VISIONI PARALLELE

Juglans Regia is an Italian band from Sesto Fiorentino (Tuscany). They started their activity in 1992 as a metal band (with the name of Raising Fear), influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but their style changed along the years and, according to Max Dionigi, founder member and bassist of the band, nowadays their favourite album is Biglietto Per L'Inferno's eponymous one, a classic of the Italian progressive scene of the early seventies. Juglans Regia's debut album, "Prisma", was self-produced and released in 2002 and it featured in the line up keyboardist Lapo Martini, who left the band in 2003. The present members are Alessandro Parigi (vocals), Antonello Collini (guitar), David Carretti (drums) and Massimiliano Dionigi (bass). In 2005 they released "Controluce", another self-production with good ideas but with an overall poor sound quality where some pieces definitely seem to suffer the lack of keyboards. In 2008 they released "Visioni parallele", their best work so far, featuring an improved sound quality and some guest musicians on keyboards and back vocals that helped to enrich their sound. The overall result is good...

The first track is conceived as a short "soft" introduction before the sudden burst of energy of "L'ultimo respiro" (The last breath)... "Time flows away relentless / And I'm standing still, observing the pointers / That are running an endless game..."... This piece was one of the best tracks on Juglans Regia's previous album "Controluce" and here it comes to a new life "while silence is there / it is there waiting for...". The other highlights of this work are "Il volo" (The flight), featuring an interesting bass groove and the title track "Visioni parallele" (Parallel visions), with introspective lyrics and keyboards interacting with heavy guitars... Not bad also "I colori dell'aria" and "Così vicino...", although not at the same level, while "La sera" and "Lacrima nera" are more straightforward and not completely convincing (every now and again they could suggest of a raw version of the Italian rock band Litfiba).

On the whole "Visioni parallele" is an album very far from essential in a progressive collection, but it's full of energy and has some very good moments... Anyway, you can find some samples on their official website and on their myspace, so have a try and judge by yourself!