DIVIDE ET IMPERA

"Divide et Impera" is Rosenkreutz's second studio album and was released in 2020 on the independent Andromeda Relix label with a renewed line up featuring Fabio Serra (guitars, keyboards, percussion, vocals), Gianni Brunelli (drums, percussion), Gianni Sabbioni (bass, Chapman Stick), Massimo Piubelli (vocals), Carlo Soliman (piano, keyboards) and Eva Impellizzeri (vocals, keyboards). It confirms all the good qualities of the band's debut work, "Back To The Stars", with its excellent blend of melody, AOR and more complex passages that every now and again could recall Kansas or The Spock's Beard. All the pieces seem to have a common thread as they in some way describe the subtle line between what we perceive and what's real and, in my opinion, the beautiful art work by Christophe Dessaigne gives a good idea of the album's content...

The opener "Freefall" starts with a jump into eighties soundscapes, then takes a different direction maintaining a strong melodic approach. The music and lyrics tell about a dangerous descent into a vortex of desires, mislead by cheating smiles and kind words. Sometimes a particular glance can change the balance between the things you really need and what you feel necessary and make you fall into a dangerous, deceitful daydream, cradled by the sound of little, seducing lies...

The sarcastic "Imaginary Friend" every now and again could recall Queen and is an excellent piece about religious ideals that turn into business and terrorism. The imaginary friend of the title is a kind of hand tailored, bloodthirsty god created by merciless pseudo-religious leaders and exalted preachers to rip you off and make you kill other people with the joy in your heart...

Then comes "The Candle In The Glass", a disquieting melodic ballad depicting a wicked game where the protagonist falls under the spell of the images he can see in a looking glass lighted by the flickering flame of a candle. The refined arrangement features a string quartet (the guests Evequartett) that add a touch of romantic colour to the crepuscular tableaux...

"I Know I Know" is an aggressive, nervous track that features even a short passage with rap vocals delivered by the guest Flamma. It evokes an inner demon taking the lead, a dream driving you insane as reality becomes more and more blurred... Next comes "Aurelia", where the rhythm slackens and eerie melodies soar from nocturnal passages and nightmarish atmospheres. It tells a dark story of love and betrayal, murder and regret, a story where the perfect life of a glamorous woman suddenly turns into madness...

The catchy "True Lies" could recall Toto and is about the dangerous, deceiving power of media, fake news and television preachers, overwhelming advertisement policies and true lies running over and over the screen making of you just a kind of fool to exploit while the following "Sorry And..." describes in music and words a very hard letter to write and evokes suicidal thoughts under the moonlight, when autumn turns into winter and hell seems a welcoming place...

Then the long, complex "The Collector" ends the album by telling the story of a psychotic collector of human eyes, an insane serial killer that eventually realizes what he's done and takes off his own eyes to complete his macabre collection. Well, his story is long but it's worth listening to...

On the whole, a very good work!