SGNAUTZ !

Habelard2 is the project of composer Sergio Caleca from Milan, Italy. His album "Sgnautz!", released in September of 2019, is his 2nd full studio released in 2019. Once again, Sergio is the sole performer on this release playing all instruments. The only guest is a vocal by Paolo Callioni on the title track. This album originally came about from unused material from a demo tape in 1986. The 4 tracks from that demo have been refined and other new songs were crafted from that. The final product is a 13 track album that has a total run time of over 55 minutes. There are no long tracks like the 16 minute ending track on the previous album. This time around, the tracks stay between one minute and just over 6 minutes. The album is available as a FLAC download on bandcamp.

The album starts off with what Sergio says is probably his first ever composition "Alta Marea" (High Tide). The sound of waves brings in a solo piano that plays a repeating motif and the piano later improvises over the motif which is fairly straightforward, but has just a touch of dissonance on the back end. Just before 2 minutes, other instruments (drums, soft guitar, light synths) are added in. The music builds a bit bringing in electric guitar and synth to play off of the motif. "Carruba" follows with a rolling percussion and an organ/synth that builds to a solo. This has a catchier, yet somewhat tricky beat at times. "Scuiscia ca Vola" (So Thin That It Could Fly) has a funk vibe to it and is led mostly by synth layers. The vibe mellows to a more soft jazz fusion sound as it continues. The synth improv towards the end is nice.

"Mocassini Babe" (Baby Shoes) is led by soft guitar layers that have some contradicting lines that provide a slightly unnerving feel, and this texture continues as it goes while it builds and then softens to sustained effects and then returns to the main riff with the addition of a cool synth/organ improv around the main theme. The dissonance that is felt through out the track is a nice touch. "Music For an Imaginary Crime Action Movie" is led by piano chords and organ with some strange synth chords. There is a cinematic feel to the expansive sound the synth reaches for at times, but there seems to be a lack of tension that the title implies should be there. Later, there is an addition of scratchy, funky guitar that might echo "Shaft" or something like that, but there still isn't the tension there.

"Notturno Nr. 2" is led by layered electric guitars with some synth background and an even rhythm. Later, a single guitar line plays the melody with embellishments, but it always leads back to the layered sound. Since the track is a Nocturne, or named as such, it doesn't seem quite as peaceful or pensive as a typical Nocturne, maybe a bit busy, more like a city at night. "Gualdrappa" starts with solo piano playing a repeating motif with drums and smooth synths coming in later, making for a slow swaying sound. Halfway through, an organ builds a bit more excitement as it drives more emotion into the track that culminates in a more driving beat with the guitar coming in heavier as it goes along and then finally calming with strings (could be effects) calm things down and build it all up again to a sudden ending.

"Sgnautz!" (the title track) comes along next with a more dramatic sound as pounding drums and smooth synths build the music. When it reaches the apex though, it's not really the payoff that was expected. Instead you get some synth chords. Finally the guest vocalist comes in well into the 2nd minute. The track remains surprisingly flat and lifeless throughout unfortunately, even the lyrics or melody from the vocalist don't help. In the end, it's hard to understand why there was a fuss around this track. "Split" returns to the instrumental tracks. This one at least has the tension in it that was missing from the last track, and is led mostly by piano and organ with the drums working well to create tension. This is a return to a better sound with a nice expansive feel as it continues. It's a very nice track. "Sabrena" goes for a much heavier sound with an extended guitar riff in the beginning, but it lightens up to more jangly guitars later. The guitar textures keep changing back and forth and end up making a nice contrasting track that does well holding its weight, even when the sustained synths come in later. It ends up being another nice track with some great texture contradictions throughout. Strangely enough, it all works well.

"Perle ai Porci" (Pearls to Pigs) begins surprisingly smooth, but throws in some squealing pig sounds and an occasional dramatic piano riff to just through you off. The music makes you keep thinking there is going to be this cool payoff, but it never really happens as it stays a bit lackluster, even when the guitar layers threaten the somewhat meandering feel of the song. "Salve" (Hello!) is the shortest track just over a minute, and features some nice glitchy synth effects that are warped and muffled. The album ends with the longest track just over 6 minutes called "Il Giudizio Universale" (The Universal Judgement). The beat is moderately slow and the guitars and synths are a bit too passive for such an apocalyptic title. It sails along on layers of synths and mellotron with an underlaying guitar. It slowly builds a bit and the drums try to get a little more excitement out of the instruments, but they are content just to sail along. Tension builds as it continues, and again you wait for the big pay off that keeps threatening, but never really comes about.

The album is pretty decent, but has its share of downfalls too. Some of the tracks are pretty good while others seem a bit pointless, especially the title track with the unnecessary vocals. While some tracks are quite satisfying, there are just as many that don't really go anywhere. As was the case with "Il Dado e Tratto", the previous album, there are no real "focus" tracks here, but that still doesn't say that this album doesn't have it's moment. There is still some great material here, but overall, it comes across as being a bit inconsistent. It all seems to even out at the end, so this one gets 3 stars.