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NOSFERATU IL VAMPIRO

RanestRane

Rock Progressivo Italiano


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RanestRane Nosferatu Il Vampiro album cover
3.42 | 45 ratings | 6 reviews | 24% 5 stars

Good, but non-essential

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Studio Album, released in 2007

Songs / Tracks Listing

CD 1 - Atto Primo (51:05)
1. Il sogno di Lucy (3:11)
2. Lucy (2:53)
3. L'ufficio di Reinfield (2:27)
4. Passerà presto (2:55)
5. Via da Wismar (2:12)
6. La locanda nel villaggio degli zingari (5:44)
7. La montagna (5:01)
8. Sono quasi arrivato (1:28)
9. Il castello (4:09)
10. L'assalto (3:35)
11. Il risveglio (4:34)
12. Il contratto (2:59)
13. Saranno giorni tristi (4:15)
14. Che giorno maledetto (5:42)

CD 2 - Atto Secondo (46:41)
1. La nave (5:22)
2. Che succede (3:15)
3. La riunione del consiglio (1:59)
4. Finalmente qui (2:05)
5. Ritorna (3:01)
6. La nozione dell'amore mancato (4:23)
7. Il diario di Jonathan (3:28)
8. Adesso so il perchè (3:39)
9. Alla ricerca del Conte (2:12)
10. Gli ultimi momenti di Wismar (3:10)
11. La morte di Mina (2:32)
12. L'ultimo incontro (5:55)
13. Il ritrovamento (3:16)
14. Via da Wismar (2:24)

Total Time 97:46

Line-up / Musicians

- Massimo Pomo / guitars
- Riccardo Romano / keyboards, programming
- Matteo Gennari / bass
- Daniele Pomo / drums, vocals

Releases information

Artwork: GrowingUp

2CD Self-released (2007, Italy)
2CD Self-released (2013, Italy) Remastered

Thanks to andrea for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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RANESTRANE Nosferatu Il Vampiro ratings distribution


3.42
(45 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(24%)
24%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(40%)
40%
Good, but non-essential (33%)
33%
Collectors/fans only (2%)
2%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

RANESTRANE Nosferatu Il Vampiro reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by andrea
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars RanestRane is an Italian prog band from Rome that was formed in 1996. The aim of the musicians involved in this project was to compose and perform a "rock-opera", so they chose a famous Werner Herzog's film, "Nosferatu The Vampyre", and commented it with music and original lyrics. They started their live activity in 2000 and conceived their shows as a "cine-concerto", with the images of Werner Herzog's film flowing in the background. In 2006 they released their rock opera on this self-produced studiodouble album.

In 2005 another (prog) rock opera about vampires was released by PFM and a comparison is due... In my opinion both works mix prog elements with a strong melodic flavour and they are in some way complementary: if you like the subject matter and PFM's "Dracula" I'm sure you will love this good and elaborate work too. "Nosferatu il Vampiro" is conceived like a long suite in two parts that can be appreciated also without images. The music flows steady without really weak moments alternating changes of rhythm and gloomy atmospheres to light and intense melodies. The beautiful art cover reproduces a painting by Caspar David Friedrich called "Cloister Cemetery in the snow" and it perfectly fits the overall mood of the album. Vocal parts featuring original lyrics are intertwined with fragments of the film dialogues that contribute to keep up the tension... "I had a dream my love / But it's so strange / That I cannot remember it"...

On the whole a good album with a peculiar feeling and a touch of originality that differentiates this work from others and make it "unique".

Review by Finnforest
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Attn fans of melodic symphonic and 90s neo-prog

RanestRane is a band from Italy who in 2006 released this fine musical companion to the vampire film "Nosferatu the Vampire." The band would actually perform live during screenings of the movie in Italy and this is the result of how the project evolved in a studio release. The work is a sprawling and epic 2-disc set, a veritable "rock-opera" of nearly two hours in length. The music can be described as a melodic-symphonic progressive rock with clear influence of 90s neo-prog, particularly Marillion. But certainly fans of popular groups like Willowglass, Pendragon and Arena et al are going to wish to hear RanestRane. My first impression of the band was that they reminded me a bit of Brave-era Marillion in their blend of keyboard textures and soaring electric guitar leads, in the pacing of the tracks and the drumming style, even in the "feel" of the vocals. The album is often vocal oriented although there are some instrumental sections. The story is punctuated by the inclusion of dialogue clips (narration) which were effective in setting mood without being so frequent as to destroy the musical flow. The musicians are highly proficient and have really done a stellar job arranging and performing what must have been a fairly complicated process, almost soundtrack work. It must be pointed out however that the music here does not exist as soundtrack but is completely engaging as a recording.

Musically things move from one mostly gentle soundscape to the next with a fairly languid pace. Lovely piano playing which sometimes lulls you to a dreamy state, pleasing vocals, hypnotic beats and orchestrations. Guitarist Massimo Pomo has the classic lazy Gilmour/Rothery/Barrett feel of holding long, peaceful, sunset filled notes on the one hand, while using a clean jangly strum or minimalist patterns on the other. Whatever they need to set the mood appears at the ready, from those guitars to Riccardo Romano's piano or Matteo Gennari on bass. Singer Daniele Pomo does not sound like Hogarth exactly, but purely speculating, I bet he's a fan. He carries the duties of this long album with the emotional "control of ceremonies" that Hogarth has over an album like Brave. He is comfortable with every musical scene, always hitting the right amount of involvement and never overplaying the music. I believe some may complain that the music never breaks free from a kind of professional reserve but they likely started typing too soon. This album lingers and sinks its teeth into your neck slowly, teasing you first with a few restless nights of unsettled sleep. Even without watching the film that inspires it, or understanding the language, I feel at the end exactly as I should. Like I've been spun a fine tale! But the caveat is that this is not an instant adrenalin payoff but music for those who love to kick back patiently and let a narcotic breeze of progressive rock smooth you out. It's a successful and very enjoyable project.

Interesting that for a project one is expecting to be "dark" there isn't much darkness or fright to the sound. There is some desolation and melancholy but even this comes off as beautiful while much of the rest of the music struck me as being quite uplifting. There is no darkness here of the Jacula/Antonius Rex variety which is what pops into my head when I think about dark or horror-based prog. Then again I'm not exactly familiar with the story of Nosferatu, perhaps overt shock and darkness are not what this horror story requires. Perhaps this story is more about unease and sadness than about fright. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one, but the point is not to expect any shock-prog from the music if that's your thing. On the other hand they are masterful at creating a coldly unsettled vibe in "Alla ricera del Conte" which is almost a new age-psych infused instrumental and certainly conjures images like the album cover. There are moments where visuals are conjured of walking a frozen field at night with rolling fog and ethereal moonlight peering down. An anxious walk with dread in the palms of your hands. But the music always returns to something uplifting to me. The climactic "Il ritrovamento" is glorious!

The two-disk set is packaged in a standard single jewel case with gorgeous cover art and a lyric booklet (in Italian.) If you are a fan of beautiful music with a somewhat distant, moody feel and relaxed pace, RanestRane is for you. Good stuff. 7/10

Review by Nightfly
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Nosferatu Il Vampiro is at present the one and only album from RanestRane. Although released in 2006 the roots of this album go back to the turn of the decade. The band started performing live shows using Werner Herzog's film Nosferatu The Vampire as a backdrop to their music and songs. They eventually got round to recording it as an ambitious, especially considering it's a debut album, 2 cd project which alongside their songs contains dialogue from the film.

The album sits largely at the symphonic side of Italian prog with a strong emphasis on melodic songwriting. For such a project it may have been expected that a more instrumental approach with lots of atmospherics may have been a more obvious way forward, so it perhaps will come as a surprise that although these elements are present it's an album based more on the song. The more atmospheric moments tend to occur more when underscoring the film dialogue and while this will no doubt work well in the live arena with the film projected in the background, I find myself feeling a little detached at these moments. Perhaps this is partially down to not speaking Italian and therefore don't know what is being said but I would have preferred to let the music do the talking at these moments. However, the dialogue parts aren't allowed to dominate and are few enough not to be a problem.

Overall the album has a fairly mellow vibe, though the guitars crank it up a bit occasionally. Largely though restraint is the order of the day but there's certainly some lovely playing going on here, particularly in the keyboard department as well as some tasty guitar solos. Generally speaking though, the music is not overly complex, but done with tasteful restraint with some pleasing vocals from Daniele Pomo, also the drummer of the band. Not the ideal place for a frontman behind the kit but I guess they get away with it live because of their strong emphasis on the visuals. If the album has a fault, then it's perhaps a little one dimensional, particularly for a double; a couple more powerful instrumental workouts would have worked well offering a change of tack as I find my attention wandering a bit at times, particularly on disc 2. Sometimes just as you think things are going to take off it turns out to be short lived and returns to mellower territory though L'assalto on disc 1 is a rare exception. Also at the end of disc 2 they do let go for a powerful climax, but these moments are not the rule.

Minor complaints aside there's no denying that this is still an enjoyable listen and a lovely album, but for me at least listening to the 2 discs back to back is not my preferred choice. Not an essential RPI album then but for those already well versed in the genre and looking for some newer bands give RanestRane a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Review by apps79
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars A young italian group from Roma, formed in 1998 and with some high ambitions already from the start, taking flesh through trying to produce their own grandiose Rock Opera.The initial idea was to come up with their own film script and transform it to music, but recognizing the difficulties of such a project RanestRane decided to dress musically Werner Herzog's classic movie "Nosferatu The Vampyre".After three years of hard work and writing down their own lyrics for the concept, the group started performing their concept live and the public received it quite warm.Finally in 2006 the album was released as a self-produced CD.

The result of the hard work was a 2-CD/100 min. production, which is quite impressive, not really on par with the best concepts of Prog history, but certainly rewarding and well-crafted.Unlike what you should expect, the atmosphere of the album is quite smooth with both melancholic and optimistic moments, based on RanestRane's need to create some really nice melodies and mellow soundscapes.The music actually reminds of bands such as PINK FLOYD, compatriots DORACOR and PANDORA, PORCUPINE TREE and Hogarth-era MARILLION.Among the musical themes there are lot of spoken dialogues, based on the story of the film and delivered through a very professional way, not unlike listening to excerpts from a real film.The tracks are quite short but tightly connected with elements from melodic/atmospheric Prog, characterized by relax guitar solos, spacey synthesizers, sweet piano textures, acoustic soundscapes and sensitive, crystal-clear vocals, but when needed the group adds some more energy with harder guitar riffs, dominant organ parts and soaring synths.Thus, the group managed to blend grandiosity and deep atmospheres with calmer musical textures and melody.Sometimes the mass of sample vocal dialogues seem to overcome the music, but you have to really get into the concept's mood to fully appreciate this very nice work.

The hard work of the RanestRane quartet aka Massimo Pomo (guitar), Daniele Pomo (drums), Riccardo Romano (keyboards, acoustic guitar) and Maurizio Meo (bass) eventually produced a very good album.Lovers of concept albums will find another treasure in this release, which is also essential for all fans of modern and melodic Progressive Rock.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Latest members reviews

3 stars This four piece formation was founded in the second half of the Nineties, a few years later the band started to play live with the images of Werner Herzog's movie Nosferatu (1979) on the background, a 'cinema concert' as the band explains on their website. This was the starting point of their am ... (read more)

Report this review (#1932939) | Posted by TenYearsAfter | Monday, May 21, 2018 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Ranestrane is one of the most ambitious bands in the Rock Progressivo Italiano scene. Two releases so far equals two double CD albums. Both of them are concept albums. That is being ambitious. This is their debut 2 CD album. This is a concept album about Nosferatu the vampire. So I expected a ... (read more)

Report this review (#561281) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Wednesday, November 2, 2011 | Review Permanlink

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