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KALISANTROPE

Rock Progressivo Italiano • Italy


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Kalisantrope biography
Italian instrumental band Kalisantrope formed in October 2013 when a trio of musicians expressed a desire to, in their own words, "bring to light, against the monotony of modern mainstream music, the true meaning behind the progressive genre." After many months spent experimenting in the rehearsal room, Alex Carsetti (drums & percussion), Davide Freguglia (keyboards & synths) and Noemi Bolis (bass guitar) finally commenced recording of their first studio work, resulting in their debut EP being released in December 2014.

`The Anatomy of the World' is an impressive twenty-six minute disc that achieves a good balance between modern sounds with vintage Seventies RPI qualities. Some parts remind of the instrumental elements of Le Orme, others hint at the classical elegance and daring of Triade's sole 1973 album `1998: La Storia di Sabazio', with fleeting moments of gothic grandeur, brief space-rock diversions, heavier bursts and symphonic flavours all worked in. It's a fine start that reveals a promising band with great potential!

Bio by Michael Hodgson (Aussie-Byrd-Brother)

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3.81 | 8 ratings
Brinicle
2017

KALISANTROPE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

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KALISANTROPE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.80 | 4 ratings
Anatomy Of The World
2014

KALISANTROPE Reviews


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 Brinicle by KALISANTROPE album cover Studio Album, 2017
3.81 | 8 ratings

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Brinicle
Kalisantrope Rock Progressivo Italiano

Review by Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars With their set-up of bass, keyboards and drums, Italian instrumental one lady/two fellas trio Kalisantrope released a distinctive twenty-six minute EP `Anatomy of the World' back in 2014 only a year after their formation, and a humble little debut of great promise it turned out to be! Three years on, with a few more years of maturing experience and live performances under their belt, they return in 2017 with their first full-length disc `Brinicle', a work that progresses the band nicely and offers even further hints of the carefully revealing sophisticated potential they've already displayed. In addition to many passages retaining the classical-tinged symphonic RPI of their debut, `Brinicle' proves to often be a little jazzier, adding flourishes of everything from electronica, ambient, percussion-driven raga and chamber-prog flavours, as well as tantalizing little teases of other unexpected new sounds to come!

`Dawn on Hiroshima Skies' opens with an eerie Eastern intrigue powered by keyboardist Davide Freguglia's Hammond organ, whirring synths and sparkling electric piano contemplations, as Noemi Bolis' sweetly murmuring bass slithers between them and Alex Carsetti's clacking percussion rattles with purpose, the piece ultimately picking up gently in tempo to offer just a hint of danger and culminating in a grander symphonic finale. The heavily improvised `Placebo Effect' bristles with a darker jazzier flavour due to its extended scratchy Fender Rhodes soloing, Noemi's relentless buoyant bass and Alex's pattered cymbals, and the Mellotron and Hammond-flecked `Canis Majoris' starts to head into the Le Orme-styled symphonic direction of parts of the debut EP, growing lightly nightmarish and tense before picking up a strident harder step in the final moments.

Deserving of special attention, both `Notturno' and `Morgendämmerung' are unlike anything the band have done to date! The former is a hypnotic drift of droning ambient electronics and subdued spectral synths, while the latter is an exotic rumination of hand percussion and pensive flute, almost reminding of Popul Vuh's `In Den Gärten Pharaos' or something off a Third Ear Band LP. These fascinating and rich diversions offer only glimpses of styles and directions that the band may develop more fully and even more successfully on further albums, and it showcases their emerging diversity and growing confidence to great effect.

Admittedly the album has kept pretty low-key and careful up to this point, but it's finally with the final trio of pieces that start with `Cordyceps' where the band really comes to life! This relentless track holds swirling synths aplenty in the manner of modern RPI groups like F.E.M Prog Group and La Coscienza di Zeno with little trickles of a prog-electronic sound sneaking in, and the thick pumping bass backed by rambunctious drumming gives the album a big surge of power and bombast at just the right moment. `Seeking Harmony' returns to the cascading crystalline piano and pumping spurts of feisty keyboard pomp that gently reminds again, as the debut EP did, of everything from that more frantic classical approach of vintage RPI band Triade's minor classic from 1973 `1998: La Storia Di Sabazio', as well as early Le Orme, and especially fellow modern young Italian band Unreal City.

Album closer `Genistae' is the longest and most complex offering here, delivering plenty of drama and careful build across a range of moods, with the same shadowy jazz atmosphere that permeates many great vintage Italian prog discs creeping in, and Davide's reflective piano melancholy and pulsing electronics come to resemble eerie ambient drones with a cinematic soundtrack-like elegance. But throughout the second half, Noemi's snaking bass grows in wild snarling breathlessness, Alex's crashing cymbals and rumbling drumming really weigh down on the listener and Davide's whiplash keyboards spiral out of control with delirious zest, before finally culminating in a reflective Mellotron, tip-toeing electric piano and sobering bass outro - what an amazing close to a fine album all up!

If there's one issue to be had with the album, it's perhaps that it somewhat coasts along over the first five tracks in a mostly subdued, unhurried manner, when a few bursts of greater (noisier!) energy and urgency would have really kicked up the attention levels. It takes until the sixth track for the album to start raising the pulse and going on the attack, and indeed it's the last three tracks that really explode with the full promise inside this talented group, and it might have been better if these three tracks had been placed between the five earlier ones to break things up a little. There's also just a few moments where the playing is more exciting than the actual instrumental tunes or melodies being presented, but these are really quite minute issues and shouldn't be unexpected with younger bands, and they definitely don't deserve to be lambasted about these elements.

But make no mistake, Kalisantrope's star is on the rise in modern Italian prog circles, with the group recently touring over the last year with the likes of the above mentioned Unreal City and the Neo-styled Silver Key, and their second release `Brinicle' is a more sumptuous, varied and ambitious effort that really pays off on frequent replays, one that moves them even closer to delivering that total knockout effort they've got building inside them.

Three and a half stars, rounded up to four again, well done Kalisantrope!

 Anatomy Of The World by KALISANTROPE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2014
3.80 | 4 ratings

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Anatomy Of The World
Kalisantrope Rock Progressivo Italiano

Review by HAL

3 stars Kalisantrope is an Italian trio of bass, drums and keyboards. 'Anatomy of the World' is their debut EP, containing five instrumental tracks clocking in at 26 mins. With this setup, you might expect some ELP influence, but putting on the opening track, 'Varroa Destructor', we are heading off into different landscapes. Drums and a deep, rumbling bassline opens to track. The keys adds a symphonic flair to the rather gloomy atmosphere. The calm intersection nearly takes the track into total darkness before the keys, drums and bass kicks off again in similar fashion. Great opener, especially if you are in a shady mood. With 'Hypophysis' a floating keyboard sound is allowed to dominate until drums and bass splashes into the spotlight again. Track shifts into different gear for the 2nd half before that floating keyboard sounds bookends the tune. 'Holodomor' once again starts with floating keyboard sounds for more than a minute. This is the most jazzy part of the EP, with close to improvised drumming and jazzy piano chords on top. Very good one! The piano chords continue on 'Concept Fading', but in a less subtle way, and this track soon turns into a rather tight and demanding affair that starts to get a bit annoying after a while. Closing section luckily calms it down. The closer is a three part 'epic' that starts with a church organ playing a funeral-like intro, before we are treated with a short rocking section of the EP in the 2nd part. Then it all slows down with a low key interplay between piano and bass, before all three comes forward in full throttle on the final episode. Elements of jazz (mostly) and prog (a little) are melted with a flair of post metal to create a feeling of dark corner jazz trio with proggy ambitions. It's hard to point at specific references, but if we stay within Italy, I could find some traces of Le Orme and Perigeo in their playing. The trio of instruments don't allow much variation on sound, and puts some challenges on the future development of the band. They seem highly capable musicians, and may profit on bringing in some guests for their next record. 2.5 stars rounded upwards for being their first recorded attempts. Potential is definitely there!
 Anatomy Of The World by KALISANTROPE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2014
3.80 | 4 ratings

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Anatomy Of The World
Kalisantrope Rock Progressivo Italiano

Review by andrea
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Kalisantrope are a young prog band from Rescaldina, a small town in the province of Milan. The band was formed in 2013 with a line up featuring Noemi Bolis (bass), Alex Carsetti (drums) and Davide Freguglia (keyboards). Soon after they met, they begun to work on some original compositions and started performing live on the local scene. At the end of 2014 the band self released a very interesting debut EP entitled Anatomy Of The World, with a very simple packaging and a nice artwork. The album is completely instrumental and the overall sound could recall bands such Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Le Orme but it would be unfair to define them as clones of someone else. In my opinion their song-writing is absolutely brilliant and these young musicians deserve credit.

The opener "Varroa Destructor" starts just by drums and bass, then the keyboards bring in a disquieting, dramatic atmosphere. The title refers to an external parasitic mite that attacks the honey bees and that can only thrive in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens its prey by sucking hemolymph. A significant mite infestation will lead to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring... Well, here the music has an ethnic, tribal flavour and you can almost feel an impending, threatening event looming on the horizon!

Next comes "Hypophysis" that starts by an evocative intro played by the keyboards setting a mysterious, almost spacey atmosphere. The title refers to the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, an endocrine gland, a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain from where are secreted the hormones that help to control growth, blood pressure and many other functions of the human body...

"Holodomor" is another evocative track featuring a dark, almost gloomy mood. The title refers to the "Terror-Famine in Ukraine". According to wikipedia sources, the word Holodomor literally translated from Ukrainian means "death by hunger", or "to kill by hunger, to starve to death". The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1932 and 1933 that killed an estimated 2.5?7.5 million Ukrainians, with millions more counted in demographic estimates. Since 2006, the Holodomor has been recognized by the independent Ukraine and many other countries as a genocide of the Ukrainian people carried out by the Soviet Union...

The following "Concept Fading" is lighter and alternates delicate, dreamy piano solo passages with heavier, frenzied sections full of energy with the keyboards backed by a strong rhythm section. It leads to the excellent final suite "She", a long, complex track divided into three parts. The first one is subtitled "Funeral Elegy" and features a classical inspired church like organ solo that sets a dark atmosphere. The rhythm section comes in for the second part, subtitled "1st Anniversary: An Anatomy Of The World", where a steady marching beat fades in a dreamy, reflective passage leading to the jazzy conclusive part, subtitled "2nd Anniversary: The Progress Of The Soul". A great track!

On the whole, I think that this is a very promising debut work that it is really worth listening to. Have a try! You can listen to the complete album on Youtube.

 Anatomy Of The World by KALISANTROPE album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2014
3.80 | 4 ratings

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Anatomy Of The World
Kalisantrope Rock Progressivo Italiano

Review by Aussie-Byrd-Brother
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Forming in late 2013, Kalisantrope are a new Italian instrumental progressive rock trio with the set- up of bass, keyboards and drums, and their first twenty-six minute EP `Anatomy of the World' already shows great promise, with the young group striking a good balance between a modern sound with vintage Seventies RPI qualities. Some parts remind of the instrumental elements of Le Orme, and, surprisingly, other moments hint at the classical elegance and daring of Triade's sole 1973 album `1998: La Storia di Sabazio'! With fleeting moments of gothic grandeur, brief space- rock diversions, heavier bursts and symphonic flavours also worked in, it's an exciting little start to a potentially great new band to keep an eye on!

On moody opener `Varroa Destructor', Alex Carsetti's drums are dominating and up-front, female player Noemi Bolis' bass rumbles like a thunderstorm, and Davide Freguglia's keyboards move between mystical drones and spacey synth runs. Eerie Mellotron choirs bookend `Hypophysis', an energetic piece that races back and forth in tempo, Alex's furious drumming briefly calling to find Le Orme's heavy `In Concerto' album, and some spiralling Moog dashes remind of the galloping moments of Premiata Forneria Marconi. Ethereal deep-space synths initially float through `Holodomor' before wisps of electric piano ambience, brooding Fender Rhodes thickness, scratchy bass distortion and sprightly drumming almost take the piece in a jazz/fusion direction, and fans of Norwegian band Elephant9 should love this one.

The trio deliver their most ambitious pieces from this point on, and the more prominent RPI traits fully emerge starting with the fourth track `Concept Fading'. Spiralling runs of classical piano, maddening synths, frantic bass and snappy drumming tear up, down and all around, very much in the manner of the extended instrumental first side of the above mentioned Triade's addictive `La Storia di Sabazio' album, but whether it's a true influence on the band or this is simply a coincidence is unsure! The eight minute three-part suite `She' really hints at what the band can deliver with lengthier works, and gloomy church organ with teases of classical themes and reflective piano interludes weave between slinking bass, driving drums and gently erupting Fender Rhodes fire.

At this early point, some of the playing is a little clumsy in a few brief spots, and successful transitions between passages are not as well developed as they could be, but this is a young band, and the three players will only keep improving and honing their skills from here. The production of the album means the trio are always prominent in the mix, and they already show great developing musical ability and imaginative compositions. These elements all help make `Anatomy of the World' a strong little debut with a creative variety of instrumental ideas that suggest the best is yet to come from the group, so let's hope they have a full album in them in the near future!

Three and a half stars, rounded up to four for encouragement.

Thanks to aussie-byrd-brother for the artist addition.

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