HUMANATION

'The Sun Also Rises' ... yeah, this took damn long for a new sign of life. It was the year 2013 after all when this four musicians hailing from the Milan region had released their debut named 'One'. Afterwards they went on hiatus for some time, but came together again in 2018. Consequently, the sophomore UNWISE production 'HumaNation' does not appear on the scene like a quick shot, three years later. Round about 60 minutes playing time, devided in 15 sections, that points to a well-conceived concept album. With a melodic prog metal styled sound they are on the secure side in some way, showing a solid formula. However without certain significant corners and edges, one or two probably will search for. The busy (fanatic?) prog music listener (that I am) may immediately associate some bands with a similar sound in general. So what?

Nowadays it's difficult enough to define an eternally new sound, after more than fifty years in prog history and thousands of bands trying their best to be unique. Now shortly coming back to the concept again first, this has a rather philosophical background you can say. The songs 'individually take into consideration and address aspects of decadence of our society', the band is telling. The music furthermore collects all the required ingredients a modern guitar dominated prog metal album should be made of. Several samples are incorporated. Nothing goes without an efficient rhythm backbone, speaking of drummer Roberto Pintus and Mauro Colombo on the bass guitar. Vocals (Luca Zontini) and instruments are perfectly balanced, as well as the mandatory atmospheric parts and heavy outbreaks. Alessandro Codazzi's versatile guitar work is ruling, just taking Unexpected into account with its halting groove! Provided by guest musician Danilo Di Lorenzo the keyboards are not that prominent on the other hand.

What happens Behind Closed Doors? The song effectively stands up for the needs of children in a somewhat intimate manner. Concerning the compositional aspect, especially the album's middle section, let's say starting with iGod moving forward up to Nothing Important Happened Today is provided with such an inimitable multi-varianted flow, grandezza! The powerful Escape drives along with so much elegance. 'Your small flame flickering' ... when listening to the final Ripple Effect you're initially placed in front of a campfire. Some nice female vocals are incorporated later on. It took a while, but now this is touching me very very much, the given inspiration is priceless. A really pleasant listen, overall 'HumaNation' turns out to be a very rounded piece of progressive music.