ABBANDONO DEL TEMPO E DELLE FORME

J'accuse..! is an interesting Italian progressive rock band from Trieste that was formed in 2001 by Sasha Colautti (vocals, lead guitar), Donald Paljuh (vocals, guitar), Michele Scherlich (bass) and Raffaele Tenaglia (drums, percussion). According to the band their many influences range from King Crimson to Mars Volta, from Area to Tool... Nonetheless during the years they have played together they seem to have found their own way and on their debut album "Abbandono del tempo e delle forme" they blend progressive rock, psychedelia and post rock with a very original and mature personal taste building and shaping timeless "musical forms" upon evocative lyrics. The result is definitively good...

The album opens with a spacey intro leading to the long and complex "Il tempo muta le forme" (Time changes forms). Some guitar lines give a touch of "Balkan flavour" to this piece while smothering vocals shape a desperate timeless prayer that breaks through invoking freedom from an inward desert made of evil and banality...

"Sul bordo dell'abisso" (On the edge of the abyss) is another very interesting and long track that seems to depict a nightmare... "Confused souvenirs do not help the eyes / Lost in a sea of thousands fears / It's like you can't breath anymore / It's like you can't feel the ground under your feet... I'm dreaming / I see angels falling like tears across the sky..."... The mood is claustrophobic and heavy but never boring (there are even a few moments that slightly remind me of Goblin's "Profondo Rosso") and the band showcase here a very good musicianship.

"L'angelo" (The Angel) and "Cercando un punto lontano" (Looking for a far point) are shorter than the previous tracks but not less interesting... "L'angelo" was inspired by William Blake's poem "Marriage of heaven and hell" and is a track full of energy with heavy guitars in the forefront, while "Cercando un punto lontano" is calm and "reflexive"... "I'm running faster than the wind... I'm tired to seem like a ray reflected into the void / I'm still here..."

The long and complex "Ricorre l'abbandono" (Abandonment recurs) is frenzy and melancholic, by far my favourite track on the album. It features a good jazz guitar solo by the guest musician Andrea Massaria and it's a perfect finale for a very good work... "I feel inside me the rotten branch to pull it out / Destroy the soul, forget me! / Clean your feelings then bury me"...

On the whole an excellent debut album and a band that deserves credit...