LA TORRE DELL ALCHIMISTA

There's no accounting for taste is there.I was blown away by their debut but i knew after one listen that "Neo" was a different beast. It's been 6 years since their debut and they now have a new drummer, but more importantly their flute player has left.So that's one big difference, a lot less flute.The mellotron is more prominant though but the vocals and songs for me aren't as good as on the debut. Now understand that by far the majority feel that "Neo" is an upgrade over the debut.So big surprise that my thoughts and feelings about this album are in the minority. "Dissimmetrie" is keyboard led and a little jazzy to start.Vocals 2 minutes in.Lots of organ in this one.It settles before 6 1/2 minutes with reserved vocals and mellotron. "Medusa" features some great sounding mellotron which is contrasted with the keyboards.Vocals and piano after a minute.Themes are repeated.Nice bass after 4 minutes.I like the mellotron that comes and goes. "Idra" is a piano laden track. "Risveglio Procreazione E Dubbio Pt.I" is led by bass,drums and keyboards in this uptempo intro. It settles with mellotron and acoustic guitar.It kicks back in.Vocals and a calm before 2 minutes.It gets fuller.Another calm after 6 1/2 minutes and before 9 minutes.Some guest violin and piano here. "L'amore Diverso" features laid back piano melodies throughout. "Cerbero" is uptempo with keyboards and drums.Mellotron comes and goes.Theatrical vocals and violin follow.Crickets after 2 minutes.I thought it was my phone 'cause my ring-tone is the sound of crickets.Ok maybe i shouldn't have said that(haha). I like the synths 3 1/2 minutes with organ and drums.Themes are repeated.A calm after 6 minutes before kicking back in a minute later. "Risveglio Procreazione E Dubbio Pt.II" opens with drums,bass,mellotron and keys.Great sound.Synths and drums lead before 3 minutes.A calm with flute 4 1/2 minutes.Synths are back with drums and bass.Vocals are back after 6 1/2 minutes.Mellotron follows then synths and violin. If i hadn't heard the debut i might have given this 4 stars so maybe 3.5 stars isn't fair, but i'll stick with the debut thankyou.

Greg Walker recommended this to me a some time ago and on his site he refers to it as "Killer 70's style prog".Even the cover art is classic Italian don't you think? The emphisis is certainly on the variety of keyboards used plus there's lots of flute.What i'm most impressed with though are the vocals,just the tone of his voice which thankfully are in Italian. I like the way "Eclisse" builds as drums join in followed by piano.Organ then takes the lead.A calm with flute after a minute are contrasted with outbursts of organ.Pulsating synths with drums,bass and vocals before 2 1/2 minutes.Great sound here.Strummed guitar comes in later. "Delirio" is uptempo with flute,drums and piano standing out.Vocals after a minute.Love how this sounds.The organ comes in screaming before 3 minutes. "La Torre Dell'Alchimsta" is flat out amazing! Mellotron to open as flute joins in.It turns uptempo as organ and drums take over.Vocals arrive as it settles before 1 1/2 minutes.Some nice bass and organ follow.A heavenly soundscape 2 1/2 minutes in.Mellotron is back.This is absolutely gorgeous and moving.Vocal melodies before 6 minutes. "Il Volo" opens with acoustic guitar as fragile vocals join in.Some atmosphere here.A change after 4 minutes as the tempo picks up with strummed guitar. "L'apprendista" is uptempo with drums and flute to open.Organ comes blasting in around a minute.A change to a darker sound a minute later.Nice.It settles as reserved vocals come in.It kicks back in at 3 1/2 minutes.Lots of organ late.Amazing song! "I Figli Della Mezzanotte" features keyboards,light drums,flute and bass.Vocals before a minute.The organ sounds great here. "La Persistenza Della Memoria" is filled with these inspiring piano melodies throughout. "Lo Gnomo" is uptempo to start with flute,drums and organ standing out.Vocals before a minute as it settles.Contrasts continue. "Acquario" opens with a powerful sound but it lightens quickly with flute,synths and drums.Vocals and organ follow.Beautiful. Deep bass lines 3 1/2 minutes in with piano and cymbals.Cool section.Some heavy organ after 5 minutes.Jazzy 7 minutes in. I tried to reason out why this isn't a 5 star album, but in the end there are no reasons.A classic.

3.5 stars...

A relatively new Italian band,playing progressive rock definitely of symphonic realms and trying to recapture the 70's feeling.They were found in 1997 by Michele Giardino (vocals,acoustic guitars),Davide Donadoni (bass,clarinet) and Michele Mutti (keyboards) and a year later they were joined by drummer Noberto Mosconi.In 1999 LA TORRE DELL ALCHIMISTA started playing alive around Italy,while they added Silvia Ceraolo on flutes about the same time.The dawn of the millenium found the band sifning with Kaliphonia Label and on February of 2001 they recorded their eponymous debut...

A refreshing yet so retro-sounding release full of the vintage keyboard sounds of Mutti.You won't find any electric guitars in LA TORRE DELL ALCHIMISTA's debut,as their compositions are centered around Mutti's keyboards,Ceraolo's flutes and some acoustic guitars played by singer Michele Giardino.Their style is a cross of LE ORME and BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO,being melodic yet certainly dramatic at the same time.Nice organ solos and passages,distinctive mellotron parts and some background Fender Rhodes piano will thrill every progressive fan of the old times,accompanied by the good interplays between flutes,acoustic guitars,bass and drums.All these stuff is strongly mixed with the great voice of Giardino,whose vocal chords are very crystalline and intense...A fantastic debut lovers for all the freaks out there,who can't get enough of vintage-sounding adventures!

The second studio album by La Torre dell'Alchimista was released in 2007, six years after their beautiful debut eponymous work. The line up has slightly changed and now it features Michele Mutti (keyboards), Michele Giardino (vocals), Davide Donadoni (bass) and Michelangelo Donadini (drums, percussion). During the recording sessions they were helped by some guest musicians that enriched the sound of the band providing guitars, sax, violin and flute and the result is definitively good. La Torre dell'Alchimista sound is definitively "keyboards driven" (Michele Mutti plays acoustic and electric piano, Hammond C3, Minimoog, organ, synth and Mellotron) and blends strong classical influences with prog-rock and Italian melody. Good also the art cover (painted by Michele Mutti) and the booklet containing some peculiar pictures and the lyrics. This work could remind of bands like Le Orme, PFM and BMS but it's not too derivative and it's really worth listen to. "Neo" is conceived as a concept album describing the end of a love story in an original way, through a continuous parallelism between personal feelings and images taken from ancient myths. Lyrics are not banal and it would be very unfair define this work as just dealing with Greek mythology...

The opener "Dissimmetrie" (Asymmetry) condemns conformism and hypocrisy. Jumping keyboards and sax play joyfully around while lyrics compare people who do not dare to fight for a change in their everyday life to the Golem, an artificial monster with the form of a man created from clay by magic charms or sacred words, an image taken from Jewish folklore. "You are like a shapeless drop of water / You are evanescent / Invisible fade-out / You don't leave traces of yourself... You are just souls of clay / Who fly away without dignity / You are just souls of clay / Who live into hypocrisy... I look at you and I can see / The curtain of noise / That shelters you / From the external world / Sounds of plastic / Words and shouts". If you disregard the opinion of the hypocrites and their false smiles, you can dare and fall in love with a beautiful and dangerous woman... And get troubles!

The dreamy outro of the first track leads to "Medusa", a complex piece in four parts (Faith, Fugue, Chorale, Samba V) that was inspired by the mythical character of an unfortunate woman raped by Neptune into Athena's temple. After the rape, Medusa's long hair were turned into snakes by the goddess and she was given the power to turn everyone who dared to look directly at her into stone. According to the myth, the head of Medusa was cut off by Perseus who looked at her through a mirror- like shield. Once cut off, the head maintained its power and was at last placed at the centre of Athena's Aegis as a symbol of her power. The music perfectly fits the lyrics with well balanced changes of moods and rhythms that blend prog rock, classical music and melodic vocals... "You, who confound my thoughts / On the shield of knowledge / Reflected imagine, You don't scare me / You, who confound my thoughts / You turn into stone the stupidity / Of the people who stare at you / The men who lived with you are stones by now / The heart that loved you don't beat anymore... I won't follow you, I'm free by now...". Well, a complex, dangerous and charming woman indeed! One who can drive you crazy dancing samba and that could be very difficult to forget...

"Idra" (Hydra) is a short instrumental interlude for piano solo that leads you to the first part of the long and complex "Risveglio, Procreazione e Dubbio" (Awakening, Procreation and Doubt) where, after an amazing instrumental prelude, nice melodic vocals come in changing atmosphere. Lyrics depicts some experiments to overcome the split up where you can find shadows and wasted days fading out until your arms will fall and wings will take their place to let you fly on the horizons just before falling back with your doubts... "So I feel like the father of an unknown son, scared by these signs / If the giant rides the dwarf / How can his arms carry that weight?... Idra, Cerbero and Medusa were born from waking-hours not from sleep / And they devour the remnants of my greatness... And suddenly, I lose myself".

"L'Amore Diverso" (The Different Love) is another short instrumental for piano solo that leads to "Cerbero" (Cerberus), an intricate track in three parts (Promenade, The Three Heads, The War To Hydrogenous). The sound of a piano leads you softly to the gates of madness... Cerberus is the name of the three-headed monster hound guarding the entrance to the Greek Underworld. No-one can enter or leave without getting past him... "Six eyes, six shouts, you are everywhere I turn my eyes / Six times you promise, but seven times you disappoint / You are blood, you are tears but no sweat!...". The music is haunting, swinging from frenzy keyboards rides to calm and romantic violin melodies... Well, the nightmares that rise when a love story comes to an end can really haunt you like omnipresent ghosts. Trying to fight them could bring dangerous side-effects and for your soul it could be destructive like an atomic war... "It's my rage, it's your craziness / To win, to lose, what's really important? / A hot wind blows by now / My breath is dying / My way to think about the future is dying...".

The last track "Risveglio, Procreazione E Dubbio Pt. II" is another beautiful complex piece in three parts (Epilogue, Coda, Farewell) where you can some find a nice flute passage and even some echoes coming from "the court of the Crimson King". Lyrics deals with the awareness of past errors and the condemn of arrogance, haughtiness and pride... "Time that has joined us is already splitting us / But how moves slowly the time of the split up! / Like a leaf into the wind / You are going away from here / Leaving my body naked / It remains the image of your diversity / You are like a wave, you slowly worn out / You used to confound my thoughts / Now you're going away / Leaving a void and a closed speech". A beautiful farewell for an excellent album!

I think that this is album should be a must for every Italianprog lover!

La Torre dell'Alchimista is an Italian prog band from Bergamo that was formed in 1997 by Michele Giardino (vocals, acoustic guitar), Davide Donadoni (bass) and Michele Mutti (keyboards) who were later joined by Norberto Mosconi (drums) and Silvia Ceraolo (flute). The members of the band managed to shape their own original compositions following the great tradition of classic Italian prog bands like PFM, BMS and Le Orme while adding their personal touch and an up to date sound. This eponymous debut album was released in 2001 by Kaliphonia and the result is definitively good.

The beautiful opener "Eclisse" features piano, drums, organ and flute leading to a tense and "dusty" atmosphere... "The air gets filled with human fear / Drums run after the beating of the hearts... A blade writes on my belly the scream of the people / And the impassive stone drinks blood and vigour...": lyrics depict a human sacrifice during an eclipse of the sun. Well, when listening to this track try to imagine the scene of the sacrifice in 2006 Mel Gibson's film "Apocalypto"... Anyway the acoustic guitar brings a sense of hope in the end: "A new light is rising / And it will heat pale and frail shapes"... A kind of soft and delicate wake up after a nightmare!

Next comes "Delirio (In Do Minore)" that is full of "crazy energy", while the third track "La torre dell'alchimista" (The Alchemist's Tower) is a kind of timeless musical journey featuring many changes of moods and tempos: lyrics tell about a kind of pilgrimage towards a place where you can get out from madness... "Step after step your goal is nearer / You have walked along the fields / And the voice of the river was leading you... Now your journey has come to an end / Here they cure every illness / Now you are in the right place / That's the alchemist's tower... Master, cut away the stone / My name is Lubbert Das / I come from a village in the plains / Beyond the river, beyond the walls / I come to cure my folly / Your fame is great / Even far away from here...". Probably - in the booklet there's no reference about it - the lyrics were inspired by a painting of Hieronymus Bosch, "The Extraction of the Stone of Madness (The Cure of Folly)" where you can find the words Meester snyt die Keye ras - myne name is Lubbert Das (Master, cut away the stone - my name is Lubbert Das)... At length, however, this is just another wonderful "musical painting" and the voice of Michele Giardino is like a brush adding touches of colors to the music!

"Il Volo" (The Flight) is a soft and dreamy acoustic ballad featuring a nice flute work. Lyrics and music try to depict an imaginary flight over a beautiful Irish landscape, "beyond the horizon that you can never reach" and into "fogs sweet like honey". A nice track followed by "L'apprendista" (The apprentice), a piece full of energy and "brio" that was built upon a theme taken from a symphony for organ by Camille Saint Saens... "My world has got a soul too / Simple laws, fragile signals...". Then the organ introduces "I figli della mezzanotte" (The Midnight Children), another good track featuring a mild and peculiar Middle-Eastern flavour... "For every snake there is a staircase... Victim and master of my time / I will live inside a tired body"...

"La persistenza della memoria" is a short classical inspired piano solo, a delicate interlude that precedes "Lo gnomo" (The Gnome), another beautiful classical inspired track where flute and keyboards play joyfully leading you into a fantasy world... "Once upon a time there was a merry spirit / Owner of the wood / Master of the river / He used to live serenely into an enchanted mushroom / Sleeping, smoking and drinking his wine...". The last track, the melancholic and introspective "Acquario", is a perfect finale for an excellent album... "Liquid world lost in a drop / That patiently shapes the nature again / While time slowly passes by / And into the water everything is silent / I can here only my voice".

On the whole, I think that this album should find a place in every Italianprog lover collection...

I like their debut album quite a lot and this is no deception.

Of course, the title is really depicting what you'll get here. In the way that neo-prog walks on the paths of "Genesis", "Yes" etc. , this one is deeply exploring the world of ELP as well as the symphonic Crimson (ITCOTCK) thanks to the use of the mellotron.

There are extremely touching mellotron lines on this album ("Risveglio Procreazione") which reminds me the fabulous "Epitaph". What differentiates this band from, let's say "Glass Hammer" is that vocals are very good, there are some guest artists who add value (flute, sax and violin) and the mellotron is a definite plus as far as I'm concerned. Song writing is also more refined and personal.

The whole album is a nice journey back in time. If only ELP could have been recording such type of music nowadays! Still, purists should stay away from this album since it really borrows a lot. There are even two short piano instrumentals which could have been played by K.. I guess.

I have enjoyed this album very much. A great mix of the seventies combined with modern Italian melodic prog. A fine combination.

Four stars but the band should try to be more inventive for their next album.

I purchased this debut album, liked it but sort of got lost in various shuffles, both personal and among other prog priorities, so it took a long drive through Tennessee today to chuck this into the car CD player and push volume to the hilt ( car's rented, so damn the woofers!). The Alchemist's Tower is an eclectic combo from Bergamo that doesn't follow the standard prog line-up in terms of musicians, even though keyboardist extraordinaire Michele Mutti is the outright leader (By the way, the lads stumped everyone on the booklet by spelling their names Chinese/Hungarian style: last name coming first (Fooled ya!), so I'll set it right). His dexterous style seems to favor laying down tons of the Hammond C3 organ but unlike maestros John Novello of Niacin or Keith Emerson, who like to thicken the sauce somewhat, Mutti sounds more like Focus' Thijs Van Leer (very apparent on the title track!) and the illusion is compounded by the massive use of flute courtesy of Silvia Ceraolo as a co-lead instrument. So they do sound like an Akkerman-less Focus because there is no electric guitar (lead or rhythm) anywhere, only a few distant chords on acoustic guitar on a couple of tracks. My PA colleagues also have correctly cross haired Le Orme as a possible reference (their early material had no guitar also) but these guys are way jazzier as witnessed by the deft, solid but never heavy drumming of Norberto Mosconi and the nimble bass four finger magic by Davide Donadoni. But what really sets these wonderful musicians apart is the smooth vocal work by Michele Giardino, owner of a warm voice that elevates the specific qualities of the Italian language, displaying emotion, control, fluidity and tone. The opener "Eclisse" illuminates the road through this impressive debut, laying down thick slabs of whirling organ and piano tinklings offering barometer counterpoint in the finest Emerson/Fritz tradition. The agile flute and the effective vocals veer this composition into a highly original space, especially as the bubbling synths add a little further coloring. "Delirio" features ripping piano waltzing jointly with the flute over some jazzy pastoral horizons, setting the table for another seductive Hammond melodic sortie. The cracking title track (also the bands moniker) starts out with mellotron and gentle flute before bursting into a Van Leer-like C3 excursion with a rapid-fire main theme that gurgles passionately (Hammond fans will pee their pants!), all juiced up by a gentle mid-section showcasing some beautiful melodies both on vocals and on breezy synths, remindful of my friends the legendary Consorzio Acqua Potabile. The effortless and hyper-melodic "Il Volo" is a majestic vocal piece about the sea that, while seemingly too plain for some other reviewers, fulfill my angst ridden needs (of course, understanding Italian helps me). All Italian prog bands owe at least one track to their tradition of "canzione", simple folk-popular songs, decorated with minimal proggy artifices, a bit like PFM's "Just Look Away". The next track returns to the jazzy flute-organ duet program, a little ho-hum IMHO and my least favorite track here. "I Figli della Mezzanotte" is a short, tension-filled organ romp that purveys tortuous flute and zippy synths thus combining some more of the same ingredients that give this recording its unique flavor. The next one is a delightful grand piano etude that hints at Wakeman, Tout or Jobson, a two-handed tour de force that will please fans of this tremendous instrument to no end. The good-humored nature of the C3 is displayed once again on the "Lo Gnomo", your knickers maybe dry by now but as Peter Gabriel once so correctly stated, "Here comes the flood"! The hooker in you will love his organ, for sure! (oops! Censors!!!). The 8 minute finale "Acquario" does labor a bit, veering off into various moods that could of benefited from some much needed Sturm und Drang, showing up briefly near the end with a Greenslade-ian multi keyboard barrage (wobbly synth married to heavy organ) that suddenly dies on an e-piano ennui. Ending a prog album on a high note is "vewy, vewy" important but hey, it's a debut that deserves praise, applause and 3.5 powderboxes.

When you listen to the opening number (but not only), the sound of ELP fully surrounds you. Maybe this is something one wouldn't expect from an Italian band but I have to say that it sounds really pleasant. These keys are superb, but it will be so during the whole of this album. A true symphonic one (just a bit jazzy during "Acquario").

But it is not only Michele who is great; all the other band members are on par. Very nice fluting, complex drumming, strong bass and good vocals. Another highlight in the genre (fluting I mean in the great "Delirio").

The whole of this album is a great return back to the middle seventies and the golden age of the Italian genre. What a nice journey back in these great days (IMO). The highlight might well be the gorgeous title track. If ever there were one brilliant song out of this album, it is definitely this one. Emotion, passion, skills. Anything else you want?

Passionate vocals are the major trump of this album. So convincing even if you don't grab a single word out of it. I guess that this is the difference between average and great vocals.The Tull influence is of course not to be ignored ("L'Apprendista"). Same skills. Same powerful and great music. A highlight, no doubt. A real gem of this genre (and that's very difficult to achieve).

This album is such a fine to listen to than each of the track can be considered as (almost) a jewel. The album is of course fully dominated by Mutti Michele : a real maestro this guy. The dominating parts are vocals and keyboards. If ever you would be a fan of delicate vocals (as I am) combined with sophisticated, powerful, bombastic keys: this is probably a combination you would just love. As I do.

And how couldn't you be in love with such a track as "I Figli Della Mezzanotte". Such a magical combination of incredible vocals and subtle, though jazzy oriented instrumental parts.

Lots of nice and melodic passages, short format songs for the majority (except "Acquario" ) which gives the sensation of a extremely varied and sophisticated album. In this respect, a song like "Lo Gnomo" is fully representative of their whole style. Another highlight. One more. Complex, upbeat and these keys.so magical. Great fluting as well. A jewel.

This is a very good debut album. Four stars.

By coincidence I just noticed that I have reviewed the live CD USA .. You Know? (2005) and the new studio album entitled Neo (2007) but not La Torre Dell'Alchimista their eponymous debut CD from. The focus in the nine melodic and tasteful compositions is on the keyboards by Keith Emerson aficionado Mutti Michele, he makes impression with fluent Hammond organ runs, flashy synthesizer flights and sparkling Grand piano work along delicate play on the ubiquitous Mellotron and distinctive Fender Rhodes electric piano. Another omnipresent but less dominant instrument is the flute, at some moments evoking early Camel. Other references in La Torre Dell'Alchimista their sound are ELP, Banco, Trace and even Supersister because of the more jazzy approach in teh final track Acquario. A promising debutalbum but I miss a bit tension and refinement, this band has to mature in writing compositions, the music depends too much on the splendid keyboard parts.

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Since their eponymous debuut album from 2001, this Italian band has turned from a five piece formation into a quartet, on this new CD accompanied by guest musicians on flute traverse, violin, saxophone and guitar. The last years La Torre Dell' Alchimista has performed on several festival like Nearfest 2002 in the USA and The Gouviea Art Rock Festival 2005 in Portugal, I notice this has boosted their experience and compositorial skills if you compare Neo with their debut CD.

The new album contains seven compositions (running time around 50 minutes), most sound fluent, melodic and accessible, especially the parts with vocals. I had to get used to the vocals in the first song but gradually I started to appreciate the singer and in the end I was pleased with his contributions. La Torre Dell'Alchimista their sound is drenched with a 'vintage' keyboards like mainly the Hammond organ (with obvious hints from Keith Emerson and Rick van der Linden during Trace) but also synthesizers (like the Minimoog), the Fender Rhodes electric piano, the Mellotron (often the violin-section) and the Grand piano. The interplay between the instruments is wonderful and colours this album very tastefully like the 'Liturgic organ' and violin in Medusa, a sensitive piano and violin in Risveglio Procreazione E Dubbio pt. I and flute traverse with Fender Rhodes piano and fluent synthesizer flights with intense violin in de final song Risveglio Procreazione E Dubbio pt. II. Two tracks deliver solo pieces on Grand piano: sparkling and compelling in Idra and dreamy, quite romantic in L'Amore Diverso. But I am most impressed by the lush keyboard sound featuring bombastic Hammond organ, majestic Mellotron waves and lots of fat sounding synthesizers, almost every track contain exciting keyboard work, this reminds me of fellow Seventies Italian prog legend Rustichelli & Bordini (bombastic use of Hammond and Moog) and Trace (fast Hammond runs and a wide range of vintage keyboards).

La Torre Dell'Alchimista has made a lot of progress on their new album and especially the vintage keyboard aficionados will be delighted!

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