SUL MONTE E IL TUONO

DUNWICH delivers a very delicate medieval symphonic-like prog with beautiful female voices throughout. DUNWICH is loaded with lots of "ENYA'isms" and touches of POPOL VUH. Moody and foreboding, "Sul Monte." will take you places your mind has not gone. Emphasis here is on the serene and painted landscapes of the voices and choirs, never getting too loud or electric. In fact this is classic symphonic head music which is very soft a free flowing and should appeal to fans of TANGERINE DREAM and Klaus SCHULZE. This is great music to sit back, dim the lights and relax to with perhaps and old friend or bottle of beer.

If you think that you'll find pure Italian Prog on this recording, maybe you are wrong. Dunwich debut album it's a mix of 70's italian prog rock, gothic, folk, some mediavel inffluences and dark athmospheres. A regular album with great songs like "Dove Dorme Re Artu", "La Fortezza di Surami", "La Regina delle Aguane" and the excellent bonus track "Asrai"; all the songs with a touch of mistery made by the voice of Katya Sanna, but nothing more. Predictible, spotted by confused guitar solos and not well produced. Maybe just for fans of Devil Doll or Lacrimosa. But if you are a really fan of find prog in anything you better watch it.

The music held in here is quite special. Nothing to do with the classic symphonic Italian great music.

"Sul Monte E Il Tuono" features a few of these great items but the overall mood is more a combination of folkish styles, dark ambient partitions and heavy atmospheres. This album is more of a "concept" item which would only features one track of forty five minutes. There are hardly any break between each song , nor any theme change.

The music that can be found here is not too bad but frankly, don't expect too much from this offering. Female vocals are not always a guarantee of grandiose songs... At least, it is the impression that I have while I am listening to this album.

Few emotions, little fragrance, no grandeur at all IMHHO. The whole of this work is plagued with a bunch of weak vocals and average instrumental parts. It is hard to find a true and faithful track that could hold the flag a little higher.

In all, this album is a mix of some good organ play combined with poor vocals. Harmony, passion, feeling are alien to this work. You only need to listen to "Scela" or " Lo Sciamano Di Sackalin" to get it confirmed.

This work is quite difficult to depict, but I tried as hard as I could. You shouldn't bother with this release, for sure. Two stars is a maximum rating for this "Dunwich" debut.

An album I have been struggling with for a while. Thankfully, this is Dunwich's debut album. That means there is excuses we can use. For example Dunwich being young and inexperienced.

Dunwich is listed in the Rock Progressivo Italiano genre. But on this album, there is very little which reminds me about Rock Progressivo Italiano. Sul Monte e il Tuono is a Goth Metal album through and through, with a lot of chamber orchestra and classical music added into the mix. The music is based on the female soprano Katya Sanna's vocals.

The problem with this album is that there is far too much of her and not enough music. Dunwich has done the classic mistake on this album and overplayed their strongest card; Katya Sanna. With such a talent in your ranks, the point is to use her right and not to machine gun the soundscape with her overpowering vocals. The result is painful and almost bordering to avant-garde metal. And I do not think that was the intention here. This album is also sadly lacking any good songs too. The result is an album I would rather forget. Two stars for the efforts and the talents. Nuff said and onwards to better things.

2 stars