Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Delirium - III (Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi del Tempo) CD (album) cover

III (VIAGGIO NEGLI ARCIPELAGHI DEL TEMPO)

Delirium

 

Rock Progressivo Italiano

4.02 | 126 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Cesar Inca
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Here is "Viaggio negli Arcipelaghi del Tempo", the third, last and best offering by Delirium. This album pretty much follows in the vein of the preceding release, only this time the jazz factor is enhanced, in this way allowing the band to display their taste for colorful expansions in a more nurtured fashion. The fact that Mimmo decided to add the electric guitar together with his usual acoustic guitar duties helps the global sound to become as full as they intended it to be, although he is no virtuoso; in fact, most of the soloing is provided by Groce (mostly on flute but also with some mean sax for good measure). Meanwhile, the keyboard department is in charge to sustain the sonic nucleus (harmonic foundations, textures), a fact that becomes particularly relevant in those climatic moments when the band fluidly drive themselves toward the intense sections of the tracks. It is obvious that the band's musical ideology has become more ambitious, adding robust string arrangements in most of the densest passages. 'Il Dono' is a beautiful, serene acoustic ballad that finds the band confirming once again that the bucolic thing is and has always been a forte of theirs. The pairing of the namesake track and 'Fuga N. 1' shines with a bittersweet splendor through the tempo shifts and mood variations: the latter exhibits a particularly somber tone that almost seems cinematographic. In moments like this you can tell that there is a strong family air shared between Delirium, Jumbo, Capitolo 6 and Campo di Marte. After this ordeal of typically prog complexity, comes the ballad 'Dio del Silenzio', arguably the most accomplished pastoral Delirium song ever. Despite the relative simplicity of its recurrent main motif, its mixture of "Aqualung"-era JT and standard Mediterranean symphonic folk is taken to peaks of moving lyricism - the feeling provided by Grice on his flute playing certainly has got to do very much with it. 'La Battaglia degli Eterni Piani' reinstates the somber sophisticated atmospheres of 'Fuga', even reinforcing the source of energy. Once again, a ballad is used as a gentle provider of contrast - 'Un Uomo' is actually too short for the kind of tenderness that it is supposed to convey, but I guess that this is an usual problems in some prog albums. some songs deserved to be longer that they actually became. 'Viaggio N. 2' brings back the intense sort of jazz- friendly symphonic rock that tracks 2, 3 and 5 had previously delivered so well: the track's focus lies on the clever amalgam of two main motifs fluidly linked to each other. The thunder strike and pouring rain that end this track is segued into the closer 'Ancora un'Alba', which consists of an emotive orchestral daydream of strings and woodwind followed by a brief instrumental reprise of 'Dio del Silenzio'. Sublime!, really sublime! A beautiful ending for an excellent album, as a matter of fact, Delirium's zenith.
Cesar Inca | 4/5 |

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Share this DELIRIUM review

Social review comments () BETA







Review related links

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.