KAMA SUTRA

SYNDONE, as a reminder to the holy relic of Turin, is the Italian group releasing their 8th album, starting in 1992 their musical adventure for an energetic jazz-sympho-prog-rock trip, starting on ELP, QUEEN, AREKNAMES; cosmic hard rock, vintage moog and hammond, Nick has worked on pub jingles before and sets a symphonic tone based on keyboards, an album title about the Love of Life and its governing forces. A particularity, that of associating classical and opera with rock like QUEEN in its symphonic and baroque version, crazy and controversial. Hop, let's slide in. SYNDONE recently known with 'Mysoginia', always looking for sounds from my favorite band.

"It's gonna make believin '" with a bit of MOUNTAIN, the madness of opera and crazy pop, zest of BOSTON for alluring synths, in short, cosmic hard psyche to DEEP PURPLE and the madness of DARKNESS, title erectile tote. "Nirvana" continues with a baroque space-opera madness that refers to the creation of a QUEEN, it is said; burlesque vocal harmonies, a vintage keyboard, a pleasurable 'Phantom Of Paradise' musical. "Carousel" follows with a musical interlude worthy of a maelstrom; symphonic grandiloquence, majestic air on uncompromising musical art, charisma-like madness of the first GENESIS. "Into the kama" arrives, an intimate bucolic piano flirting with a romantic ballad dripping with spleen; soft duet voices that melt, evolving jazz-prog tune, the flute adds a layer, the tune referring to a progressive QUEEN, sublimely creative with the surprising oriental finale. "Bitches" and that cutesy classic title, a capella vocals charmeuse oriental or nun or both; syrupy violin like 'Gone with the Wind' and bang a festive, psychedelic groovy tune; strings add to the intensity and the madness, it starts in vocal and musical cries, surprising.

"You still shine" attacks on a tune which resembles a jazzy improvisation, xylophone forward; it merges on genres, it recalls the progressive forays of the great QUEEN with this proven grandiloquence, bluesy air, hysterical gospel and final intimate variation which launches "Sex toys are us" full of synths and samplers for uncompromising and unrestrained prog; a little raga, vocal spoken on a hard rock tune quickly amplified by a sax coming straight out of the PANZERBALLET. The symphonic at its peak; and "2 thousand 10" for the second instrumental interlude, tambourines and acoustic guitar, a metronomic tune that puts the ears down. "Sacred & profane" occurs and radically changes register, soporific jazzy air, latent, that denotes; hard-to-pinpoint pop musical chorus of musical madness; the second drawer seems to be getting improvised, eclectic with lots of layered genres, vintage keyboards and bass bring some meaning back to the longest and most exploded track, John LORD in thought. "We are the world we created" for the title which refocuses the album, majestic variation and symphonic anthem at the same time, voice à la Joe PAYNE, a little bit of THE ENID in the background, of ELP too; singular creation for a dithyrambic end. "Peace on Earth" for the final romantic ballad like a melancholy happy ending.

SYNDONE has produced a hard-hitting, hard-to-access album, a mix of bombastic baroque rock, symphonic and crazy and irresistible rock opera; Broadway musical drama and comedy, majestic sounds, bluffing titles that undoubtedly bring back to progressive rock; a musical theater has just been born and may not leave you alone given the research that is his.

Syndone's "Kama Sutra" is not only a masterpiece of progressive rock, but a masterpiece of music in general that addresses a very taboo yet incredibly important topic that is rarely so openly discussed in any form of popular music, let alone progressive rock: sex. Sex is an incredibly natural, important, and beautiful part of life, and yet it has become such a sensitive thing to talk about in our society. Syndone completely discards our usual reservations and dives right into the topic, using the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text as the foundation of the album's narrative, as well as its title.

I've never quite agreed with Syndone's RPI classification, especially as their more recent albums have moved towards having more English lyrics than Italian, with Kama Sutra being sung entirely in English. Their last album, Mysoginia, I feel fits better into the Eclectic Prog category, as it weaves together styles and influences such as Symphonic Prog, RIO, Canterbury, and contemporary chamber music. Kama Sutra continues to experiment with different styles, incorporating hard rock, opera, jazz, cabaret, and more. The album overall has a very modern prog sound with a lot of avant-prog influences, but the band's approach to these styles is so unique that I'd hesitate to pin them into either category.

As is fairly evident from the band's wide variety of influences, "Kama Sutra" is a very wild ride. I would usually do a track by track breakdown, but quite frankly, the album speaks so strongly for itself that I hesitate to do so. Some highlights, though, include the very theatrical "Nirvana" and "Carousel" pair, which flow into each other; the beautifully written "You Still Shine"; "Sex Toys R Us", which is a rapid mood shift immediately after "You Still Shine" into one of the wildest songs on the album; "Sacred & Profane", which is the longest track on the record, but takes the listener on such a journey that it feels much longer; and the gorgeous closer "Peace on Earth", which, save for the very ending, is a beautiful piano-vocal track with a supporting string arrangement.

Easily one of the best prog albums of the modern era, "Kama Sutra" is an incredibly bold statement that Syndone makes with utmost confidence. 5/5, an absolute work of art.

I must be honest and say I wasn't sure that Manticore Records were still going after more than 50 years, but here they are with the latest release from Turin-based prog band Syndone. The band have been around since 1989, led by Nik Comoglio (Hammond, Moog, Juno dist., Mellotron, keyboards), and this is their eighth studio album. - Riccardo Ruggeri (vocals), Marta Caldara (vibraphone, timpani) and Gigi Rivetti (piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, Hammond, clavinet) have all returned from 2018's 'Mysoginia' but there is a new rhythm section in Simone Rubinato (bass, fretless, Taurus bass) and Eddy Franco (drums & percussion). I enjoyed their last album a great deal, and there is also plenty in this one to cause interest.

They are indicated as being RPI on PA, and as I have not heard their earlier albums I cannot comment if that is correct for those but certainly is not right for what they are currently performing which is far more eclectic in so many ways. They bring in elements of Indian styles in keeping with the lyrical ideas where we hear of Georgio Perlasca, a hero against Nazism, but there are also times when we feel as if we are being thrown whole heartedly into the Hammond worlds of Vincent Crane and Jon Lord, with Keith Emerson just getting a look in. The bass is often very smooth and quite at odds with the maelstrom taking place above. There are plenty of guests, including the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra, and this all allows the band to really spread their musical wings. All lyrics are in English so can easily be understood by the non-Italian, and it crosses not only musical boundaries but time as it spends a great deal in the early Seventies while also dropping into the Eighties.

This is progressive music in its truest sense where the band is attempting push and create new styles instead of sitting inside a recognised genre or sub-genre, and the album is all the better for it as one never knows where it is going to lead. Fully worthy of further consideration.