TOO LATE

ILLUSIONS OF GRAVITY is an Italian neo-prog group founded in 2013, which released their first baby late last year, far from RPI. Here it is over-the-top prog sounds with a mix of various movements, neo to heavy prog; in fact this album is a good summary of the groups for which they have long ensured the covers, groups such as PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, PORCUPINE TREE or PFM. Well, let's say it right away, this album can be nicknamed OMNI (Unidentified Musical Object) given the developed sound navigating between vintage and recent sound, mostly offering innovative and fresh unstoppable melodies, hence my title.

"Too Late" too late or not is an album start with a remarkable Floydian atmosphere, symphonic intro with bass à la Waters, solo gilmourien, everything is there between "Animals" and "A Momentary", keyboards à la Gilmour from SAGA, one can only be converted in front of one of the most beautiful intros of 2020! The voice goes well in the monolithic neo prog register, the final piano rests you delicately on earth; many bands come back to me for the atmosphere, I'll let you find yours "Shining Bliss" on a keyboard base and a melodic title without much variety, on heavy prog à la VISION DIVINE, with keyboards and riff at SAGA again, the voice behind except towards the end where things finally move a little more, very beautifully crafted fruity solo and decrescendo finish "Strange Home" and a nervous intro rock which destabilizes a little followed by an intimate space bordering on ballad where the voice of Federico is here the most expressive; sound level I find there a little of the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT and the rhythmic session of "Animals" of PINK FLOYD, it also goes on IQ then it goes back cover of this expressive riff of the intro and the last enjoyable hard seconds that could have lasted a little longer.

"I Can" ... look for the boy, an intro to 80's oriented keyboards that are both new wave and sci-fi, a little APP again; then it rises in intensity and rhythm, arriving at a very full prog-metal structure with note reverberations, changes in sound space with a divine guitar solo, yes divine not possible that this is their first album. Neo merging with prog metal and a few touches of prog metal for a bucolic, enjoyable feeling, the most beautiful track in my opinion, expressive and intuitive. "Kua Fu" for the 11-minute piece that begins directly on an energetic keyboard-bass passage telling the story of Kua Fu wanting to tame the sun, which the band puts their stamp on by letting the moon fall in love with the character. Good question music a solid monolithic base, a little jazzy even, like "And the cruise has fun" on which are grafted various progressive variations with vintage organs, violin, guitars including three different solos; the voice is a little stretched and lacks pep but leaves the beautiful part to the instruments very well played. The finale of more than three minutes starts with a calm, symphonic epilogue with a deafening bass drum to slowly return from this quest for the sun.

ILLUSION OF GRAVITY released high fashion progressive rock with maddening guitar and synthesizers chisels. These Italian musicians have an incredible sense of melody and surprisingly fresh sound ranging from prog dino to the newer neo-metallic one; a melting pot of sounds that can reconcile the old and the new ?, a mix of updated genres putting this group in the best progressive discoveries that could have finished in my top 2020 if the time had not failed me. An album reviewed here to make up for this oversight. ILLUSION OF GRAVITY or Italian progressive rock which is easily democratized.

Illusion Of Gravity took shape in Turin in 2013 on the initiative of keyboardist Umberto Alberto and drummer Davide Garofalo. After some line up changes and a first period spent performing cover versions of pieces by Pink Floyd, Genesis, PFM, Caravan or Porcupine Tree, they started to work on their own compositions with the aim of "merging into a progressive rock core a combination of different musical genres". In 2020 they finally self released a debut album entitled Too Late with a line up featuring Umberto Alberto (keyboards), Davide Garofalo (drums), Federico Aluzzi (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alessandro Cascella (lead guitar) and Gabriele Zuddas (bass). The final result is a good mix of modern and vintage sounds...

The opener "Too Late" starts by a spacey crescendo that could recall Pink Floyd, then the dark, pulsing atmosphere gives way to a more melodic part where the music and lyrics evoke the regrets for some wrong choices made in the past but also the awareness of the need to go on. If you try, you might find that it's not too late to redeem yourself learning from your errors but you have to fight hard to come out from the abyss of a personal crises and never stop to hope in better days to come...

"Shining Bliss" blends eighties keyboard sounds and more aggressive parts with electric guitar riffs in the forefront to depict and criticize a false, hypocritical world where appearances rule and the value of a person is based only on his or her richness and bloodline...

The dark "Strange Home" conjures up haunting presences and painful memories that keep you stuck in a house once familiar and now transformed in a kind of mental prison. The following "I Can" starts by a keyboard pattern with a strong new wave flavour, then the music takes another direction while the lyrics depict an effort to break through from a bleak reality getting lost in a psychedelic trip...

The long, complex epic "Kua Fu" closes the album with fiery guitar riffs and other brilliant instrumental passages. The title refers to the name of a giant who wished to capture the Sun, a legend in Chinese mythology that the band tells through the voice of Kua Fu by interpreting his desperate, crazy effort to tame the light. There are many versions of this myth, here the Moon, queen of the night, has mercy of the protagonist and tries to save him from the burning power of the Sun...

On the whole, a good album full of nuances but that needs several spins to be fully appreciated.