MOGADOR

Mogador began life in 2007 on the Lake Como on the initiative of Richard George Allen (drums vocals). The first line up was completed by Luca Briccola (piano, keyboards, flute), Stefano Lago (guitars) and Paolo Pigni (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals). The musicians started to rehearse in a tie factory and named their band Mogador, as the ancient name of the Moroccan port of Essaouira that gave its name to a tie cloth that is a mix of silk and cotton. According to their website the same idea of mixing is reflected in the influences on Mogador's style since the individual members of the band enjoy all kinds of music from progressive rock to folk, to fusion and classical. In 2009 they released a first interesting self produced eponymous album. It's a kind of conceptual work inspired by the four elements and was recorded in a non professional home-studio. The lyrics are in English and the overall sound of the album recalls the early Genesis... Well, despite the poor recording means the result is not bad at all.

There is a short opener that sets the atmosphere and introduces the subject matter with narrative vocals, "Ab imis fundamenti". It leads to "The Salamander", a track inspired by fire, the fire of passion... "There's a fire that I burn / When I desire, when I yearn...". The second track, "The Tide's Undertow" was inspired by water and deals with some environmental issues, exalting water for the dangerous strength of its rage and its priceless value for life... "We all can feel water's primal force / And one day she'll call us all back out sea / We all exist in the dread and the fear / That one day we'll live the tide's undertow...". Then comes "Tell Me Smiling Child", one of the two tracks with no relation with the elements of the concept. It's a short piece for piano and voice featuring lyrics taken from a poem by Emily Bronte...

"Mammon's Greed" was inspired by earth and takes us back to the concept and its pastoral mood... "Take courage dear friends and we'll find the way / Hope never ends to see that perfect day / When Earth and Man live as one...". Next comes the other track non related to the elements, the short acoustic guitar driven "Solitary Bench ? An Alchemy", my favourite on this work... "There is a place that nobody knows / Where I sit alone on a solitary bench... Like a grain of sand changes into a pearl / I change too... Like an alchemist I turn my lead into gold...". "Floating In The Void", the piece inspired by air, and the instrumental symphonic outro "Omnia mutantur, nihil interit" conclude the album. By the way, the beautiful art cover reproduces a painting by Johan Christian Clausen Dahl titled "Vesuvius Erupting" where you can see all the elements. In my opinion it depicts in some way the content of the music as well...