LA BATTERIA II

La Batteria is a Rock Progressive Italiano band that was founded in Rome, Italy in 2015. They cite their influences as those bands and artists that have made soundtrack style music like "Goblin", Ennio Morricone and others. They typically use traditional instruments, but have been known to mix styles with their own instrumental cinematic styles.

Their 2nd album, released in April of 2019, is called simply "La Batteria II" and is made up of 18 tracks, with only one that exceeds the 5 minute mark and overall lasting about 70 minutes. The band lineup consists of Emanuele Bultrini on vocals, electric, acoustic and classical guitar; David Nerattini on drums; Paolo Pecorielli on Bass; and Stefano Vicarelli on keys and synths. Along with this core lineup is several guest musicians and instruments.

The album starts off with "Prologo" which features a synth introduction that eventually leads into a heavier section with electric guitars providing a dramatic theme aided by a twinkling synth loop and other keyboards with a mid tempo rhythm. "Largo" continues with this style, but is later enhanced with vibraphone and a scratching guitar giving it a real Italian or European feel and finishing with a dramatic, but up tempo sound. "Fuga" features a fast moving keyboard loop and a small chorus of guests providing wordless vocals. The band comes in later and the track takes on the Morricone vibe with deep guitars and keys. "Monica Vitti" is a nice pastoral track with acoustic guitar, vibraphone and flute. Later a synth is added and rhythm section follows.

"Dogma" has a much heavier and dark sound with a solid electric guitar punch to it. "Moviola" is a funky, upbeat and jazzy track that uses a basic theme and variation style. "Antenna" is more straightforward led mostly by synths at first and then an electric guitar repeating the theme and then building off of that. "Stiletto" has a mysterious feel to it, almost spy-movie-like. Towards the middle, things get more psychedelic sounding with some cool effects and an eerie, experimental feel. "Intermezzo" is a short piano interlude in a rhapsodic style and helped along by bass and vibraphone.

"Diva" is the longest track at 5:30. It starts off with electronic loops and effects and the band builds off of this. A funky vibe comes off of this with a heavy electric guitar providing a thematic element. Later, brighter guitars bring in a jazz element supported by synth and Vocoder. "Affresco" features the "With Us Choir" singing light harmonized wordless vocals accompanied by keys and light guitars. A heavier sound comes in around 2 minutes as a psychedelic vibe comes in with the full band. "Spirale" has a distinct electronica sound to it along the lines of an upbeat Tangerine Dream style, but later gets support from guitars in accompaniment and a solo.

"Furfante Amedeo" plays off of a funky synth riff with jazz undertones. "Intervallo" is another short track led by flute and supported by synth, harpsichord and acoustic guitar. "Romanzo" follows with a nice romantic style using acoustic guitar and piano, but with an unsettling sound from feedback increasing in the background. Almost halfway through, the rhythm section kicks in with a moderate tempo and a darker feel as the electric guitars take over the thematic element for a dramatic feel. "Megalopoli" immediately begins heavy with a guitar riff and synths playing the melody against a steady rock beat. Later, things get heavier with the guitars and an organ playing the theme. "Eldorado" has a smoother jazz / funk feel with a fast moving percussion section. Wordless vocals provided by a guest come in halfway through as things take on an airier feel with strong European sound. The album finishes up with "2170 Ultima Speranza" which has an electronic beginning which finally brings in the full band, however, the keys and effects have most of the say here, until a lovely trumpet solo comes in giving things a Spanish flair.

The music, overall, is mostly instrumental, and, even though there is the underlying soundtrack / cinematic style throughout every track, each song still has its own individual sound. The individual songs each follow a singular format, each one concentrating on a style or mood. This differs from bands like Secret Chiefs or Fantomas who like to use the same cinematic inspirations, but tend to be more progressive by jumping around to different styles and moods within a single track. In that respect, these individual tracks are more focused on a singular style. It also differs from the soundtracks of bands like Art Zoyd and Goblin that have produced soundtracks to past cinema in that it is not in the avant-garde style of those bands, but much more accessible with strong traditional themes that are built upon during the individual tracks. The style is a simple theme and variation style, but this sound is spread out among several differing instruments thus providing a lot of dynamic in the overall sound.

The album is enjoyable, but also quite accessible in most cases. The songs are mostly around the 4 minute mark, but still well developed, keeping with a simple theme as a driving force through most of the tracks. Again, with the variation in the use of instruments, you still get a feeling of variety, so it never really grows very stale. The album is well produced and laid out. The cinematic style also gives a somewhat unique sound to each and every track here. This is a strong album and easily earns the four stars that I give it for a rating.

La BATTERIA is an Italian Cinematic Prog-Funk quartet which has just released its second opus, "La Batteria II". The album is provided with 18 tracks, only one of which exceeds 5 minutes. This instrumental formation is made up of EMANUELE BULTRINI on guitar, DAVID NERATTINI on drums, PAOLO PECORELLI on bass, and STEFANO VICARELLI on keyboards, as well as many other guests. Until 2010 some members were still part of the "Fonderia" group. Founded in 2012, LA BATTERIA will release its first album in 2015, the eponymous album "La Batteria", then an Ep in 2016 which reinterprets the soundtrack of the film "Tossico Amore" (ost). ". LA BATTERIA takes its polysemous name from a word used in Rome in the 1970s to designate organized criminal gangs, the group thus taking inspiration from Italian action crime films of the same period. Their creations bring together many styles. and musical genres, such as Dance, Alternative Rock, classical music, jazz, electronics ... The influences are numerous and are almost always cinematographic, ranging from soundtracks by GOBLIN, musical works by ENNIO MORRICONE , STELVIO CIPRIANI, ALESSANDRO ALESSANDRONI or BRUNO NICOLAI, and can be compared to groups like ANIMA MORTE, ZOLTAN, and ZOMBI. Here, no frills, the choice is deliberately focused on compositions with short and structured lengths in order to reveal clearly and precisely to the listener the themes chosen. The aptly named "Prologo" brings us into a "Cinématoprog" world through pure and scintillating synthesizers, evoking an ideal and outer future. The ship takes off and takes its cruising rhythm, a regular and intriguing rhythm settles on board, the adventure begins! The journey continues with "Largo" on a heavier and more sustained tone, pounded by guitars and a keyboard rising crescendo in controlled saturations. Halfway through, a little jazzy 60's / 70's style tune appears which perfectly illustrates the instrumentation set up, such as, among other things, an electric acoustic guitar and a vibraphone. With "Fuga" Ennio Morricone is in front of us, and gives us a demonstration of all his talent, Prog way. A clavinet and synths turn in a loop, enhanced by male voices without words nicely executed, an electric guitar with western atmospheres becoming Rock and heady reminds us of a duel in the sun that will never end ... a "must" in the genre! Flute, keyboards, guitar, vibraphone, and glockenspiel compose this beautiful tribute dedicated to the actress "Monica Vitti" with this melodic ballad in the intonations of Pavane à la "GABRIEL FAURE" But this little romance is immediately trampled with the shattering entry of "Dogma", by its heavy, rhythmic opening and typically Prog in the manner of "KING CRIMSON", the continuation takes again the same tones ... soundtracks, spinning keyboards, acoustic and rock guitars, vibraphone etc ... reveals a real potential in terms of efficient and sophisticated Prog. The atmosphere relaxes with the arrival of "Moviola", a joyful and catchy air emerges from this Funky piece with the allure of Jazz, plethora of instruments take up the basic themes to adapt perfectly to this change of scene and gender. Everything on this album is built to think about cinema and visualize sound. With "Antenna" once is not customary ... one can imagine a ship making repetitive calls coming from the depths of space, men trying to communicate in vain with their base, their voices remain inaudible and distorted ( vocoder), but the journey continues for a space conquest into the unknown. Okay, I have a lot of imagination ...! We change register with "Stiletto". A beautiful bass / drums section welcomes us into a police intrigue. Synths and guitars play in repetitive loops to lead us to a creepy and dangerous place. The quality of the reverberation effects here is remarkable, and the psychedelic atmosphere a school lesson! "Intermezzo is a nice classic style prelude for piano, bass and vibraphone." Diva "begins with the sound of waves, a cruise begins, a boat sails on synthesizers with marine impressions, on board musicians play funky and jazzy tunes , the guitars are bright and the vocoder de rigueur. "Affresco" is one of the centerpieces of the album, it begins with la la la ... beautifully sung by a group of young women, the choir "WITH US "conducted by CAMILLA DI LORENZO. The melody is beautiful and bewitching, a clavinet takes up the chorus in turn. Next comes a rhythmic and funky wah guitar with electronic effects whose sound and rendering are truly dazzling. A calm passage of keyboards It will inevitably make us think of "PINK FLOYD". The main anthem is then repeated in unison for an effective and transporting result. Unconditional fans of the television series "Cosmos 1999" will have shining eyes and ears in fusion as the resemblance is striking, but in no way plagiarized! Indeed, "Spirale" is a digest of sounds dedicated to futuristic technology carried by a Rock guitar and a deep bass perfectly clocking a science fiction soundtrack, but beware "Jean-Michel JARRE" is not far away and watch the grain! "Furfante Amadeo" is a bit versatile and already seen with its passages in jazz / funky atmospheres. It's well done, the little guitar solos are well done, but with a lower tone for the composition of the whole. "Intervallo" begins with a synth resembling Gymnopedics à la "ERIK SATIE", and takes us on a little calm and sunny walk. The flute is radiant, and the keyboards tempered. A classical guitar and a piano with saloon sounds begin this "Romanzo". The tone and the decor are once again planted, the image of the great American West comes back to us at full speed. This romance quickly turns into suspense and revenge, the drums pace and the electric guitar becomes threatening, then the tension drops and calm resumes. Another great execution! "Megalopoli" makes its entry with a typically hard track with repetitive cadences and which will remain so until the end. A clavinet is incorporated into this tension with an offbeat rhythm, the keyboards become classic but nervous again, while the guitar and the bass are heavy with a binary pattern to indicate the size of this megalopolis city. "Eldorado" begins with Latin style percussion with conga and drums. A cavaquinho will make us travel throughout this song to take us to listen to samba arias and Brazilian carnival songs, we believe it! "2170 Ultima Speranza" is a song inspired by Italian science fiction films of the early 80's, both in sound and atmosphere. Futuristic effects are here accompanied by an intriguing keyboard with full orchestration. A Mexican trumpet solo with calm and serene paces will close this musical session. "La Batteria" is not a concept album, but was built like a rosary whose red thread is the cord which holds the small balls between them, each one representing a unique and singular soundtrack. When we look at the list of instruments allocated to the organist, we quickly understand the importance of keyboards here, with their sounds, their atmospheres, their sets and their scenes with varied arrangements and multicolored colors ... the palette is impressive! Prog fans might wonder if tracks this short with a peak at 5:40 can carry the royal designation of Prog music ?! Affirmative will answer the tifosi, and for me too there is no doubt, the songs are admittedly short, but everything is well in place and structured, both for aficionados of film soundtracks as for die-hard fans of the genre. which makes us debate for so long on the enlightened sites of Prog music. But despite that I must say, the 18 tracks would still have deserved a little more development, even if it means making a double album in my opinion. Beyond this small downside, I can only strongly encourage enthusiasts of both genres to bathe in this jacuzzi with sparkling sound bubbles and exemplary production. A real great discovery!