AND MOUTH DISAPPEARS

Very strong album by this italian band. Even if I found some moments to be a bit overdramatic - and it is only my opinion - the group is really good at handling a mix of symphonic rock, neo and operatic drama. Don´t expect the average italian symphonic sound from other great outfits of that country (they´re nothing like PFM, Le Orme, Banco, etc). In fact I though they were from England or France before I read in the credits on the CD´s booklet.

The well produced CD is like a long piece of music divided by small parts, with many changing moods and colours. Like a lot of concept albums this is more a vocally affair than an instrumental one. There are good guitar parts, and also some nice piano, but singer Valerio Valentini dominates the album. He has a strong voice and lots of personality. His way of delivering the message may not be everybody´s cup of tea, but he is good at what he does, no doubt about it.

Personally And Mouth Disappears did not enthralled me that much. I found the work a bit too dense and the instrumental breaks are very short. It would have worked wonders if there was more freedom for the musicians to enhance the sound with some solos and stronger arrangements. Certainly they have the chops and their brief appearances are the album´s highlights. As it is, they act mostly as a musical background for the words. Interesting, but not enough for me.

Conclusion: good CD, but hardly essential. The band has everything needed to become huge. They just have to hone their skills a bit more (especially their instrumental parts). Promising is a fitting word to describe their actual state. I´m looking forward to hear their next works.