TACITA INTESA

Excellent debut!!

Another wonderful new band from Italy, Tacita Intesa released their debut album in 2014--and what a debut it is! The band is a quintet from Tuscany who came together in 2008 and have been honing their craft together ever since. Two guitars and a nice selection of keyboards--especially some nice Hammond--complemented by a solid rhythm section, create the pastiche of sounds that characterize Tacita Intesa. The vocals are fairly sparse and are pleasant when present.

The album opener "Ciutikutown" begins with some interesting post-rock flavor, akin to contemporary band Lagartija. But before long the groove emerges, along with some nice solos, including a nice fat bass solo. One thing I love about the keyboard solos in particular is the choice of patches--nice sounds! The next song "Daigo" is a beautiful piano/guitar trio with interweaving arpeggios and exquisite melodies. "Portmanteau" is very short, at just over a minute. But the last twenty seconds are absolutely incredible, with Osanna-like frenetic activity that ends way too soon.

For me the standout on the album is "Corona," a seven minute long track that covers a lot of ground. The opening section is slow and spacey, with organ chords that sound like they came straight out of Pink Floyd. But the song doesn't stay still for long at any point. The early groove soon morphs into hard riffs doubled by Hammond and guitar, echoing back to the hard rock of the early 1970s. A chord suddenly and surprisingly transforms into an organ drone with some guitar and nice keys over the top, then some beautiful acoustic melodies which are soon doubled by the voice. This lasts for a bit then gradually takes on a harder edge, with the guitars more and more distorted and the organ more fuzzed. Nice guitar solos! A quick picture of interweaving guitars provide a brief interlude before the hard riffs featured earlier make a reappearance and close this excellent song out.

Don't let this one pass you by, especially if you're a fan of RPI. Head over to their bandcamp page (linked on the artist page) and listen and even download (currently for free!). Or even better, support the band and buy the beautiful digipack CD, available directly from the band or at other retailers (synphonic, etc). Four solid stars! (Gnosis 12/15)

Tacita Intesa come from the Casentino Valley, in the province of Arezzo, and are based in the little town of Subbiano. The band began life in 2012 with a line up featuring Alessandro Granelli (guitar, vocals), Filippo Colongo (guitar), Daniele Stocchi (keyboards), Thomas Crocini (bass) and Pasquale Balzano (drums). They were influenced by seventies prog and hard rock but managed to add a very personal touch to their original compositions. In 2014 they self-released an interesting eponymous debut album that sounds fresh and that is really worth listening to. The beautiful art work by keyboardist Daniele Stocchi in some way depicts the content of the music and lyrics, focused on the relationship between nature and science, progress and environment...

The excellent opener "Ciutikutown" is a complex track divided into three parts featuring a space rock atmosphere that perfectly fits the lyrics. The first one, Robotomia, depicts in music and words a robot picking up a beautiful, magical rose: it's the flower of life! In this way the robot breaks free from the chains of science. The second part, Epifania, describes the mystical rose breathing a new energy into the robot, its vibrations seem almost talking to him revealing the mystery of life and dissolving the shadows of the darkest arcane. The last part, Metamorfia, is a bluesy instrumental section that describes the transformation of the robot into a human being.

"Daigo" is a beautiful, short instrumental track with a melancholic atmosphere. Try to imagine a ship sailing across the Pacific Ocean, there are magnificent, breathtaking landscapes in the background and an impending sense of tragedy in the air... In fact, along with the following "Valzer della Morte" (Death's Waltz), this piece was inspired by the story of the Daigo Fukuryū Maru, a Japanese tuna fishing boat which was exposed to and contaminated by nuclear fallout from the United States' Castle Bravo thermonuclear device test on Bikini Atoll, on March 1, 1954. The music and lyrics of "Valzer della Morte" depict in a poetical way that disaster conjuring up invisible lights, a sudden explosion and a cruel, evil flower stretching out its black petals, a tree of light and the dark fate looming over the twenty-three men of the crew, victims of the merciless bomb. Two great tracks!

Next comes "Portmanteau", a short, aggressive track with a strong theatrical approach and a cabaret atmosphere featuring strange, cryptic lyrics dealing with the necessity of hiding yourself behind a mask of nonsense and the will to conform the chaos. It leads to the dreamy "Corona" (Crown) that deals with the harmony between Heaven and Earth. Here the lyrics describe a glance towards the sky to admire a beautiful crown of light and clouds, a gift coming from a lost paradise where ancient gods used to celebrate the poets and look at men with indulgence.

"Terzo rigo quarta parola" (Third line fourth word) is another excellent track where the borders between past and present are blurred and time stands still. In a new world you can fly high like a golden angel drawn by a galactic vortex of life that fades into the deep... "I've killed the god of Time / Tired of trembling...".

The surreal "Periodo refrattario" (Refractory period) concludes this interesting work. It's an instrumental piece divided into six parts that tries to describe a world dominated by media and consumerism where people seem to have lost the sense of critical thought. Try to imagine a strange factory producing heads in series, there are queues in series... Assembly and welding follow, just before the final packaging and shipping!

On the whole, I think that this is a very good album from a very promising band. You can listen to the complete album and download it for free, so have a try and if you like it ask the band for the physical copy!

The award for the most unpredictable and schizophrenic Italian prog album of 2014 so far goes to newcomers Tacita Intesa with their self titled debut! Formed in 2008 and hailing from Tuscany, this energetic band embraces both the vintage inspired masters and fresh modern sounds with a youthful vigour, attacking a wide range of styles, meaning their album sounds vital and exciting. There's a strong melodic and accessible sound with varied vocals and compact instrumental runs woven around them on display here, and this short 32 minute work (hey, it's still as long as many of the Italian prog classics!) shows a band trying everything to find their sound, revealing so much potential as they go along.

After a Post Rock-flavoured chiming guitar intro, opener `Ciutikutown' takes the album on the first of its many unexpected direction changes, turning slightly malevolent and brooding with an intense vocal. The band quickly move away from this gloomy path into a more upbeat and almost whimsical joyful stroll, plenty of laidback nimble electric guitar runs (and a nice scorching solo in the finale) and thick punchy bass. `Daigo' is a beautiful classical inspired piano interlude instrumental, but it should have been much longer! `Valzer...' is a dramatic yet still pleasing tune delivered with a stirring vocal and humming Hammond. `Portmanteau' runs barely over a minute and has a rollicking devil-may-care attitude and lusty wicked vocal that would impress Civico 23 and Il Bacio Della Medusa!

The wild variety of the disc is most evident on `Corona', full of power and grandiosity, with Pink Floyd-styled dream-like floating guitar atmospheres, heavy blasts of wild Hammond fuelled attacks and twisting aggressive grooving riffs. `Terzo Rigo...' is one of the finest accessible pieces on an RPI album in 2014, with vibrant sun-kissed catchy verses given flight by warm dreamy vocals that recall P.F.M at their tasteful best, floating whirring synths and a bit of guitar grunt to catch you off guard. Closing instrumental `Periodo Refrattario' - whirring Hammond and symphonic synths with a hint of dark classical drama, repetitive maddening guitar melodies back and forth, a battery of imposing drums and bombastic sonic violation!

On the evidence of this CD, the band still need a bit more time to fully develop and hone their compositions. Some pieces on the album are little more than snippets, even underdeveloped, or occasionally placed alongside unrelated sections which means the album sometimes has a disjointed sense of flow. But this will only improve as they continue to mature and work on their music, as plenty of ideas and styles are pouring out of the band, and I have no doubt their next release will be even stronger. But for now, this gets Tacita Intesa off to a very fine start, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Three and a half stars, rounded up to four for encouragement!

As an Italian, I have to admit that our musicians, even the most popular ones, can be - sometimes - extremely ignorant.

Our mainstream bands/singers are 95% of the times people who work with the sole purpose of making their music the most catchy and easy-to-listen they can, in order to address a larger audience, and of course, make a lot of money.

Nowadays, we don't have many bands who really understand and transmit the boundless culture of music.

Thankfully, there are bands like Tacita Intesa in this world. I can roughly translate their name to "Silent Understanding" (such a perfect name for a Prog band).

These guys regularly rehearse in the back of a truck, in a run-down industrial area in the middle of nowhere, Tuscany. I've seen pictures of the place, and it's most likely the coolest DIY studio that ever existed. The fact that they all are about the same age (20-ish) is also crazy, they are so young yet they have already come this far in their knowledge of music. If they're able to make Prog at this level now, I can easily imagine them in 10 - 15 years being one of the best bands Italy has ever had. I know this can sound exaggerated, but I've had the chance to talk to them after one of their live performances (stunning) , and I've seen so much dedication in them, so much love for music.

Let's talk about their debut album a bit.

I have a physical copy of it, and it comes with the little lyrics booklet, which is really interesting to read if you understand Italian. As a matter of fact in some of their songs (like my favorite one, "Valzer della morte") they are trying to tell the listener a story ; that's why I'm saying that having the booklet can change your perception of the music they make.

The songs are very-well structured and diverse, that's why I really liked all of them, there is never a repetitive or dull moment. The album has the right balance between smooth, silky, interludes and schizophrenic, cacophonous refrains. There is everything, from the "traditional" Prog transitions to the most daring experimental sections.

It is a journey through the minds and thoughts of these brilliant, young men. I try to see this not as an album, but as an experience. You should, too.

I am looking forward to listening to their second record, which I heard is being currently produced.

Thank you if you read this review 'til the end, I hope you'll be able to enjoy Tacita Intesa's music as much as I did.