DEDICATO A FRAZZ

Semiramis is one of the most bizarre and talented one-album Italian acts from the 70s, and 'Dedicato a Frazz' is one of my absolute favs of Italian prog. Their prog offer is astonishingly "schizophrenic", since it is founded upon a trategy of brutal contrast between the very heavy (delirious guitar solos and riffs, red hot rhythm patterns) and the realms of acoustic sensibility (acoustic and classical guitars interludes, gentle drops on vibes, string synth layers). The musicianship is top-notch, flawlessly responding to the demands of the complex compositions and fast paced rocky sections: sometimes I feel like this is the background music for a demented circus of sorts! Semiramis' sound is reminiscent (to a certain degree) of Balleto di Bronzo, UT-era New Trolls, PFM and Metamorfosi, though you can tell that Semiramis has got a peculiar musical "insanity" of their own, an "insanity" that allows them to push the boundaries of symph prog to extravagant levels of tension, contrast and dissonance. Michele Zarrillo's vocal range is very similar to that of Leone's (Balletto di Bronzo), which helps to enhance the band's heavy side. But then again, Gianpiero Artegiani makes good use of nylon and steel string acoustic guitars (the interlude of track 4, the intro to track 3, the second part of track 5) to keep the pastoral flame alight, all in the sake of contrast. He also doubles on some synth parts, which complement effectively the baroque inspired playing of Michele's brother, Maurizio (pay attention to Maurizio's first chords in track 4 - he sounds like Mozart reincarnated). The rhythm section is solid and precise - a special mention goes to drummer Paolo Faenza, whose various interventions on vibraphone are really exquisite, capable of hitting the plates with both fast paced accuracy (the intro to track 1) and relaxed solemnity (the closure to track 7). The repertoire is full of spectacular surprises - well, I feel like some of the varied musical ideas could have been explored more thoroughly, but the management of contrasts is definitely a very high point of this album and the main asset of Semiramis' music. A masterpiece indeed!