ALLIUM: UNA STORIA

Una Storia, full of melancholy, virtuosity ... and accompanied by so much rumours. Hence, at first, fake or not when it comes to the context, the best choice might be to avoid speculations about the album's prehistory. The short official version: 'Allium: Una Storia' is a concept album and appears as a remake of a lost treasure from the 1970s. Basta così! Absolute concentration on the musical content now. To be expected, this is provided with a strong The Tangent (Andi Tillison) Canterbury respectively Jazz trademark on one side. But not only due to the participation of Roberto Tiranti aka Rob Tyrant, so much the more by using lyrics in Italian language, it certainly also may go for a Rock Progressivo Italiano production in some way. And then one of my favourite bass players is also involved. Jonas Reingold, very busy when it comes to certain genre defying bands respectively projects, and also playing the other acoustic and electric guitar parts on this occasion.

Of course I should not forget to mention Austrian native Raimund 'Ray' Aichinger, who is credited concerning the saxophone contributions exclusively, attracting attention on the extended Mai Tornare (Never Coming Back) for example. I can also hear some flute, clarinette, bassoon and accordion in between, though suspecting that this is generated via Tillison's comprehensive keyboard equipment. What also may be an uncommon case for one or two, the provided songs are all available in two versions. In each case the regular original (Tillison) mix comes with a counterpart, worked out by Reingold. With all my respect, I didn't invest much time to explore the differences, for me it sounds very similar at a first glance.

The aforemetioned album opener comes with a very canterburyesqe yet jazzy vibe. A gripping flow, the lively behaviour, suddenly interrupted by melancholic breaks and interludes, very much dominated by Tillison's excellent drumming and varianted keyboard presence. Ordine Nuovo continues with a nice samba rhythm, reminiscent to Santana a bit. Nel Nome di Dio brings more guitar work to the fore, a tad ethno/folk feel, and a fulminant groove later on. Tiranti is predominantly known for being underway with diverse hard rock and metal bands. But considering this being very jazzy overall, it sounds like he's the very best choice to fulfill the vocal task anyhow. Bravo! A noteworthy line up has produced a very enjoyable album. Taking the music as such, leaving everything else aside, I would say another release that is close to a masterpiece of progressive rock. 4.5 stars on the PA scale.