TERRAMARE

Arpia don't seem to be a very prolific band... Their second album comes out more than ten years after the interesting "Liberazione" and in my opinion it's not at the same level. According to the band, there's a common source of inspiration for all the songs: the recurrent idea of Earth and Sea, "elements of physical force and sexuality, poles of a real and recognizable continuity, horizontal and pertaining both to a game of commonly accepted contrasts..."

Although there's a common thread, "Terramare" is an heterogeneous album where you can find excellent tracks and really weak ones... The lyrics of some pieces are just XIII Century Italian poems adapted by the band and dressed up in hard rock sounds: this operation could conceal a lack of creativity, however it works very well at least in two songs ("Rosa" and "Luminosa").

The highlights of this work in my opinion are the complex Umbrìa (a little dark gem, featuring a gothic atmosphere that reminds of some films of Dario Argento and of the music of Goblin... "Come to this caress of mine / It will be that which you haven't grazed / Come, feel in this kiss / All my silences...") and "Luminosa", (inspired by Guido Cavalcanti's poem "Luminosa apparizione di donna", featuring a peculiar and tasteful blending of rock, Piazzolla's tango and Italian folklore).

The album also features some good straightforward hard rock pieces like the opener "Bambina Regina", the cynical "Monsieur Verdoux" (inspired by a film directed by Charlie Chaplin in 1947 about the story of an unemployed banker who becomes a serial killer... "If a single crime never pays / With nine killed wives you are a hero / Monsieur Verdoux!") and "Libera" (lyrics from a Torquato Tasso's poem).

Not bad also are "Rosa" (featuring a good duet with male and female vocals), "Diana", the mysterious and unquiet "Mari" and "Piccolina", while the weak points in my opinion are "Metro", "Contrasto della villanella" and the final title track.

In the whole, a good "hard-dark-prog" album, although I don't think it's an essential one in a prog collection.