IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA

"Tribal Domestic" is a studio album that was released by historic Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia in 2016 on the Cramps - Sony Music label with a line up featuring founder member and main composer Enzo Vita (guitar) along with John Macaluso (drums), Cristiano Micalizzi (drums), Gianluca Catalani (drums), Fernando Petry (bass), Nalle Pahlsson (bass), Rino Amato (keyboards), Vivien Lalu (synth), Chris Catena (vocals), Pino Ballarini (vocals), Jannes Stark (guitar) and the Orchestra Filarmonica Calabrese directed by Alexander Frey. This work mainly comes from the initiative of Enzo Vita, as can be guessed from the art cover where he's portrayed in the forefront with is guitar ready for action while in the background you can see many gears and wheels turning to support him. It marks the return of Il Rovescio della Medaglia to the complex structures of the band's heyday after the disappointing pop rock oriented 2011 album "Microstorie"...

The opener "Tribal Domestic Suite" is a long, complex piece divided into nine parts respectively subtitled "Le note degli idoli" (The idol's notes), "Tributo agli dei" (Tribute to the gods), "Raduno dei vecchi" (Gathering of the old men), "L'ultimo dei sogni" (The last of dreams), "La notizia" (The news), "Il diario" (The diary), "Simbiosi" (Symbiosis), "La chiave inglese" (The wrench) and "Il crepuscolo delle illusioni" (The twilight of illusions). In my opinion, it's an excellent piece, composed by Enzo Vita and arranged with the help of Rino Amato, where the guitarist and his group of rock musicians perfectly interact with the orchestra. The music flows without drops in tension as the lyrics, well interpreted by Chris Catena, conjure up images halfway between a confused stream of consciousness and divertissement. Shocking, alarming articles about a world where solidarity and freedom crumble provoking rash reactions, the sad reflections of a man on the brink of a personal crises leading to madness, the search for balance and the refuge in an inner-self able to create its own world, regret and bewilderment and finally the image of a man running barefoot in the evening without the tools to fix up his life...

"L'origine" (The origin) is another beautiful track where orchestra and rock instruments interact. The mysterious incipit sets the atmosphere, then the music and lyrics take us on inner journey to the origin of life. Birth is a big bang for everyone, it's the moment of the perception of the whole, a truth we progressively forget giving names to things and identities to persons...

On the instrumental "Mutazione X" (Mutation X) Enzo Vita's guitar is in the forefront and takes the listener on a fiery ride through the hard rocks of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the atmospheres of Il Rovescio della Medaglia 1971 debut album, "La bibbia", although with an updated sound. Then it's the turn "La sacra eternità" (The holy eternity) explicitly inspired by "La bibbia", in particular by its last two tracks, "Il giudizio" (Judgement day) and Il diluvio (The flood). Here, introduced by a dark marching beat and a hint of liturgical choir, the music and lyrics describe the protagonist's soul entering the afterlife where it joins the whole, beyond good and evil. It's a place where there's no one to judge, no measure or need to invent anything, here come those who have the dignity of looking straight in the face their own oblivion, beyond the sky and the sea, because the eternity is holy...

"L'apocalisse" (The apocalypse) is the only track featuring the vocals of Il Rovescio della Medaglia old singer Pino Ballarini. It's an ironic piece that blends hard rock, classical influences and a touch of operetta evoking a daily, raging apocalypse in a world where media confusion rules. In a story containing many other stories, restlessness carries away the protagonist, on the wings of madness, towards a place where he can enjoy a panoramic view on his memories and regrets... Last comes the sparkling instrumental "Proclama II" (Proclamation II) that concludes the album with a lively beat and electric guitar fireworks.

On the whole, an excellent work that marks a rediscovered creativity for Enzo Vita and his new and old companions.

"Io come io" is the second album by Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia and was released in 1972 on the RCA label with a consolidated line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass), Gino Campoli (drums) and Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute). It's another concept album in a hard rock style that in some way confirms qualities and flaws of its predecessor, "La bibbia". The music is full of energy but the overall sound quality reflects the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production. To explain the concept, the liner notes quote some lines from German philosopher Hegel... "In philosophy the determinations of knowledge are considered not unilaterally, only as determinations of things, but together with the knowledge to which they refer, at least together with things; i.e. they are taken not merely as objective determinations, but also as subjective determinations, or rather as determinate species of the mutual relation of subject and object...". However, do not worry! Despite the ambitious liner notes and the subject matter (an introspective quest for Truth), the lyrics are not abstruse nor pretentious and Hegel's thought here is filtered and interpreted very loosely and with a particular hippy style point of view...

The opener "Io" (I) starts by the sound of gong, then drums and electric guitar set a tense atmosphere. The music and lyrics evoke strange visions. Things and people, places and feelings come through the mist of time, something is coming closer. It's the memory of a past experience, a shadow. It's a man who once taught to the protagonist the secrets of life, he was old then but now he's much younger than the protagonist himself. It's like in a strange dream where the protagonist has to face the thought of life and death, he has yet to understand how beautiful life is and he trembles because he can't understand what death really means... "You say that everything I said to you is true / But I'm scared when you say you don't know how good it is to die!"...

"Fenomeno" (Phenomenon) is a long track divided into two parts respectively subtitled "Proiezione" (Projection) and "Rappresentazione" (Representation). It begins by a strummed acoustic guitar pattern broken by heavy electric guitar riffs and a choir that could recall Il Balletto di Bronzo's "Ys". The music and lyrics conjure up the image of the protagonist lost on a mysterious road, wandering in a thousand directions without a clue, desperately trying to understand what's false or true. The world around him is empty, amorphous and lifeless, in the morning there's no sun, in the evening there's no moon. After a calm middle section, suddenly the rhythm rises. The protagonist can see a light and someone calls him, a door opens for him... "Time, space, now I no longer live / Am I the real me?"...

The cathartic "Non io" (Not I) opens the second side of the original LP. It begins with a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio and soaring flute notes, the atmosphere is peaceful and dreamy. The music and lyrics depicts the new awareness of the protagonist who can see his past days unfold behind him. Now he hates money and reflects about the true values of life such as the love of a mother for her children. Naked, barefoot, the protagonists wants to go where the sky ends and the sea begins in search for ideals that can't fade away over time like beauty or richness... "I still want to go on my way, where the sky joins the sea / Leaving alone behind me that man who has no truth...".

The last track, "Io come io" (I as I), is divided into two parts subtitled "Divenire" (Becoming) and "Logica" (Logic) and marks the achievement of the inner journey of the protagonist. He's found the light and the light is burning in him like a sun that will never die. The positive energy of the long instrumental coda describes the power of Truth and self-awareness...

On the whole, an interesting concept and a good work.

"Contaminazione 2.0" is a live album by Il Rovescio della Medaglia that was released in 2020 on the independent Jolly Roger Records label. It captures a very particular performance of the band with a line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Pino Polistina (guitar, backing vocals), Nicola Costanti (piano, keyboards, vocals), Carmelo J. Arena (synth, Hammond, vocals), Andrea Castelli (bass) and Andrea Bruni (drums). In fact, the album was recorded at Abbey of Saint Galgano in Chiusdino, Siena on September 11, 2018 with the help of a string quartet formed by Federico Galieni (violin), Francesco Gemo (violin), Emanuele Guadagni (viola) and Katie Bruni (cello) plus the special guests Vittorio De Scalzi (flute) and Marco Fusi (Scottish hornpipes). As you can guess from title and the art work by Carmelo J. Arena and Piera Arena, it's all centred on Il Rovescio della Medaglia's 1973 album composed with Maestro Luis Enriquez Bacalov, "Contaminazione"...

The location of the concert is surrounded by a magic aura. The Abbey of Saint Galgano was a Cistercian Monastery whose construction began in 1220 around the site of the former hermitage of the saint, in the valley of the river Merse, between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano, in the province of Siena, Tuscany. It's a place full of mysticism and spirituality, despite having been deconsecrated since 1789 (the first year of the French Revolution), and is related to the Arthurian cycle of the Sword in the Stone. In fact, nearby lies the hermitage of Monte Siepi where, according to legend, Saint Galgano retired to life as a hermit in 1170 and, as a symbol of peace, stuck his sword into the rock, where it is still today. The roofless walls of the Gothic style 13th-century Abbey church still stand and it's exactly inside those walls that the stage was set...

"Contaminazione", a concept album telling the story of a mad musician who think to be the heir of Bach, was conceived for rock group and orchestra and it's not easy to play it live. For this concert the band re-arranged and played the whole work without the orchestra and in a "rockier" but effective way, with amazing harmony vocals and the classical touch of the string quartet. The sound quality is perfect and all the musicians involved showcase great technique and passion. The result is astounding and, in my opinion, this live album should be considered a good complement to the original one...

As bonus tracks, on the Cd were included three other pieces taken from Il Rovescio della Medaglia's debut album, La bibbia, that were recorded on May 5, 2019 during a concert in Barberino Tavarnelle, near Florence.

On the whole, a great document of the band's vitality on stage.

An English version of Il Rovescio della Medaglia's 1973 excellent album composed and recorded in collaboration with Maestro Luis Enriquez Bacalov, "Contaminazione", was released in 1975 on the RCA label for the international market with a different art cover where the name of the band was reduced to its acronym, R.D.M. (following in the steps of Premiata Forneria Marconi that became P.F.M. for the Manticore albums). The album was retitled "Contamination" and features adapted English lyrics that do not exactly translate the original versions but just follow the same plot that is summarized in the liner notes. In my opinion, the result is not completely convincing and I prefer by far the original Italian album where the vocals sound in some way more natural and fit better the pieces. The music, of course, is great...

— First review of this album —

Fifty years after Il Rovescio della Medaglia's debut album, "La bibbia", the band's founder member, guitarist and main composer Enzo Vita gathered around him a group of talented musicians and completely re-arranged and re-recorded it with the new line up featuring, along with the leader, also Marco Pisaneschi (drums), Davide Pepi (guitars, backing vocals), Nicola Costanti (keyboards, lead vocals) and Nicola Castelli (bass) plus the guest Caterina Costanti (flute). The new album, entitled "La bibbia 50th Anniversary", was released in 2021 on the independent Jolly Roger Records label and stems from the work of accomplished, experienced musicians familiar with up to date recording techniques while the debut album was the fruit of the passion of young inexperienced youth. If compared with the original old LP it sounds far better and gives new life to compositions that were filled with enthusiasm but penalized by the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production...

The instrumental opener "Nothingness (Il nulla)" is shorter and completely different from the original from 1971 (in fact it's credited to new guitarist Davide Pepi). It's an atmospheric, spacey track that leads to "La creazione" (The Creation) where you can appreciate the great keyboards work and creative drumming that reshape this piece about the creation of World, Man and Woman as told in the Genesis. The sound is richer, clearer and more refined than on the 1971 album. The new vocalist is perfectly up to the task, as in the following "L'ammonimento" (The warning), a piece dealing with the powerful reaction of God against the claims of the Devil...

The instrumental "Sodoma X Y" takes the place of the old "Sodoma e Gomorra" re-elaborating the old piece representing the busy, ruthless contemporary civilization. The new version adds colours and spacey flavours while maintaining the same raging energy. Then it's the turn of the brilliant rendition of "Il giudizio" (Judgement Day), a piece where the music and words depict Man waiting for the sentence of God on his final day on Earth. The last track, "The Great Flood (Il diluvio)", is a brand new piece (credited to Nicola Costanti) that replaces the original finale. It ends the album with a dark, gloomy atmosphere evoked by the church-like organ in the forefront while the English lyrics describe a great deluge and the waters sweeping away the Evil from the world...

The CD version of the album is completed by three bonus tracks, "The Creation", "The Warning" and "Judgement Day", alternative versions of "La creazione", "L'ammonimento" and "Il giudizio" sung in English.

On the whole, an excellent work.

Il Rovescio della Medaglia came to life in Rome in 1970 from the ashes of a beat group called I Lombrichi. After a good live activity and some time spent in the rehearsal room honing their skills, in 1971 they released an interesting debut album, entitled "La bibbia", on the RCA label with a line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass), Gino Campoli (drums) and Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute) who replaced their first singer Gianni Mereu. It was recorded live in the studio in just a few days and, as you can guess from the title, it's a concept album inspired by some passages of the Old Testament. It's mainly an instrumental work in a hard rock style inspired by the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Led Zeppelin with some touches of beat. The art cover was inspired by the name of the band that means "The Reverse of the Medal"...

The opener, "Il nulla" (Nothingness), is an instrumental piece that grows slowly, with experimental sounds trying to evoke the primordial chaos... It leads to "La creazione" (The creation) where powerful electric guitar riffs backed by a steady rhythm section and hieratic vocals evoke the explosive energy of the creative work of God as told in the bible. Six days to make light, sun and stars, green meadows, animals and eventually Man and Woman to whom God gave Freedom, Love and Peace, the greatest gift. On the seventh day the maker lay down and rested... Here the rhythm slackens and wordless vocals lead to a fiery electric guitar solo before another soft passage and a final surge that introduces the last track of the first side of the original LP, "L'ammonimento" (The warning), describing in music and words the wrath of God and His holy foot trampling and crushing the Devil's head.

The second side of the LP opens with the instrumental "Sodoma e Gomorra" (Sodom and Gomorrah) that starts by alternating drum rolls and electric guitar solos, then the rhythm takes speed for a wild, frenzied ride through a decadent world... Next comes the long epic "Il giudizio" (Judgement Day) that begins by a dark marching beat and a mysterious atmosphere. The music and lyrics depict the final trial of Man in front of God. Past and present of humankind are going to be judged while Man stands up crying, waiting for the verdict. Man can't come back, he has stolen, hatred, betrayed, and murdered and now the sentence is granted... The final instrumental track, "Il diluvio" (The flood) is just noise evoking the terrible consequences of Man behaviour.

On the whole, a good album despite the raw sound quality.

I didn't quite expect RDM to head in this direction after the classic Contaminazione/Contamination. Apparently they recorded a live demo right before they broke up and for some reason this recording appeared in 1988 as Giudizio Avrai. Not surprisingly the sound quality isn't great but the music is so good I could forgive that. Nothing at all like the classically derived classic of Contaminazione. This is all instrumental space rock with spacy synths, in fact it's hard for me but not to think of a more jammed version of Sensations' Fix. Imagine had this been a proper release recorded in a professional studio and RCA released this shortly after recording, we'd have a space rock masterpiece on our hands. Still we got a great space rock album but without the professional mixing and treatment it deserves. At least I can still hear all the instruments. This was hardly the first time RDM changed their sound. They were exploring psychedelic tinged hard rock on their first two albums, with La Bibbia and Io Come Io before turning to orchestrated classical prog on their landmark Contaminazione. Giudizio Avrai is a wonderful space rock album, despite the audio shortcoming, I can highly recommend, especially if you like Sensations' Fix.

It was disheartening upon finding that this is [currently] the only album available to me by this otherwise beloved Italian Prog band(?). But I move on... especially seeing it's just 33 minutes long. Thank you very much then-soon-to-be-obsolete album-length standards of the previous decade! Their debut album, La Bibbia (Italian for, as it will make sense shortly, "The Bible"!), was released 1971, the same year as Fragile, Nursery Cryme, Pawn Hearts, Aqualung and the Yes Album, just to name the top 5 here (I could have continued just as excitedly with a good many more). I'm curious how this will fare in comparison haha.

We begin with the spacy static of "Il Nulla" ("Nothingness" or "The Void"). It feeds back into harshness and then individual notes and twangs. This really is very much of the time, to say the least. This goes on until the first chord is struck at about the third minute. Space Rock of the 3+ years prior aside, I wonder where they were coming from here. It's a mostly anticlimactic 5 minutes. Then those final chords prepare us for "La Creazione" ("The Creation", of course; a great band by the way), immediately to my ears Black Sabbath-esque. It can be noted that this is produced... less than satisfactorily... It's not terrible, but still. As it's like that classic Heavy Metal, it really is a solid primary riff. Vocals are strong and prominent. And like Black Sabbath, for instance, everyone is working very well together (the bass sticks out most). It mostly falls away to a vocal group. It's a good concept: A solid Heavy Prog endeavor. "La Creazione" rides naturally into the next, the rockin' "L'ammonimento" ("The Warning"; I assume about sin and the curse), the first track that really feels me gettin' pulled on in. Again, Riff Central! Really though, some solid early Prog here.

"Sodoma E Gomorra" ("Sodom and Gomorra") is frankly pretty standard oldschool Heavy Metal, with a hard Blues/Acid Rock slant. Not much else to say. So much for the ancient capitals of sin and symbols of God's wrath... This is juxtaposed with the 10-minute mini-epic "Il Giudizio" ("The Judgment"), rung in with a gong and singular tom roll. This certainly has more going on. The reverb'd out riff starting around minute 2 is familiar, but well hard to place. The vocals are strong, the performances are convincing, etc. Some of the riffs in here (not the first time on this album), also remind of British-German contemporaries Nektar, they themselves not afraid of the Harder things in life. The thing is, even when they're at their strongest and most interesting here, there could either have been more that could have been done (to my ears) or they're trying to be someone else (and hey, I acknowledge that form flattery, for sure).

It all ends seemingly as it all began with "Il Diluvio" ("The Flood"). Static and crashing and feedback. I guess this is supposed to feel apocalyptic. I mean, I suppose they succeeded in that. It's still not all that great haha. Much like this album.

True Rate: 2.5/5.0

A band that mixes Rock and Classic musical usually falls into the cheesy category, however this is not the case when the Italian band "Il Rovescio Della Medaglia" (Eng Trans: The other side of the coin") joined forces with the Argentinian composer Luis Enriquez Bacavlov (New Trolls - Concerto Grosso and Osanna) to execute their third album: Contaminazione.

A very diverse group of talented musicians like: Enzo Vita, Stefano Urso, Gino Campoli, Pino Ballarini and Franco Di Sabbatino (Il Paese dei Baocchi), produced one of the top 10 Progressive Italian albums of all time, according to Prog Archives.com. It's an album that was inspired (or a homage) by Johann Sebastian Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier" work. It blends 17th century classical styles motifs and orchestral instruments with "hard-prog" elements, with a very present sound. The production and sound quality of the album are also superb, I'd say that beats many famous local bands of the time.

According to Italian Prog.com review, "This time the band was being renowned for their powerful performances, always played at the loudest possible volume and helped by a unique sound system. This is what the Contamination LP liner notes said about it (originally written in English, mistakes and all...): "Their instrumentation is among the moste interesting in Europe. The 6000 watt Mack vocal equipment is quadrophonic and is equivalent to 36 track amplifiers. The console table is really a portable recording studio with filters, compressors, etc. The guitar, the battery and the keyboards have 900 watt amplifiers. The keyboards consist of a vertical B Hammond organ, a harmonium, an eminent for the reproduction of strings, two VCS synthesizers, a 200 Harp [it was probably an ARP], and two mini moog synthesizers. The lighting equipment is also important. There are 50 spotlights which produce colors and special effects. On a special screen behind the group, slides and films are projected to produce abstract musical effects."

Truly, another masterpiece in my collection and one of my favorites

A brilliant and skillful merging of classical and rock traditions is here used to present a story of the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. The full title of this album is "CONTAMINAZIONE di alcune idee di certi preludi e fughe de 'Il Clavicembalo ben temprato' di J. S. Bach." Hearing the album makes it obvious how much Il Rovescio della Medaglia was inspired by J.S. Bach life and music.

1. "Absent For This Consumed World" (1:05) awesome atmospheric opener of synths and strings and cymbals (10/10)

2. "Ora Non Ricordo Piu" (1:47) opens with and fast lead synth arppegi over GENESIS/New Age-like synth wash. Beautiful male voice announces something in a plaintive voice. (10/10)

3. "Il Suono Del Silenzio" (5:16) exposes the full rock sound of the band for the first time even though there are some very classically organized and constructed sections within this multi-movement song. Very tight, competent instrumental cohesion. The choral choice for vocal exposition is good though it makes the song feel kind of rock- opera-ish. (9/10)

4. "Mi Sono Svegliato E... Ho Chiuso Gli Occhi" (4:19) opens with organ and strings as if from a famous Vivaldi, Bach or even Mozart composition. Vocals enter and the song builds all the while maintaining its largo foundation in sparsely arranged classical music. (10/10)

5. "Lei Sei Tu: Lei" (2:04) using harpsichord and orchestra with the rock band rhythm section lends this song a very time-representative sound. Little vocals, presented in the choral form again. (9/10)

6. "La Mia Musica" (4:10) opens with electric piano played classical-style (as if practicing before one's piano teacher) before the music falls away leaving a very sparsely instrument-and-space-supported foundation for a very delicate, soft solo vocal. At the two-minute mark an full church organ takes over as the foundational instrument where it is eventually joined by voice(s), rock band, and orchestral strings. The first (and only) orchestral arrangement on the album that is a bit 'cheesy.' (8/10)

7. "Johann" (1:23) uses solo electric guitar to create a finger-picked in a kind of country-classical way chordal foundation for a vocal as if from a haunted individual. (9/10)

8. "Scotland Machine" (3:06) returns to full rock format--though with all electronic instrumentalists performing as if in a classical composition.By the second half of the second minute the song climbs into drive with rolicking, melodic ride forward. Probably my favorite rock-oriented song on the album. (9.5/10)

9. "Cella 503" (3:18) an astonishingly perfect blend of rock'n'roll and orchestration--here used in an amazing call and response arrangement! Opening with awesome classical guitars (three tracks!), moving into harpsichord, horns, strings with drum-and-bass-supported synthesizer as its alternate. The organ and harpsichord work beneath the electric instruments is awesome and the pipe organ solo at the end of the song is great! Amazing song! (10/10)

10. "Contaminazione 1760" (1:04) is an astonishing display of woodwind (and synth?) skills and possibilities (10/10)

11. "Alzo Un Muro Elettrico" (2:55) is a straight-forward hard rock song in the RARE EARTH vein of dynamics and sound. If there is a weakness in the music present on this album it may be in the vocals. Not so much the lead but the choral voices are recorded rather poorly throughout the album. Two interjections of classical instrumentation occur here, one a brief quartet-like interlude in the middle and the other being the joinder of organ for the final minute. (8/10)

12. "Sweet Suite" (2:17) is a slowed down, sparsely filled instrumental similar to a couple of the earlier songs on the album, using organ as the primary foundation and lead electric jazz guitar for the melody-maker. (9/10)

13. La Grande Fuga (3:42) pits organ and harpsichord against synthesizers while both orchestra and rock band play in support beneath. The best rock riff on the album lays the foundation for the song while familiar classical (Bach?) themes play over the top from a wide variety of soloists. (10/10)

Though Il Rovescio della Medaglia employed the same Argentinian composer/conductor that NEW TROLLS had used for their 1971 Concerto Grosso, Luis Enriquez Bacalov, I have to agree with many of my predecessors that the arrangements, integration, and recorded sounds of the orchestral inputs here are far, far superior to those on Concerto Grosso. These fit within and do not feel cheezy, diluted or soundtrack-like as do the ones in New Trolls' Concerto Grosso.

A rare and gleaming achievement of integration of rock and classical music as well as a great story foundation. In my opinion, this is one of the peak achievements of the classic RPI scene.