BREATHE AGAIN

Formed in 2008, Sandcastle from Bergamo, Italy started with Roberto Bitetti on bass/acoustic guitar, Giacomo Fadini on guitars/flute/lead vocals, Silvio Tadini on keyboards and Fabio Beretta on drums.Claiming to be influenced by classic acts such as Genesis, Pink Floyd and King Crimson and contemporary monsters such as Anathema and Porcupine Tree, they soon started playing live in their homecity and the wider Lombardy area, before recording their debut EP ''Breathe again'' in 2010.

This introductive work contains five tracks of pounding, slighltly old-styled Heavy Prog with a few Alternative Rock vibes, especially in the vocal and some groovy parts.The music is very energetic and rhythmic with constant presence of haunting organs and a fair dose of breaks, leading to more psychedelic guitar instrumentals with a FLOYD-ian feeling.Exception comes from the atmospheric ballad ''Venom'', which has a somber ANATHEMA/ANEKDOTEN mood with acoustic guitars and piano in evidence, though a hard electric break follows towards the end.The rest of the album is powerful Heavy/Progressive Rock with even some bombastic, orchestral synthesizers and really punchy guitars, bass and drums.The vocals are quite good, sometimes angry, sometimes more balanced, with a nice range and lack of serious Italian accent.The overall result is pretty memorable with the hard grooves being the band's main attraction next to some good breaks and some limited instrumental workouts.

Certainly Sandcastle are a band to watch.Their passion for energetic and tight compositions leaves promises for a bright future and their music is often full of fresh, proggy air.Recommended.