CIELI SOTTERRANEI

I hunted this new release with a vengeance, enthralled as I was by the previous 2008 Terra! , certainly one of the finest space/psychedelic albums I have ever heard. I am delighted to report that Subterranean Skies ("Cieli Sotterranei") is in the same fluid vein as its predecessor. All the main ingredients are there, powerful bass-fueled sonic landscapes with a strong Pink Floyd atmosphere (the band dedicates the album to the memory of Rick Wright), sizzling electronics, thoughtful percussives and Umberto Schirosi's howling guitar forays. The sound engineer is none other than Beppe Crovella of Arti + Mestieri fame, a prolific keyboardist and soundscaper on his own with Romantic Warriors, Secret Cinema, Mosaic and Tower among others. Needless to say, the sound quality here is pristine; the arrangements are cosmic introspections that cannot qualify as background music because of the constant changes and intense contrasts that abound within each track. The aquatic "Fratelli d'Italia" is a breathtaking plunge into synthesized seas of tranquility, echoing guitar arpeggios and sedate drum patter that never seem listless or tedious, a whistling synth flirting with a twangy fretboard as if in amorous fusion or a thunderclap suddenly announcing a lovely organ ramble, flickering piano by the bedside. The mood is sensuous and dreamy yet vibrant and earthy, the synth solo even has hints of the traditional 'Greensleeves', a ballsy maneuver that makes this such fun to listen to. Both the wild guitar and the humming organ burn together like phosphorescent bonfire, a total orgasmic experience. Ridiculously good music. "Ahimsa" starts off with sampled words from Mohandas Gandhi, arguably one of the few heroic figures of our history, followed by a startling piano lullaby expertly fingered by Marco Fiorin and marshaled by a solid drum beat, very much in a Floyd "Meddle"- era style that is exhilaratingly effortless and organic, showing clearly this bands ability to diversify and incorporate Eastern motifs into their spacecraft. Percussor extraordinaire Luca Galimberti is very adept at creating a modern /classical climate with his precise yet sparse drumming. The title track provides a darker subterranean ambiance, booming bass from Andrea Fiorin, resonating wildly off the stalactites and stalagmites of sound, rivulets of icy piano droplets pooling gently while cascades of string synths coalesce with sprinkling spurts of crystalline electric guitar. The drums now hammer proudly, hypnotic panacea reverberating with abandon leading to a gentle fade away. "Terra!" is perhaps the closest to being ear-friendly, a simply fantastic excursion into synthesized euphoria, with bulbous peaks and grandiose valleys, dragging a lush melody along as if some delicate kite caught in a serene breeze. Sweeping background choruses make this an enigmatic composition that is brought back to earth with a stylish lead guitar solo, all picking and plucking. Again, nothing sounds forced or contrived, as if flowing naturally from within the musicians' collective conscience.

Next up the epic 2 part "La Stanza di Mandelbrot". "The Mandelbrot set is a particular mathematical set of points whose boundary is a distinctive and easily recognizable two- dimensional fractal shape. The set is closely related to Julia sets (which include similarly complex shapes), and is named after the mathematician French-Polish ?American Benoît Mandelbrot, who studied and popularized it" (Wikipedia). The music reflects the complex geometric fractals and simple sequences embodied by the inspiration which provides the listener with a much more experimental approach than witnessed up to now. The composition becomes quite mathematically serious, measuring the sonic distances between Chaos, Form and Equilibrium. We are far from any Pinkish Floydisms, in fact perhaps closer to some of Eno's more abstract work but with way more commotion from the oblique synths, the mobile bass and the agitated guitar. Part 2 in particular gets very abstruse and well?. fractal, I guess. The bass suddenly starts carving out a melody and they start sounding like Mappe Nootiche again. Brooding, ominous, deranged and frenzied. I am so impressed, it's preposterous!

The finale is a reworking of the title cut, a sensational solid drum beat propelling the synthy melody along until the ringing guitar jangles enter the procession, pinging gently and most resolutely. The final four minutes are a collage of weird samples, colliding words, sounds and pleas, extremely psychotic and unnerving. A fine companion to Terra and a wondrous new Italian band that all you well-travelled space cadets need to hear to believe. What makes it so special, is the sheer modern element that makes all this chill/lounge/house crap look like yesterdays music. Yes, it's that good!

Get Terra first and then this one, you will not regret leaving this galaxy.

4 cavernous heavens