LIMITE ACQUE SICURE

They are entitled corresponding to a red wine label produced in central Italy. Furthermore LIMITE ACQUE SICURE was formed in Ferrara as a Banco tribute band by lead singer Andrea Chendi and Antonello Giovannelli (keyboards). All in all a promising starting point, right? Their self-named debut album is offering own compositions though. Okay, one minor exception marks the extended Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso cover Il Giardino Del Mago, and this actually played live on the stage. Seven tracks of round about one hour playing time. The album recordings were realized by a six-piece group then, completed due to Luca Trabanelli (guitars), Paolo Bolognesi (drums), Francesco Gigante (bass). And since 2016 the band is taking its current shape in addition with Ambra Bianchi (flute, vocals).

The Mediterranean Sea and the limits of safe waters. According to the band name respectively album title, plus cover illustration too in the end, the concept recalls the risk in undertaking new, probably difficult and unknown paths, physically but also psychologically. That's the intellectual framework for the recorded songs that were developed for this album. Lyrics and track titles are in native language of course. Successfully accomplished, charming and heavier sections are constantly alternating within the particular songs. Ambra Bianchi's nice flute contributions are refining the sound, for example to note the charming transition into Terra Straniera. Then you'll detect a well arranged male and female vocal cooperation on Il Respiro dell'Anima. Alternatively Fiamme Intorno is more focusing on diverse breaks and turns, skilled instrumental passages. Greatly appreciated. Released on Minotauro Records this album is a must have.

Limite Acque Sicure came to life in Ferrara in 2005 on the initiative of Andrea Chendi and Antonello Giovannelli, initially just with the aim of playing covers of historic prog bands from the seventies. After some personnel changes and many years of live activity on the local scene, in 2022 the band released on the independent Minotauro Records label a very interesting eponymous debut work featuring their own compositions in vintage style (and one cover) with a line up featuring Andrea Chendi (vocals) and Antonello Giovannelli (piano, synth, organ) along with Ambra Bianchi (vocals, flute, harp, percussion), Francesco Gigante (bass), Paolo Bolognesi (drums) and Luca Trabanelli (guitars). According to the band, it's a concept album "sui generis" where all the tracks follow in some way a common thread: the eternal challenge with the unknown. The art cover gives a clue of the content...

The long, complex opener "Sogno d'oriente" (Oriental dream) begins softly but soon heavy electric guitar riffs break the dreamy atmosphere. In fact, the dreams evoked here by the music and lyrics are not those of the folktales narrated by Scheherazade in the "One Thousand and One Nights" but those of people who try to escape from wars, famine and adversities. Looking for a better place and a better future, some of them walk for miles and miles, crossing borders and rivers while others embark on ships in very bad conditions defying storms and raging waves. Often their hopes collide with reality and what they find at the end of their efforts is just another miserable place, if not death...

The introspective "Terra straniera" (Foreign land) begins by a piano solo passage, the atmosphere is tense and melancholic. The music and words tell of the sense of alienation felt by a person who is cut off from the society around him and feels like a stranger in his own land. What he has to do to overcome his blue mood is to be positive and follow the brightest star in the sky...

A pulsing rhythm introduces the following "Il respiro dell'anima" (The breath of soul), a piece about the mystery of birth, life and death. It depicts a kind of mystical journey that begins from the relationship between a mother and her child and continues until maturity and awareness. All in all, we are nothing but blood and matter in search of the soul...

"Antico mare" (Ancient sea) begins by the sound of the waves. The atmosphere is relaxed and dreamy. The music and lyrics evoke ancient civilizations and forgotten gods, battles and legends, bold warriors and beautiful women, mighty walls and talking masks, philosophers and poets. The shores of the Mediterranean Sea are full of the signs of a glorious past that still lives in our memories and the hope is that in the future the waves of this sea will bring more beauty and less wars...

"Fiamme intorno" (Flames around) is a complex piece about time passing by, regrets and hopes. It begins with a tense atmosphere while the music and lyrics describe a poet who feels that time is standing still. He can't find the words to express himself, he has no more ideals to fight for. Around him there are ghosts that dance like flames, the time that has passed can not return and the rivers where words once flowed are now dry and full of the dust of the past. Then the tension eases, resignation and bewilderment give way to new energies that fill the inner void of the protagonist. As the artist accepts to live in harmony with his new reality the inspiration comes back... According to the liner notes, this piece is dedicated to the memory of Neil Peart.

The long epic "Il giardino del mago" (The wizard's garden) is a cover of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and was recorded live. It's an interesting tribute to one of the bands that inspired them the most and it leads to the last track, "Ti salverà" (It will save you), short, folksy song that begins by a strummed acoustic guitar. It's a reprise of the last part of the second track, "Terra straniera" where the lyrics invite you to look up and follow the brightest star in the sky, a metaphorical ideal to not get lost in the path of life. According to an interview with the band, it's a kind of synthesis of this work: "as a virtuous attitude to maintain in the passages, in the evolutions of our life and our being, we wanted to propose the pursuit of an ideal, of a star that guides us... ".

On the whole, an excellent album where vintage sounds and original ideas merge convincingly.