1998 - LA STORIA DI SABAZIO

Florence-based Italian trio Triade evolved in early-70's out of the group Noi Tre, where bassist Agostino Nobile played with Franco Falsini of Sensations' Fix and Paolo Tofani of I Califfi and later of Area.He worked then at the Space Electronic in Florence, where he met 18-years old keyboardist Vincenzo Coccimiglio.The two of them started playing together and with the addition of Giorgio Sorano on drums they found Triade.They were picked up by producer Elio Gariboldi and got signed instantly by the Milan-based Derby label.In 1973 their debut ''1998: La storia di Sabazio'' was recorded at Rossi Studio in Milan and came out with the artwork being drawn by Sorano's wife.

Triade was yet another keyboard-driven Prog group, which has been compared to E.L.P. and LE ORME, but their music was rather darker and more in the vein of IL BALLETO DI BRONZO and CORTE DEI MIRACOLI with extreme organ workouts followed by haunting orchestral textures and surrounded by sinister bass lines and metronomic drumming.The music is mostly performed on Hammond organ with plenty of haunting solos, atmospheric breaks and of course strong Classical-spiced interludes.Half about of the album, which is quite short (30 minutes), is dedicated to the sidelong ''Sabazio'' piece, which features great organ performance and impressive bass work all the way through until the romantic piano-led outro.The rest of the album shows some diversity with the addition of vocals, acoustic guitars and Moog synthesizer, passing from virtuosic solos to calmer textures and maintaining a strong symphonic attitude.Here comes the more balanced side of the trio, which now eventually recalls LE ORME, trying to offer more sensitive playing in a Symphonic Rock enviroment, full of piano lines, laid-back synth flashes and romantic Italian vocals.

As Gariboldi moved to Munich, new producer Lombroso asked the trio to retuirn with a more commercial album.Triade refused and this was the beginning of the end for the band, which played numerous lives next to P.F.M., Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and Franco Battiato before fading out.Vincenzo Coccimiglio came close to joining I Dik Dik, but he eventually became a bar pianist, travelling all over the world.He sadly passed away in 2012.Tino Nobile remained also involved in the music industry, lived for some time in Los Angeles and eventually settled in Madeira, working as a composer and author.

Dramatic and dark Symphonic Rock in the vein of IL BALLETO DI BRONZO.Triade never really surpassed the challenging sound of similar sounding Italian bands, but their sole document is so well-played and pretty atmospheric that is worth investigating.Recommended.