SALENTU E AFRICA

Perhaps the music is half way between hard rock and heavy metal, the tracks are totally enjoyable for "classic" prog fans because their solid rhythmical sections, awsome vocals and impressive guitar solos. The music is very atmospehrical because the constant references to african rhythms based on percussions. So, we are in front an album that sounds like many other bands of the heavy prog genre but with some elements (such as the constant interest in epic sections) that makes a big difference creating a singular sound.

Some of the highlights:

-Salentu E Africa: Nice piece with heavy riffs and proggy keyboards. Very powerful and raw.

-Pizzica Mascia: The more jazzy and african influenced track.

-Simu Pacci: The most quiet but proggy track of the album. Great epic moments.

-Scanzala: Another well done track full of jazzy and prog sections with some nice atmospherical moments.

-14 agosto 1480 (Otranto) I and II: Such a pair of songs full of epical moments and and astonishing grand finale...

4* to incite all of you to listen this adictive release...

Abash is a new name to me and a new found small gemstone in my view. This is their debut album. To this date, they have released three albums.

The album starts with some spoken words which is from Africa. The theme here is supposed to be Italy meets Africa. And indeed, Abash's sound is very much somewhere between Africa, the Middle East and Italy. The lines drawn meets somewhere above Cyprus, I guess...... But let's not get too much bogged down in maths and geometrical structures.

Much of the first half of this album is spent somewhere in Northern Africa. The title track Salentu e Africa is a good example. But the music also takes a detour to England and the neo-prog scene there and also gets a tinge of AOR. In short; this album is a pizza where all kinds of meat and vegetables is put onto the base which is a mix of prog metal and neo-prog. The basis is a mix of Dream Theater and Magenta, I would say. The musicians and the vocalists (both male and females) is doing a good job.

The quality is very good throughout with a lot of interesting melody lines and rhythm structures. My only gripes is the lack of a couple of killer tracks, althoug the title track is a great track. This is an impressive debut album from a band which deserves a lot more attention and respect than they have got so far.

3.5 stars