4

Once is not customary, another Italian to review! Even if the comparison may seem harsh, we can say without really being mistaken that Prog is to Italy what France is to cheese and wine, and this even if the transalpines are among the best in the field of casein. and wine! But let's take Italy as an example to talk about music ... and good! Here is a new group or almost coming from Macerata from the center of the boot in the Marche region to offer us a first album typed Crossover Prog. Why "4"? Because it simply represents METRONHOMME's fourth work, the previous three were conceptual theatrical performances, experiments on the relationship between music and dance (L'Ultimo Canto di Orfeo 2005), music and theater ( Neve 2007, Bar Panopticon 2010) whose design was impossible to reproduce on CD. "4" is a musical cover of the first show "L'ultimo Canto di Orfeo", this time without concept and without vocals, but with more freedom for an innovative and creative result. The group tells us that METRONHOMME is a hybrid name of French origin that can be interpreted as "the precise man". Note that the 180 gram vinyl is already available. You will discover an album comprising 11 songs, the longest of which is 5:28, with an overall average of 4:00 which may put off more of a picky progenitor ... And although nay, these 11 songs will not be tamed. at first draft, and will appear as real miniature cases containing nuggets of pure prog. You have been warned, to deserve them you will have to invest in listening very carefully and be seated with your hands flat on your knees to get all the content! "I Treni di Gabo" begins this opus with a beautiful rhythmic piano, surrounded by a heavy guitar rotating in a loop, whose foot of the musician remains well glued to the wah-wah pedal. Following are guitaristic ambiances in the "sixtee's" fashion which quickly go towards a little jazzy tune. High-pitched synths warn us by shouting "alarm" before the arrival of a rise in range of a superbly executed rock chord! (8.5 / 10). "L'Uomo Ombra" begins slowly and mysteriously and then goes into rhythm as to the sound of a metronome. The orchestra accelerates with the arrival of a drum roll to embrace the path of a guitar with electrifying and exquisite arpeggios, accompanied by synths with multiple and innovative modulations. The tour will be complete with the arrival of a cohort of guitars delicately and deliciously interpreted in the unique way of MIKE OLDFIELD (8.5 / 10). "Chiuso per Gatti" is a short and beautiful pianistic ballad accompanied by a double bass and a reassuring guitar that STEVEN WILSON could have played and mixed. Very pleasant! (8/10). A single string starts the intro of "Blowup - Automatic Chiodi" and then orchestrates LA BATTERIA style accompanied by a piano with the flashes of GERSHWIN. A jazzy chorus and soon Rock follow a quiet and lackluster little path ... could do better! (7/10). "Rip Brian DIY" is a short, typically rhythmic neo-prog interlude whose beginning will remind us of ILLUVATAR to repeat itself at the end of the track, but nevertheless admirable. Between the two ends a heavy guitar will accompany a very bright jazz fusion / funky part (8.5 / 10). "Quattro Pesci Rossi" translates in French as "four red fish". For cooking, I suggest a small fry whose largest specimen, which seems to move nonchalantly, will serve as a plump bass occupying the sound space in large waves, and will be well cut by a pilot drum with a nervous pulpit; then you will take a small striped stripe decked out in a bandana with MIKE OLDFIELD inscribed on it, the last one will have an irreproachable smile with impeccable teeth and will play by key all his talent as a pianist. This recipe is a tastefully effective little miracle (8.5 / 10). With its 4:09 "Ortega" is a condensed prog with jazzy intonations brilliantly interpreted by a keyboard tinged "doomy", but well enhanced here and there by a six strings with performing aspects and varied tones. A well-placed drum solo will give an additional cachet to this progressive piece constantly moving forward (8/10). "Salt" reveals to us a beautiful instrumental assortment with its pianistic predominance, a fiery drums with a BILL BRUFORD emphasis. The orchestration stands out here a little more from the lot with a complexity and a higher class, thanks to a permanent fluidity framed by an impression of false simplicity (9/10). "Hapax" is a ballad with sea scents illustrated by licked cymbals and songs in the background of men mimicking the sounds of the waves. This title was composed to make us travel and show us serene and remarkable regions. The end of this little masterpiece expresses a quintessence of voluptuous delicacy literally plunging us into a hypnotic half-sleep ... my favorite! (9.5 / 10). A piano and a guitar turn slowly in a loop at the intro of "Uccideresti l'Uomo Grasso" to gradually accelerate, coupled with a punctual and deep bass, an ardent piano takes over RICHARD CLEYDERMAN style (nothing pejorative), and brings us directly into a masterful neo-prog cadence, taken up by an increasingly thin and incisive six-string ... well yes, it must be said when it's beautiful! (9.5 / 10). "Acrobazie" is the last and longest track on the album. It is here a branch with its models on display. Everything is there, heavy intro, jazzy rhythm, gala piano, cinematic ballad admirably played by a guitar with the allures 60 ', and also a nod to YES with the intro of "Roundabout" located at the end of the track. A real review with some flamboyant passages, but not really transcendent on the whole (7.5 / 10) . Formed in 2003, METRONHOMME did not have its first attempt despite this opening discographic and self-produced album. This group offers us symphonic rock combined with Italian prog of the seventies in symbiosis with modern and innovative influences. This achievement does not occur immediately, it must be earned, because here the combinations are multiple, and the changes of rhythms frequent. Each instrument is placed in the right place, everything is precise, and nothing is left to chance. Every note, every sound, every special effect has been studied in a professional and corosive way in order to give the listener the feeling of great clarity at all levels. I would go so far as to say that conception and hearing are in this place of an intellectual order, because this complex work gives us a lot to listen to, but also to reflect. Its two attributes are required to be able to enter deeply into the heart of this work, and to immerse oneself completely. This album was for me an excellent discovery, it was made gradually and gave me a lot of nicely introspective work allowing me to draw all the keys. Strong recommendations!

As can probably be gathered from the album title, this is the fourth album by Italian instrumental quartet Metronhomme. Formed in the Summer of 2003, the band comprises Mirco Galli (electric bass), Tommaso Lambertucci (piano, synth), Andrea Lazzaro Ghezzi (drums) and Marco Poloni (guitars) and they were joined on this album by guest keyboard player Paolo Scapellato along with Manuele Marani who contributed double bass on one number. The normal way of releasing music independently these days is through digital only releases, and this like many others is indeed available on Spotify etc, or possibly a CD if the band can scrape together the cash or already have a following, but these guys instead came out straight away with an honest to goodness 180 gm vinyl release so needless to say I was already impressed before it made it to the player.

I was even more impressed by the time I had played it a few times, as here is a band who often use piano as the underpinning instrument, allowing the bass and drums to keep a melody in mind while the guitars move in many different styles. Synths are often used to pervade some brass-type sounds as opposed to the massive string-styles so often favoured by Italian progressive acts. One's mind is immediately drawn to the Seventies, as there is a definite flavour for that period, often mixed in with jazz-fusion, but not always. It is music which is immediately accessible, with the melodies intertwining and weaving together to create something which is both complex and immediate at the same time. On Prog Archives they are listed as being crossover progressive, and if I were still in the team I would have definitely have voted yes as this is solidly within that genre with commerciality and progressive attitudes combining together to create something which is incredibly pleasing and interesting to the ear. It is relaxing but never laid back, commercial yet still pushing boundaries and creating something which provides best results when the listener is prepared to do just that, listen with no other distractions. This is my first introduction to the band, but I look forward to hearing much more.

You must hand it to the Italians, they just keep on bursting through the seams and creating a constant river of sensorial delights, seemingly with the uncanny ability to blend traditional and well-proven methods and adapt them to futuristic visions. They have been doing this since the dawn of civilization and can be witnessed in art, design, food, architecture, fashion, engineering, mechanics and of course, music. So not only has RPI maintained credibility with seemingly an inordinate number of musicians (not surprising, prog is a higher school of learning after all), but it has bloomed into variants that yearn to establish a new progression, unafraid of fantasy, courageous in overturning the norms, uncanny ability to veer into going against expectations. Everyone knows that singing is an Italian national sport, so when groups decide to take the instrumental route, the mind does boggle! While that tradition has always existed (Goblin, Arti+ Mestieri, DFA, to name but a few) , in recent years, many bands have left the microphone behind and concentrated on exceptional aural landscapes. Bands such as La Batteria, Protocollo C, Gran Torino, Mad Fellaz, L'Albero del Veleno, Daal, Moogg, Progenesi etc... are keen to display extraordinary musicianship, structural imagination, modern sounds and wizard production.

I have been biding my time in getting Metronhomme into my collection and, of course, patience being a virtue, the band from Macerata has finally asked me to review their albums. I will dispense with the suspense immediately and give the golden buzzer right now. "4" is a masterpiece that has all the hallmarks of a genre defining monument to creativity while maintaining to afore mentioned irrevocable RPI traditions of lyrical beauty, technical mastery and as Franco Falsini of Sensation's Fix once described as "Music is Painting in the Air". The electric guitars are appropriately covering the entire sonic spectrum from serene to sizzling, there is a heavy reliance on the magical piano that pervades quite evidently, though e-piano, synth and organ are also featured everywhere. The thrilling bass carves eloquently, giving the 'prosciutto' arrangement the right amount to fat to amplify the flavour. Mirco Galli is certainly a stunner. The most evident 'modernistic' trait is the drum style of Andrea Lazzaro, a crafty and contemporary upgrade of Brufordian simplicity that is pure beat candy. Overall, there is a solid jazzy approach that seeks to keep everything fresh, tight and impactful, very much like a cinema soundtrack (a common quote from prog neophytes). The fact that there is truly little to no 'noodling' , makes this even more of a revelation. No need whatsoever to provide a blow-by-blow account of each track, as this release can and should be listened to as a stirring whole, eleven chapters of pure sonic joy! Throw in great artwork and you have a flawless package that will keep on giving for many auditions to come, it has all the tools to be continually pleasurable and relevant. My only caveat is that the title "4" does not reflect the number of stars deserved here, which is a definite "5".

5 regulating measures

While I definitely end up saying this quite a few times, it's still no less true that I am quite appreciative of whenever I end up getting requested to review a barely known album like this, gives a nice change of pace from my regular listening and can often feel like it leads to some pretty enjoyable listening experiences. Metronhomme's 4 is yet another situation where this rings true, being a fun, pleasant instrumental prog album that captures a lot of the spirit of past prog acts while having their own bit of identity to it, particularly in the electric guitar tone having quite a clean, modern sound. Furthermore, the piano acts as the instrument that underpins most elements of the album, forming the core rhythmic backbone most of the time, but also breaking into more catchy, melodic territory to make it quite memorable in places as well. That's not to discredit the contributions that the rest of the band make to this either, as they all work in tandem to form the sound of the band, the peaks in intensity being full of energetic, groovy basslines, with the synths working to create a rich atmosphere that makes it all a good listen even during the slight lulls that occur from time to time. This is certainly an important thing in general, but especially for these sorts of albums that sometimes can feel as if they have the common pitfalls that a lot of modern prog can have.

From all the tracks here, the one that easily stands out the most to me is Blow-Up Automatic Chiodi, and it's almost all because of the acoustic guitar that's introduced in the 2nd half of the song. I love the way it not only introduces a different sound to what the listener has heard on the album up to this point, but also evokes a mysterious tone that separates it quite strongly from anything else here. Similarly, L'uomo Ombra is another standout for feeling so energetic and exciting, becoming almost explosive near the end, with the way it falls into almost complete silence before rising up dramatically is without a doubt one of the best moments to be found here. On the other hand, while the more bombastic moments are definitely more memorable and fun, it's the more understated, elegant moments that hold everything together more consistently, especially in terms of the drumming, having a nice bit of flair while maintaining a solid rhythm, playing off the piano remarkably well to establish a series of rhythmically interesting tracks for sure, particularly with Ortega. While I do find this a bit unmemorable at points without enough moments that really stand out to me and "wow" me in any particular way, this is nonetheless a very solid, well put-together album that I've happily listened to quite a few times at this point. Interested to see this band's other output for next time I want this sort of style of prog. Definitely worth a listen for those who are into some melodic, atmospheric instrumental prog, as it has a lot of the hallmarks that can make that music so enjoyable.

Best tracks: L'oumo Ombra, Blow-Up Automatic Chiodi, Salt

Weakest tracks: Hapax, R.I.P. Brian Diy

(Don't take my 3 stars here as a sign that I even slightly dislike it, as said, I find this to be quite a good album that certain people would definitely enjoy)

The Italian 5 piece formation Métronhomme was formed in the summer of 2003. About the band name: is a pun with the French language, that mix the sense of rhythm, of measures (Métronome), with the idea of human beings (homme). The idea of the members was that of ​​developing an unusual project, based on original music compositions, open to a wide type of sounds and experimentations. The first Metronhomme's work was characterized by the form of the "concept": not single pieces for the sake of themselves, but a single conceptual composition divided into several moments; the purpose was to represente the work in a theatrical context. The band, represented its first work in numerous theaters; the performances were welcomed by the critics and in 2005 Metronhomme decided to create a CD of the musical part of the show entitled L'Ultimo Canto Di Orfeo. In 2010, the group was involved in a new project: Bar Panopticon. Proceeding along the path of interference between music, theater and video, the Métronhomme give life to a multimedia show with live performances and a dream-like music style. The band is the author of the music and also of the tale; videos of the projections were made with the collaboration of professional actors of the Piccolo Teatro of Milan. In 2019 the band releases its fourth effort, simply entitled 4. For the band it was the result of a long period of separation from the "live" scenes, passed in the rehearsal room and dedicated exclusively to composition and musical exploration, with the subsequent studio recording final moment.

Listening to this instrumental album I am impressed by Métronhomme, because the band features outstanding musicians, and the music is an interesting and varied journey, with lots of own muscial ideas. The music is hard to pigeonhole, ok, to me it sounds as an eclectic progressive blend of several styles, with the focus on fusion, and rock. The strong points in the 11 compositions (between 1 and 5 minutes) are the interplay between the musicians, and the elements dynamics, variety and tension. The music often builds from mellow to a mid-tempo and back to mellow, fuelled by an inventive and powerful rhythm-section, and embellished with excellent, very refined and tasteful work on keyboards and guitar.

A catchy beat, fiery guitar work, concluded with delicate piano and fine synthesizer solo in I Treni Di Gabo.

Shifting between up-tempo and mellow, and between heavy guitar and tender piano and fragile guitar in L'Uomo Ombra. It evokes Anekdoten without Mellotron, but with lots of dynamics and tension.

The short track Chiuso Per Gatti delivers a dreamy sound with tender piano and electric guitar, very atmospheric, simply wonderful.

Then Blowup - Automatic Chiodi with its slow rhythm, wonderful interplay and varied keyboards. The climate is pretty hypnotizing, due to the strong and propulsive drum beats. A nice musical idea is the organ that joins in the second part, it turns the music into a compelling experience.

Rip Brian DIY is another very short piece but it sounds like 4 or 5 minutes, so much to enjoy: sparkling piano and jazzy guitar, soaring organ, a dynamic rhythm-section, swinging electric piano and fiery guitar, and what an awesome interplay!

Quattro Pesci Rossi contains a slow rhythm, the sensitive electric guitar reminds me of Steve Hackett, topped with tender piano and inventive drums.

The track Ortega is the most dynamic and powerful one on this album. It starts with a tight beat, electric piano, raw distorted fiery guitar and powerful drums, I notice elements of King Crimson. Then the music turns into swinging fusion, with powerful and dynamic drums. In the final part a more bombastic sound with organ waves and howling guitar runs, again excellent interplay.

A more jazzy musical approach in Salt, I love the swinging piano and the vivid interplay between the rhythm-section, keyboards and guitar. The moods are shifting between mellow and more lush, topped with a fiery and howling guitar, and sparkling piano.

Hapax starts mellow with tender piano, then the music becomes gradually more dynamic, a powerful guitar joins, then again mellow, with a very atmospheric part.

One of my favorites on this album is the next track Uccideresti L'Uomo Grasso? First dreamy with hypnotizing guitar work, then a swinging mid-tempo, embellished with powerful drums and sensitive electric guitar leads. Halfway an energetic build-up to a furious mid-tempo, the inventive play on keyboards and guitar is trademark!

The final composition is the longest one entitled Acrobazie, it epitomizes this band its adventurous and dynamic fusion-friendly sound, and inventive work on keyboards and guitar. The music alternates between a mid-tempo with rock guitar, a swinging rhythm with electric piano and organ, and dreamy with tender piano, backed by a splendid rhythm-section.

An interesting musical journey, especially for those who are into instrumental, more fusion-oriented prog.

Other interesting Italian prog that is not on PA: Unalei, Blind Golem and Alessandro Corvaglia.