MEN OF LAKE

Besides your familiar symphonic and jazzy bands coming from Italy,there were and still are a small amount of bands looking to explore the more eclectic and psychedelic side of progressive rock.One of these acts were MEN OF LAKE,formed in 1987 and starting as a quintet.They recorded their first demo in February of the next year and in 1989 it was the time for a second one,entitled ''Looking for the sun'',consisting of four tracks ,one of them being nearly 20 minutes.Finally,in 1991 MEN OF LAKE released their first official and eponymous full-length work on Musea Records.

''Men of lake'' is filled with a vintage atmosphere due to the heavy use of keyboards and especially the Hammond organ.All tracks follow a slow- or mid-tempo,characterized by the intense vocals of Maurizio Poli (in English and non-accented),the psych 70's sounding guitars of Rene Modena (of Runaway Totem fame) and the swirling sounds of the Hammond organ.Actually the album is definitely song-based with no room for really complex musicianship,though its dark atmosphere is superb and thrilling and that's the real talent of the band.However,there are some moments with beatiful organ/synth/guitar interplays and good breaks,which make the listening even more interesting.No more or less,I find this album to be weirdly attractive and every fan of vintage progressive rock and especially VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR,would propably have the same opinion with me.Among my best discoveries ever regarding the lesser-known prog rock bands!