RIFLESSI E MASCHERE

Macchina Pneumatica came to life in 2013 in Milan under the name Atom Age Empire (later changed into Nudo and finally into the current one) on the initiative of Carlo Fiore, Carlo Giustiniani and Michel Nesti. After six years spent honing their skills, composing original material and playing live on the local scene, in 2019 the band released an interesting debut album entitled "Riflessi e maschere" (Reflections and masks), distributed by the independent label Black Widow Records, with a line up featuring Raffaele Gigliotti (lead vocals, guitars), Carlo Fiore (synth, Hammond, electric piano, backing vocals), Carlo Giustiniani (bass, backing vocals) and Vincenzo Vitagliano (drums) plus former member Michel Nesti (drums) who left the band during the recording sessions and is credited as a guest. The overall sound mainly draws on seventies influences but these musicians are not stuck in the past and are able to shape their own ideas with energy and enthusiasm...

The opener "Gli abitanti del pianeta" (The inhabitants of the planet) blends hard rock and distorted electric guitar riffs that could recall Iron Butterfly with more symphonic passages where piano and keyboards take the lead. The music and words draw images of a dystopic, nightmarish planet inhabited by special machines built to destroy each other by a cynical, unknown maker. There's too much pain, that's why a desperate, almost hysterical voice claims anaesthetic for the humankind...

The caustic "Quadrato" (Square) portrays in music and words, in a derogatory sense, a square man, one who pursues his goals without looking at anyone, perfectly at ease with social forms and conventions and always hypocritically smiling, one without doubts and who plays it safe, optimistic at an exponential level, a perfect example not to follow...

The introspective, melancholic "Come me" (Like me) describes the feelings of a man who realizes that he is not the same he used to be. The music and words evoke a strong sense of bewilderment and anguish, in some way the protagonist has turned into someone else and now thinks he sees a stranger in the mirror when he's actually looking at his own reflection, he does not recognize even his skin...

The nervous, "Avvoltoi" (Vultures) tells of a desperate escape from a crumbling world. The only hope of survival is running fast and looking for a way out, far from the ruins of a city that has fallen to pieces, a safer place where you can start again on a new basis. And yet, those who destroyed the city might be running as well, and laughing at you...

The disquieting "Sopravvivo per me" (I survive for myself) depicts a kind of metropolitan nightmare. Here every now and again the music reminds me, in turn, of an Italian seventies band called Capitolo 6, then Area and Le Orme. The vocals conjure up the image of someone who emerges from a flurry of engines and smoke where he was left stunned. Now he's enraged and screaming for vengeance...

The long, complex "Macchina pneumatica" (Pneumatic machine) is an excellent instrumental piece divided into four parts where you can find hints of psychedelia, hard rock, delicate piano passages with a classical flavour, a touch of jazz with a swinging organ and a pulsing rhythm section and many more, all mixed together with gusto, freshness and personality. A good way to close the album!

On the whole, a very interesting work that deserves a try!