ALIGHT

3.5 stars. CELLAR NOISE are a young band out of Italy forming in 2013 and this is their debut released this year(2017). Fabio Zuffanti became a fan after hearing some of their music and offered himself to help them out with the recording process, and they of course welcomed his help and so he became the Artistic Director. The vocals are in English and there's a strong GENESIS vibe especially with the keyboards but also beyond that. We get three guests helping out with oboe, flute and cello.

"Dive With Me" is the 9 1/2 minute instrumental to get us started. It opens with the sounds of a subway train(see album cover) then the atmosphere slowly pulses. Piano only takes over after 1 1/2 minutes as the oboe joins in. It's building as the drums, bass and synths arrive. This sure sounds like GENESIS with those pulsating synths. It kicks in a minute later, mellotron too. It becomes uptempo and synth driven 4 minutes in. I'm not into this but I like when it returns to that GENESIS sound as contrasts continue. Piano only 5 1/2 minutes in as it slowly winds down and cello joins in. Oboe is back then mellotron and piano a minute later. It kicks back in after 8 minutes then piano only ends it.

"Underground" again brings GENESIS to mind right away with the acoustic guitar and gentle vocals. Mellotron joins in along with synths. The vocals stop before 2 minutes as the drums, organ and guitar lead the way but vocals are back quickly. Organ and spoken words 4 minutes in then fast paced acoustic guitar takes over as drums, bass, organ and more help out. Synths lead before 5 minutes in this uptempo section. A calm before 6 1/2 minutes with strummed guitar and almost spoken words, piano too then it kicks back in.

"Embankment" along with the next track "Temple" are my favourites from this album. "Embankment" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in. I like this a lot. Some emotion here. The mellotron rolls in around a minute followed by drums. It then turns fuller before 2 1/2 minutes before becoming heavier with guitar before 3 minutes. Nice. The synths are very GENESIS-like 4 minutes in then the vocals return.

"Temple" opens with picked guitar before it turns dark. It's building as some powerful organ joins in. A change before 1 1/2 minutes as vocals and a lighter sound take over. That darker and heavier sound will come and go. Check out the mellotron that storms in before 4 minutes during a heavy section. Picked guitar and vocals are back before 5 minutes like the intro. It starts to build then the guitar starts to solo over top around 6 minutes in, oboe too.

"Blackfriars" is one I'm just not into at all. Mostly because of the vocals. It's uptempo with lots of vocals. More GENESIS-like synths and a calm with mellotron ends it. "Move The Stone" is a relaxed tune starting out with piano and reserved vocals. Cello will join in as well. Laid back guitar, oboe, piano and mellotron after 3 minutes. It ends as it began with vocals and piano.

"Monument" is not a cover of that amazing FATES WARNING track unfortunately. It opens with acoustic guitar as drums join in followed by a fuller sound. This is fairly heavy until a calm with bass and mellotron arrives. Vocals 3 minutes in during a calm then it builds. Mellotron follows then we get another calm after 4 minutes. It does build again then we get a guitar solo after 7 minutes and it continues for about a minute.

A good album for sure but for various reasons I can't offer the fourth star.