DECALOGUE OF DARKNESS

The team of David Guidoni and Alfio Costa, better known as the musical duo DAAL in prog circles have been captivating the progressive rock community ever since they unleashed their debut "Disorganicorigami" back in 2009. The band has always dabbled in the visionary fusion laced possibilities of progressive space rock and classical music mixed with ample doses of electronica and decorated with dark experimental elements which makes them stand out from the crowd. After a four year absence from the scene after their lauded "Danced Of The Drastic Navels," DAAL is back with not just one new album but TWO! These two albums stand separately from each other with completely different approaches but complement each other quite well. Whereas "Navels Falling Into A Living Origami" is the more experimental of the two and tackles a fifty minute continuous stream of sound that constitutes a mere track and looks more to the future than past glories, DECALOGUE OF DARKNESS on the other hand is more in the classic DAAL sound and less experimental.

This one was designed to have a vintage sound that has less instrumentation than its counterpart. While "Navels Falling" has a total of eight musicians on board, DECALOGUE OF DARKNESS is more basic and only has four which finds Alfio Costa on keyboards and mellotron, Davide Guidoni on drums and percussion, Ettore Salati on guitars and Bobo Aiolfi on bass. While not technically a single track album, the music also has a free flowing effect that connects all the tracks and in this case there are ten untitled tracks that serve as subdivisions for the overall concept of a descent into darkness. This album was described to me as a return to the sound of "Dodecahedron" only without the experimentation, so in effect this is a stripped down, bare bones type of DAAL album that finds simplicity in its quartet played format that takes a no nonsense prog rock approach. As usual, everything these talented perfectionists touch turns to gold since despite the overall simpler setting, the band manages to perform another excellently produced space rock. This one has a lot more presence of guitar than "Navels Falling."

DECALOGUE OF DARKNESS stands out from other DAAL albums in that it implements the mellotron as the main instrument and is distinguished by many of the subtleties that the instrument provides. While the mellotron has jumped to the forefront with its dominate role, the guitar and bass offer unique counterpoints as well with the jazzed up drumming workouts the perfect complementary effect to create some of the coolest proggy workouts in the genre. This one is entirely instrumental unlike "Navels Falling" which found a short vocal performance towards the end of its run. DECALOGUE has a long running time of nearly 71 minutes but provides another escapist's prog paradise for those who like lengthy progified jams that simmer in space rock mode and have occasional outbursts of heavier distorted action to offer some contrast. While most of the tracks are shorter in length, two extend past the ten minute mark with "Chapter II" hitting the sixteen minute mark.

DAAL has established itself as one of the best underground prog bands on the scene today that maintains an attachment to the traditional sense of the genre but yet manages to find its own niche in a modern day world. It's astonishing that while many bands take a decade or more to create a followup album, these guys conjured up not one, but TWO brilliant albums to bring about in the year 2018. Which of these albums any particular listener loves more will depend on taste. For those who prefer a darker and more experimental approach to the electronically induced space rock that DAAL dishes out, then they will prefer the "Navels Falling" album (which i do) but for those who love a more vintage classic sound that eschews the eccentrics then DECALOGUE OF DARKNESS will be your ticket to that spaced out proggy rock bliss. Any way you slice it, DAAL remains one of my favorite contemporary prog bands for good reason. They always deliver the goods on a totally professional level with beautiful melodic motifs dressed up with all the right prog and spaced out touches. Another winner for DAAL.