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Zerothehero - Nowhere CD (album) cover

NOWHERE

Zerothehero

 

Crossover Prog

3.53 | 9 ratings

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octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
3 stars The debut of Zerothehero had some weaknesses which this second release doesn't have and so I have the possibility to underline the differences.

First of all the guitar: it was the biggest weakness of Horror Vacui, as it appeared as just recorded at the first shot, without putting enough writing and producing effort. The opening track of this "Nowhere" is able to cancel all the bad impressions of the predecessor. The guitar sounds acid and well produced. There's still much "jam" and improvisation, I think, but Carlo Barreca has in mind what he wants from that instrument and achieves it. Nothing to say about bass which is Carlo's main instrument and I have to add that even drums and keys are well played. The track is acid and repetitive, between Floyd and the old Californian psych.

"Lotus" is more Floydian. The lazy bass and the guitar revives to the atmospheres of Meddle, and being that my favorite Floyd period I can't not like this track.

"Flood" starts with a hard-rock intro, still very classical, to get into a more relaxed and melodic soundscape. This track is an alternance of heavy rock in Uriah Heep style, melodic Pink Floyd and dark ambient. Taken separately all the three things are good, but the way are tied up together makes it my less favorite track which is saved by the flute closure which is in perfect RPI style.

"A Deep Breathe" can be considered Floydian again, but to me it sounds similar to a new- wave acoustic band of the 80s, the "Felt". Not bad.

"Raindrops" has a Krautrock feeling. A repetitive bass line which supports drums accents while guitar and keboards are almost monotonal. Very psychedelic. It changes after a couple of minutes to give us the first lyrics of the album. Much reverb and a bit of echo on the vocals are maybe too similar to Porcupine Tree, but as I have written several times, if one artist likes somebody else's sound, I think has all the right to use it.

"Electric Sheep" reminds with the title to Philip Dick, but with no lyrics I can't say it for sure. Musically it has a bit of Pink Floyd and a bit of Porcupine Tree. In this middle part of the album the initial "acidity" seems to have left room to some "sugar".

"Last Bus Home" doesn't have anything to do with Pat Metheny's train. It's an instrumental which reminds to Ozric Tentacles, and let mes say, with the same quality.

"Shelter" opens with a keyboard in Tangerine Dream style, but falls back to the sounds of Electric Sheep, this time with lyrics. I agree with the reference to Camel from another reviewer. The closer "Peace" is a sort follow-up to Shelter.

For my tastes, if the album was all like its first half I wouldn't have hesitated in rating it with 4 stars, but I find the second half not at the same level. A four stars first half and a three stars second half means 3.5 which is not allowed on PA. I stick on three but this album is really promising and a very big improvement from "Horror Vacui" under all the points of view.

This one man project is something to keep an ear on.

octopus-4 | 3/5 |

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