PRESENCE

The new millenium found Presence without a regular drummer but that woould not stop the band from participating on the Black Widow compilation ''Children of Black Widow'', a tribute to the 70's Black Widow band, covering the ''Attack of the demon''.At the same time the trio of Baccini, Casamassima and Iglio (also responsible for the drum work this time) got prepared for the band's fourth studio album.This was entitled ''Gold'', inspired by Virginia Stait's novel ''The witches planet'' and eventually released in 2001.

This is another effort which shows that Presence seem stuck on the style already known from ''Makumba'' with little changes during the passing time.But what this band does, it does it good.Heavy Symphonic Prog with a bombastic and grandiose sound with hard-sounding guitars, sometimes distorted, clean and almost operatic female vocals and a pounding rhythm section.There are even occasional steps into the Classical/Avant territory with strong piano themes but the general picture remains a really powerful style in the vein of DEVIL DOLL, and that is symphonic arrangements with energetic rhythms, plenty of solos, atmospheric keyboard/piano/organ work and a deep and dark mood throughout.Meanwhile Baccini's performance remains still an ace for the band.A great female singer with an angry, theatrical and expressive voice, often leading the music to where she wants.But the total absence of diversity in Presence's offerings is possible to bother some listeners.

Dark, orchestral Symphonic Prog is once more the proposal of Presence.No signs of a true sound development but also no signs the band has lost the inspiration in what they do.Recommended.

Presence is Sophya Baccini's daytime job and band. A band listed as a Rock Progressivo Italiano band.

What we get here is heavy prog though with a lot of prog metal and British female fronted prog elements too. Sophya Baccini adds a lot of colours to their music though. At times, her vocals comes across as an early Kate Bush. As stated above, this album feels like one of these albums coming from Panic Room or Karnataka. British female fronted prog rock in other words. Commercial and song focused prog rock.

The music is not particular interesting unless this type of music appeals to you. The quality of the songs here are not that great either. The music feels a bit generic and this album is desperate needing a spark plug or ten. Sophya Baccini is the only saving grace here and there is not enough of her to save this album. Decent, but dull.

2 stars

Presence released their third album two years after ''The Sleeper Awakes''.No line-up changes this time,the band continues with a duo of drummers and records their second album on Black Widow.The title was ''Black opera'' and the release year 1998.

The title of the album somewhat describes the overall sound,operatic Symphonic Rock/Metal,but for the first half of the album we are in front of the weakest Presence release so far.Not really bad,but the trio leans much more towards the heavier side of prog with emphasis on the haunting atmosphere ala DEVIL DOLL,the bombastic orchestral keyboards and the ultra-pounding rhythm section,forgetting to produce the good melodies of their debut,the memorable material of their sophomore effort or some trully inspiring music.But from ''On travel'' and on the old and good ''Presence'' are back,especially on the excellent Giuseppe Verdi tribute suite.Superb guitar solos,fantastic operatic vocals by Sophya Baccini finally in Italian,great spacey synths and lovely piano work,the album really takes off after the middle,being a really great Rock Opera with a grandiose sound few can create.

''Black opera'' is the most uneven Presence effort to this point of their career.Bland cliche Orchestral Prog for the first part,awesome operatic Progressive Rock for the second.Definitely though an album to be recommended,particularly for the superb atmosphere on the Verdi- related 18-min. suite.

With a couple of line-up changes after ''Makumba'',the PRESENCE trio now with a new drummer moves on to the recordings of a sophomore release.The band from Napoli collaborated this time with the San Carlo Theatre strings orchestra to add some more depth to the sound.The brand new release from 1994 carried the title ''The Sleeper Awakes''.

This one finds the band stepping on a similar style like their debut,impressive Prog Rock/Metal with grandiose keyboards and bombastic riffing.But this time ''The Sleeper Awakes'' sounds rather darker than ''Makumba''.More complex interplays,more grandiose sound and plenty of haunting vocal deliveries.The orchestra remains on the background,adding an even more symphonic feeling at the mellow breaks.Present are always the virtuosic solos both on keyboards and guitars.What I am missing are the splendid melodies of the previous work,which are now very limited for the sake of darkness.However the band still competes at a decent level with professional musicianship...and it is always a nice experience to listen to Sophya' Baccini's well-worked operatic vocals.

The production is again a plus with excellent mix,so if you like metallic Symphonic Prog with plenty elements from Opera,''The sleeper awakes'' is a good purchase.Slightly worse than ''Makumba'',but still recommended.

An Italian heavy symphonic group,PRESENCE belong among the bands of the late-80's/early- 90's return of Italian prog,and were formed and guided by gifted female singer Sophya Baccini,guitarist Sergio Casamassima and keyboardist Enrico Iglio.After the EP ''The Shadowning'',they focused on recording,releasing and performing their first full-length album ''Makumba'',which saw the light in 1992.

''Makumba'' is a decent release,a borderline Prog Rock/Metal album with bombastic keyboards,melodic guitar solos and high-pitched vocals by Baccini.The musicianship is not that complex,the album contains mainly short tracks with a standard structure. Complicated bass lines,symphonic synth parts,strong drumming and heavy but not metallic guitar work create a very rich,up-tempo and grandiose style,however far from the world personal.Baccini's vocals are good,twisting from angry singing to more sensitive lines.The result can be compared to other contemporary modern symphonic acts,such as DEVIL DOLL (but with a brighter style of course),CAIRO (but less complex) and ENTRANCE (the closest comparison).

The album flows nice and easy,it has a nice production and a trully majestic atmosphere,but doesn't deserve any praise regarding its originality.A good album for fans of fast 'n' furious,heavy and mainly keyboard-driven prog sound.

With a name like PRESENCE and the fact that they're on the "Black Widow" label I thought this would be a Gothic album. It's really not dark at all and this Italian band uses English lyrics which is too bad because it's obvious it's not their first language (or second ?) yes they are that bad. They are a trio with bass, guitar, drums and female vocals.

"Scarlet" opens with atmosphere (I wish there more of this on the album) as heavy drums and guitar join in. Vocals a minute in. Nice guitar solo after 4 minutes. "The Conjuration Of Stronghold Lodge" does not sound good vocally to start. Grating is the word. It kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes and the drums are heavy. Guitar solo follows. Sampled spoken words after 3 minutes. It kicks back in before 4 1/2 minutes. Vocals are back before 7 minutes. Not a fan of this song.

"Lightening" opens with sparse piano as vocals cry out. Drums 1 1/2 minutes in as it builds. Vocals are back. "Carnival" features almost spoken vocals as the heaviness arrives.The tempo and mood shifts a lot in this one. This is the most inventive track but i'm not buying. "Blockade Ruuner" puts the focus on the vocals. Some raw guitar before 2 minutes. Nice. Vocals are back after 6 minutes. A good heavy rhythm a minute later. "Gold" is mid paced although it slows down at times. Again the vocals are the focus. Piano comes and goes as well. "If It Runs Away" is the one track I like. It's laid back with guitar and vocals.

Fans only.

Third of fourth album from this Italian formation that helped fill the void in Prog's darkest hours, so they had the merit to exist as did their label. Black Opera on the Black Widow label!! Coincidence? Well I think you are starting to understand what kind of music we are dealing with. And as much as this writer tries to be fair with this kind of product of its time, the very same object gives the very same human some real challenging reasons to remain diplomatic AND sincere. This is exactly the kind of album that cumulates all the ridiculous clichés from awful 80's-sounding drumming, to a heroic-fantasy artwork, grandiosely cheap digital synths, kitschy metal guitar strumming, the inevitable classical borrowings and high- pitched female moewings. Let me check if I didn't introduce a Pallas album in my deck by mistake.

Certainly a product of its time, and probably answering to certain kind of necessity, this album's qualities are certainly outlasted by the damage it has caused to the "cosa nostra" (only the pun is intended here ;-) of prog. Sometimes sincerity - even in terms of a solid slap to hard working musicians - is better than diplomacy - in terms of immediately regretted financial "investments" (that my diplomacy ;-) - for finding solutions to deceptions. So much for this ambassador's immunity!!!

First of all add another half star;secondly I like to point out that They are disregarded ensemble from Naple (Italy),authors of a sort of "dark concept" in the midlle between the symphonic atmosphere in the vein of ELP and a dark new prog genre a bit IQ-like, whose mood should be very appreciated by the Japanese crowd of symphonic prog fans. well the presence of a female singer, Sofia Baccini, is interesting and remarkable in her interpretation of famous airs, as a short extract from Giuseppe Verdi. Instead the guitar solos and the varied atmosphere of the keyboards (sometimes dark, in other circumstances more epic) are sometimes a bit derivative, but never banal.nothing new after all, but it's a minor question because in spite of their weak production their impact is always powerful!

Good work!

This is progressive opera. Compared to the Ayreon's "Human equation" album, this album is darker, much more floating and atmospheric (the keyboards are not vintage), and more opera oriented. The excellent female lead vocals remind me Kate Bush. The guitar is almost metal, but never irritating, with many solos, and the omnipresent dark keyboards give something really dramatic and intimidating to the whole. The keyboards exploration is interesting, and it is also the case for the numerous piano parts. The album focuses on keyboards, lead vocals and guitars. I find the bass a bit shy and not enough elaborated. The drums are sometimes repetitive, but I guess it goes well with the style. It explains why the rhythm is mainly slow. It certainly takes more than one listening to really appreciate this record.