SEGNI PREMONITORI

The sophomore effort of Doracor came instantly after the release of ''The long pathway''.But this time Corrado Sardella invited a couple of guests to help him out.Emanuele Toti Pinto lends his voice in three tracks and Massimo Farina plays guitar in one cut, all other instruments are performed by Sardella himself.''Segni premonitori'' appears to be a concept work around extraterrestrials, taking inspiration from the tracks' titles, and it was released in 1998, of course on Mellow Records, a label that supported Doracor for many years.

The music is mainly instrumental, keyboard-dominated Neo/Symphonic Prog with E.L.P. and ARENA vibes.Extremely bombastic with flashy solos, impressive pyrotechnics and decent melodies.Drum programming sounds again quite mediocre, but the compositions are rich, energetic and grandiose, full of nice twists, symphonic arrangements and Classical interludes.While most of the album runs over a powerful atmosphere, there are plenty of dreamy breaks around to calm things down and offer a more romantic atmosphere.The guitars are again a supporting instrument, but they are also the reason the album knocks on heavier terrotories quite often.All tracks are long, interesting and tightly arranged, if not only some plastic-sounding orchestrations could be delivered in a more natural way.Otherwise ''Segni premonitori'' has plenty to offer to the starving fan of Symphonic Rock.It contains a fair dose of virtuosity, there are surprising chant-like themes to be found and the changes between ethereal tunes and monster symphonic lines are more than welcome.Vocals give Doracor's style a new perspective and they should be present more frequently, even so this new entry in the music of Sardella makes this album even more interesting and accomplished.

Great follow-up to ''The long pathway''.Bombastic Symphonic Rock with both dramatic and dreamy atmospheres, built around Sardella's amazing keyboard flights.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.