HYBLA ACT 1

After participating in the Colossus Project's compilation ''The Spaghetti Epic'', 2005 would find Randone return with a new album.This was based on an idea of Nicola Randone after reading a story about Hybla, the ancient name of the historic quarter of the Ragusa city in Sicily, as written down by local historian Mimi Arezzo.The album was entitled ''Hybla Atto 1'-A Barock Opera'' and was again a product of Electromantic Records.

No line up changes and no significant style improvements would characterize the new Randone.It is again a mix of modern Italian Prog with retro-styled Italian Symphonic Rock and the new elements appearing are the operatic vocals by Carmelo Corrado Caruso,the strong presence of female singers (Bianca La Rosa and Elena Infantino), as well as the presence of more hard-sounding passages, let's say these would give the concept a more intense atmosphere.But for the first time Randone's music sounds a bit unfocused, going from Operatic Prog to cinematic passages to Classic Prog in a blink of an eye, but the overall delivery sometimes seems a bit loose.The orchestral parts sound rather stereotypical with no particular originality, the hard guitars appear unrelated to the previous style of the band, but Randone's personal approach on music with the strong use of synths, Mellotron, Folk elements along with his unique voice remind the listener that Randone are here.Nice and smooth Symphonic Rock with a hidden romanticism but also lots of expressive vocal explosions, these are the things the prog listener expects from Nicola and his company.

Maybe a bit too ambitious of a project, ''''Hybla Atto 1'-A Barock Opera'' fails to impress without being a weak album.It is just one of these works you really prefer to see performed live than simply taped in a CD.Still this comes recommended to all fans of serious and emotional prog music.