LA FINE NON ESISTE

I know I'm a bit late on this one, but I'll still do it nonetheless. Just in case some people don't know, Semiramis was an Italian prog band that made one of the most influential RPI albums of all time, and then they vanished into thin air. For decades, Dedicato A Frazz was their one and only album, and much of the band members wouldn't return to music that much afterwards. It was only until 2024 that we finally got the comeback we thought would never come, La Fine Non Esiste. And it does not disappoint me in the slightest. I knew that if Semiramis were to come back, it would be a great album. Even if there was a slim chance they would ever come back. It's sad to see that their drummer, Paolo Faenza, was the only one who played on Dedicato A Frazz to play on this album.  

Moving on, we get to the first song on the album, In Quel Secondo. It opens with a really catchy yet really progressive guitar riff before going into a slightly relaxed sounding mix of keyboard, vibraphone, and acoustic guitar. I'm not sure why, but some of the guitars during this section remind me of 80s King Crimson. The song goes into chaos for the middle sections, transitioning into slightly altered versions of the opening riffs, refrains of the relaxing section I mentioned, and dark yet pretty synthesizers mixed with spoken word. The song now finds its peace and continues with great harmonies from their singer, Giovanni Barco, until ending the song with the opening riff along with some extra chords the band sprinkles in at the end. This is, in my opinion, not only one of the strongest songs on the album but also one of the strongest in Semiramis' small discography. 

Going along with the album, the next song is Cacciatore Di Ansie. It opens with multiple instrumental compositions, some of which I would argue have some fusion elements in them along with RPI. We get a brief vocal section before moving on into a slightly chilling piano piece that goes on for some time before the rest of the band joins in for some lovely playing to finish off the song. While this is a great song, it's not as strong as the opening track, and while I like the ending, it can be a bit more aggressive sounding at some points.  

The next song, Donna Dalle Ali Acciaio, opens with a more folk inspired blend of classical piano and acoustic guitar before going into a pretty normal sounding verse. It quickly changes to a more progressive sound with some excellent chord structures. The song then transitions into a passage sounding like the opening vocal parts of Machine Messiah before ending. Again, another strong song on this comeback album.  

Non Chiedere A Un Dio opens with the soft chimes of bells and a simple acoustic piece, with minimal input from the rest of the band with this intro. When the band does come in, I will admit that while it is good, it's a little bland to say the least. The second half of the song is more interesting, with a lot more progressive playing. This is for me the weakest song on the album, so I don't really have that much to say about it. I could go further into an analysis of the song, but as I mentioned before, some of the parts can get a little uninteresting.  

Tenda Rossa, on the other hand, opens with a much more aggressive and powerful instrumental opening. Semiramis manages to keep this power onto the vocal sections, but I wish Giovanni Barco would've done some more raspy vocals to add to the more darker parts. They then transition the song into a more happy sounding ending where they drop the electric guitar for an acoustic one and include an amazing organ solo at the very end, which has a bit of a breakdown at the end as well.  

To end this great album, we have Sua Maestà Il Cuore. I noticed that this song was much more keyboard heavy and had a much darker tone than any of the other songs on the album. From here on out, the second part of the song has influences that would change multiple times. First, it starts off sounding like Scene Three from Metropolis Pt. 2, then it transitions into just plain heavy prog, and then it moves into the end of the album, which sounds a lot like fellow RPI band Area in my opinion. This was a great song to end the album, and it's one of the best on this album.

  In Conclusion, La Fine Non Esiste was one of the strongest progressive rock albums of 2024 in my opinion. How Semiramis can change from happy traditional rock music to dark and deep progressive rock shows just how well this band can play after a break lasting over five decades. I would also like to quickly say that I also enjoy the album cover, but I will always love the debut album cover better. While I do love this album, it has some flaws. Some of the music can get a little too happy and become plain and I think the songs could've been a bit longer to have room for the more complex music in the album to breathe. So at the end of it all, I'll give this album a 4/5. It's great for anyone listening to RPI or progressive rock, but I see a zero percent chance this will be considered one of the greatest albums of progressive rock. I would still highly recommend a listen to this album and Semiramis' other album if you haven't checked it out already.