APPARTENENZA

"Appartenenza" is the second album by Milanese prog band Macchina Pneumatica and was released in 2022 on the independent Black Widow Records label with a confirmed line up featuring Raffaele Gigliotti (lead vocals, backing vocals, guitars), Carlo Fiore (synth, Hammond, electric and acoustic piano, backing vocals), Carlo Giustiniani (bass, backing vocals) and Vincenzo Vitagliano (drums) plus the guest and co-producer Alberto Ravasini (former member of historic Italian prog band Maxophone - backing vocals). The new album reflects all the good qualities of its predecessor with its excellent mix of vintage sounds and original ideas. The colourful art work by Beatrice Traversin probably describes the musical and lyrical content better than my all words...

The raging opener 'Appartenenza' (Belonging) conjures up a dark atmosphere with heavy electric guitar riffs and powerful organ passages. The music and lyrics evoke a dystopic society where different groups of humans act like packs of wolves avoiding to mix with each other. Whites with whites, blacks with blacks, reds with reds, that's the way to preserve their spawn...

The nightmarish, bluesy 'Pazzo' (Mad) gives voice to an outcast, a stranger in his own home city who is going through a personal crises and is sinking in a sea of doubts. He can't find a way out and is rejected by the conformist people who look at him like at an old king who has lost his crown and now is useless and helpless. He can feel the contempt of the straight against the different and that's driving him insane. Then a kind of nursery rhyme sung in German leads to the disquieting finale...

'Fuoco d'agosto' (August fire) tells in music and words of a desperate story of alienation. In August, in an empty city, a lonely boy sets himself on fire as a consequence of his inner desert. He's alone in his room with his television and his mobile phone when calls a live television broadcast announcing his self-immolation. In a few moments his naked skin burns under the summer sun and on all the TV screens...

The long, hypnotic instrumental 'Il cerchio' (The circle) is an excellent track that leads to the following 'Rendimento garantito' (Guaranteed performance), a disquieting piece about human commodification and blind conformism. The lyrics evoke images of misleading elections, losers supported and comforted by analysts, old people crossing the streets without paying attention to the traffic, men queuing up to donate their blood to the pawnshop...

The last track, 'Venerd' sera' (Friday evening), starts by a delicate piano introduction, then the rhythm rises while the music and lyrics depict the effort of the protagonist to escape from his daily grind evoking a dream of absolute freedom and excess, a dangerous plunge into the nightlife under a false name in search for fun and lust. The protagonist seems to get lost while devils and witches play with his thoughts and the border between virtual reality and real life melts...

On the whole, a very good work!

Well, this Italian prog band from Milano has a sophomore offering that completely bowled me over, as I liked their 2019 debut "Reflessi e Maschere." The same line-up adorns this fantastic set list of supremely crisp and appealing Italian prog pieces, with the added attraction of a wonderful lead vocalist (who also plays a mean guitar) Raffaele Gigliotti. His theatrical /operatic voice is jaw-dropping throughout the set-list as he weaves various tonalities like a bank of effect pedals, going as far as to sing in convincing German on the otherwise incredible "Pazzo". Throw in the whirling dervish wizardry of keyboardist Carlo Fiore, who dazzles on all kinds of vintage ivories, as well as an athletic rhythm section that cements the deal rather succinctly. Gorgeous cover art, perfect sound and production make this a pleasant experience in its entirety.

The title track definitely expresses the word 'belonging' quite adequately as the lift off is a staggeringly rampaging overdrive into fiery power chords, pummelling drums, churning organ fills and a theme about discerning colours, countries, races, and the madness of it all. Rafaelle puts on quite a show both on his electric axe with a blistering solo as well as showcasing his powerful lungs. A wild sonic jungle of edgy passion, a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

The ingenious "Pazzo" (Insane) is a highlight tour de force piece here, one of the most expressive vocal performances in many a decade, loaded to the gills with searing bravura, spitting rage with uncontrolled frenzy, and daring to elevate the irrationality into a Falco-esque (Amadeus) German language rant for the ages. Rafaelle screams, yells, riles and cries as if he was losing his mind.

This segues perfectly with the rather dire tale of self-immolation, the 8 minute rambler "Fuoco D"Agosto" talks about a lost soul who decides to burn by fire in the heat of summer. Once again, the arrangement is muscular, almost to the point of brutality, as the razor-sharp sounds, the morose lyrics and the pleading voice underline the immense tragedy of a young life going wasted. Instrumentally, all is as tight as possible, a well-oiled rubber machine on fire.

The equally epic instrumental "Il Cerchio" is another gargantuan slice of bruising material, a cyclical tornado of whirling guitar slashes, hiccup organ swells and a chaotic e-piano ornamentation that rains on the parade, Carlo Giustiniani's bass grumbling undertow, while stickman Vincenzo Vitagliano pounds the kit with strong determination.

The shrieking guitar wails like no tomorrow on "Rendimento Garantoto", as Fiore adds broiling organ runs to the fire, the rhythm section as intense as can be in this rocking and rollicking sonic missile. When Rafaelle grabs the microphone, he is not exactly mild and mellow, nor is he yellow as his lungs hurtle forward with brazen anger at the world around him, a world of lies, of injustice, of struggle and mostly, apathy. His voice modulations are worthy of an opera, as his control is simply a joy to behold. The mid-section break evolves into a maelstrom of all the instruments in a whirring blender mode, that nevertheless features a sublime organ and guitar duel, a bluesy back and forth skirmish that frowns in intensity, that is worth the price of admission here. The bass says goodbye with its usual class.

The work week is finally over, and a delicately tired piano introduces the awaited "Venerdi Sera", a respite from the rigours of duty and a plunge into the delights of the night, a perhaps desperate search for some kind of fulfillment that can end either in pleasure or in agony. These possible extremes are delightfully reproduced instrumentally with light and sombre twists and turns, highlighted by strong sounds and urgent riffs, as well as fleeting synthesizer fluttering, all coexisting in the soul of a longing human, a frantic search for some kind of happy reality. It literally ends at the drop of a coin, another night of too much grappa.

A deliciously exciting, fresh, and vivid album, not necessarily very elegant or discreet, but more in your face and poignant.

4.5 radial robots