LIBERAZIONE

Although Arpia have been active since 1984, this is the first CD they have released. Before 1995 they released only some demos... "Liberazione" is subtitled "Anthem for a dream that has become Republic" and, according to the band, "it is a concept album about the idea of a journey in the historical memory of Italy". The aim of this concept is rather bold: to express "the need to regain a collective history through individual stories"...

The album is divided in two parts. The first one, "La Resistenza", is about the struggle against fascism before and during World War II. The liner notes and the images in the booklet are an important part of this work since the band try to describe also with images and words the atmospheres and the stories that inspired music and lyrics... The opener "Ragazzo Rosso" is an instrumental dedicated to a 16 year old student who was arrested in 1927 for having handed out some leaflets against the Fascist Party. The mood of the track is dark, featuring haunting bass lines and heavy guitars... A good introduction to the following "La Roscia" a long and complex track about a red haired woman executed in 1943 in the Apennines by the Nazi-fascists for having sheltered a partisan. The song is partially sung in dialect and alternates different rhythms to express the different feelings described by the lyrics... The title track "Liberazione" is set in Modena in 1945 and tries to catch the feelings of a farmer who, while staring at the partisans entering in the city, is worried about his property and wonders about the future fearing expropriations by communists... "Piazzale Loreto" is set in Milan in 1945 and is about the feelings of a peasant who stares at the body of Mussolini, hanged, head down, by the partisans... The music flows steady trying to express hate, rage and dismay with raw electric guitar riffs...

In the second part, "Il terrore", the band try to evoke the atmosphere and the mood of the Seventies, "the years of leaden"... "Strage!" is about a bomb attack in Milan on 12 December 1969... "La ragazza Carla" is set in Piazza della Loggia in Brescia on 28 May 1974 and tries to express the feelings of a girl who is going to meeting her boyfriend while a bomb blows up... "16 marzo 1978" is about the feelings of a 78 year old retired man, an old political activist, who, while walking in Rome, stumbles on the aftermath of the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, leader of the Democratic Christian Party, then executed by the terrorists of the Red Brigades... "Bologna" is about the bomb attack at the Railway Station on 2 August 1980... The final track "Coprofagia" is about the result of the elections on 28 March 1995... The music is heavy, with cutting vocals, bass and electric guitars in the forefront that try to suggest anguish and fear, rage and indignation, anger and disdain...

In my opinion, sometimes the style of Arpia seem closer to Hard-Rock and Dark-Metal than to Neo-prog: no relation with the "Italianprog" giants of the Seventies like Le Orme, BMS or PFM. Nevertheless "Liberazione" is a good album with a really interesting concept and it's worth listening to. If you love bands like Back Sabbath this could be an excellent addition to your collection...

This little known Italian band plays a structured music with a dark angle. At times, the heavy sounds seem somewhat alien to the genre but they are not too many here and actually it is a good add-on to the whole of this album ("Ragazzo Rosso").

The music is also dark and complex; but this is also due to the themes approached in this album (fascism and terrorism). The long piece "La Roscia" conveys all of these characteristics and is one of the best tracks available. It is jazzy, weird, bizarre, melodic, harmonious, intricate and bombastic. You name it! In all a very interesting number indeed!

The prog metal lines are dispatched in the title track. One could have thought that a song with such a title ("Liberazione") would have been sweeter, lighter. Nothing as such: maybe to depict more the hardness of the fight against fascism. Very good and pleasant vocals as well.

The second part of the album consists of a suite of tracks but with no real link or musical theme between them. It is seriously rock-oriented (same as some numbers from the first part) and is closer to prog metal IMHHO. Still, this Italian band delivers a good album with "Liberazione"). Three stars.