IL FALSO CENTRO

2013 was a tremendous year for progressive rock, but it turned out to be a banner year in particular for the R.P.I genre. Debut albums from acts such as Unreal City, Ingranaggi della Valle, Aurora Lunare and more recently the Mad Fellaz set a very high standard, and now in February 2014 we can add the first Entity album to the list of incredible discs. `Il Falso Centro' is simply one of the most self-assured, confident and downright bombastic Italian debuts of recent years, and the band perform with truly envious power and skill gained from the almost twenty years of honing their craft leading up to this work.

The album can be compared to many of the defining 70's Italian prog artists, as well as some worldwide and more modern influences as well. It's dominated by Mauro Mulas' battery of vintage keyboards and piano that recall Italian bands such as L'uovo di Colombo and Corte del Miracoli, heavier noisy aspects remind of Panna Fredda and Rustichelli & Bordini, the balance of soft/loud passages calls to mind Museo Rosenbach, while the classical drama is along the lines of Banco del Mutuo Soccorsso. The band also adds a healthy dose of Emerson, Lake and Palmer-like bombast, the technicality of Dream Theater (without actually being as heavy). Another fascinating aspect of the album to draw attention to is how particular focus is placed on Marco Panzino's very up-front and powerful percussion/drumming too.

Entity's confidence is on display right from the beginning of the album, the band daring enough to open the disc with a somber piano instrumental, `Davanti Allo Speccio'. Grandly classical and carefully jazzy, it culminates in a crashing crescendo that brings a thrilling air of the drama to come. The almost 17 minute album showpiece `Il Desiderio' opens and closes with an extended instrumental run. Hypnotic drum patterns wrap around the listener, Marcello Mulas' guitars bring a toughness, Gigi Longu's murmuring thick bass snakes it's way around the background, and warped loopy electronics and spiraling Moog runs border on Rick Wakeman/Keith Emerson-like grandeur. Vocals enter at the half way point, singer Sergio Califiura has that tastefully doomed and romantic theatrical croon expected of the Italian bands, his voice wilting around the stirring melody. He adopts a more mournful tone for `Il Tempo', my personal favourite on the disc. A darker brooding piece with uneasy electronic ambience, late night delicate piano before some snarling electric guitars bring a menacing intensity with a sumptuous, almost cinematic orchestral build to the final minutes.

The experimental `Il Trip Dell'Ego' mixes disorientating electronic loops, forceful drum builds, sharp electric guitar playing and maddening staccato piano stabs to hypnotic effect. "Ant" creeps in a suspenseful manner but rises triumphantly, the weeping piano moves with great romantic sadness, and the heavier guitar and Hammond washes remind of Pink Floyd during their late 70's period. Sergio's chest-beating vocal roars to the heavens with great power, and there's an addictive and grandiose Wakeman-styled whirling Moog finale as well. `L'Armatura' is a chugging near-metal stomp along the lines of the more recent Porcupine Tree albums, no surprise that the band would occasionally head in this direction on the disc due to their progressive-metal leanings in the years prior to this. So there's dirty grooving riffs, plus some frantic stabbing E.L.P flavoured imperial synth soloing and a slower reprise of the chorus melody from the second track, this time Sergio adopting a more gothic drawl. `La Notte...' ends the album in a more reflective and thoughtful classical manner, a partial reprise of `Il Tempo' based around plenty of piano and vocals filled with longing.

There is no doubt about it, this is grandly symphonic progressive music at it's very finest, and the band expertly weave reprising themes and melodies seamlessly so that the entire album feels like a continuously evolving suite, full of plenty of light and shade, yet always very emotional and passionate. They should be very proud that their long road has produced a work so rewarding and satisfying, and Entity continue the recent trend of dynamic new and modern acts proudly contributing to the tradition of over forty years of amazing Italian progressive music. Without question, `Il Falso Centro' is one of the first essential purchases for progressive listeners in 2014.

Four stars.