments they do the band comes very close to the LE ORME stylings yet in a much modern way.Compositions are quite tight and an attempt on their own prog journey is made by Pandora with the 23-min. long title-track, which comes as an amalgam of bombastic DREAM THEATER-like Progressive Rock/Metal with flashy keyboard parts and a very high level of technique with more laid-back moments, typical of Italian Prog, characterized by expressive vocals, acoustic lines and piano-based melodies.They get too excessive at some point with the extended keyboard instrumentals, still this is a pretty good track with changing moods between haunting and calmer soundscapes.

Keyboard freaks will love this work, which can also please fans of Prog Metal and Italian Prog.Dense and powerful Symphonic Rock with endless keyboard attacks, that sometimes needs a bit of refinement.Recommended overrall.