IL BACIO DELLA MEDUSA

Oh I like this album. After I have heard this album, the feeling coming to me as I get good CD quite a long time. Sometimes I wonder how Italians create such a good music, great music! As you hear track NO 5 - Cantico Del Poeta Errante (Part i,ii,iii) (8:23) something move in your mind. like just old fashioned love song ! Now I expect their second album which already I ordered quite good too I think. anyway this album is like Italian Prog not just Heavy Prog I guess. 4.5 stars thanks.

Il Bacio della Medusa is an Italian prog band from Umbria that was formed in 2002 by Simone Cecchini (vocals, 6 & 12 acoustic guitar, mandolin, charango), Federico Caprai (bass) and Diego Petrini (drums, organ, keyboards, piano, vibraphone, percussion). In December 2003 Simone Brozzetti (guitar) and Eva Morelli (flute) joined the band and in 2004 they released their eponymous debut album (the album was re-released in 2008 by Black Widow Records and it is available now also on vinyl). The beautiful art cover painted by Federico Caprai tries to describe the content and the mood of the album: dark and poetical lyrics, an intersting mix of progressive, hard rock and classical music that reminds me every now and again of bands like Biglietto Per l'Inferno, BMS and Jethro Tull...

The opener "Requiem per i condannati a morte" begins with an uneasy sound of greedy crows waiting for the hangman's duty... On heavy guitar riffs, filtered vocals describe the dismay of people sentenced to death by hanging, people without dreams and with the fear into the blood, desperate eyes gazing from shady prisons, "damned souls sold out to justice"... Then the tension melts in an acoustic ballad (A post mortem dream: end of a winter) where a deep sense of pity prevails: "At least let the ground receive our humble bones"...

Next comes "Orientoccidente", almost an electric dream on the footsteps of Marco Polo with an "Eastern air in Western ground" feeling, featuring interesting bass lines and guitar riffs...

The long epic "Scorticamento di Marsia" is probably the "plat de résistance" of this work. It was inspired by the myth of the satyr Marsyas, great flutist who challenged Apollo in a music contest and was punished by the god with death by flaying. "Let the wind blow in my flute / That now lies on the ground"... The track features many changes or rhythm and mood with an excellent work of flute and sax (provided by the guest musician Angelo Petri) and inspired theatrical vocal parts...

Good also the next track "Il vino (breve delirio del vino)", where an evocative accordion sound and the lyrics remind me of some Baudelaire's "maudits" poems about the consolatory powers of wine for desperate people...

The "baroque" ballad "Cantico del poeta errante" is another excellent track in three parts with the flute in the forefront and inspired vocals, while the long finale "De luxuria, et de ludo, et de taberna" is a tribute to the Italian poet Cecco Angiolieri (1260-1312) and is built upon one of his poems...

Although not flawless, I think that the debut work of this interesting band could be an excellent addition to the collection of every Italianprog lover...

Solid debut from rock's most exciting current band

A statement I don't make lightly. I love so many Italian prog bands but il Bacio della Medusa (BDM) is one of those special breezes that blows through your window on a summer night. Breaking it down to the most basic, BDM is a band whose performance is all passion, whose two albums are musical vibrancy, whose commitment to "total art" as they call it is unquestionable. Usually by the time I discover bands like this they have already broken up so this time I'm savoring the moment! I came to know BDM hearing their second album first, the flat-out masterpiece called "Discesa agl'Inferi d'un giovane amante." So knocked out was I with that album that I just assumed hearing their debut next would naturally be a letdown. I'm happy to report it was NOT a letdown! Not by a long shot. Here we have another conceptual feast of an album with a heavier rock approach. BDM pays homage to hard rock heroes of the 70s, both English and Italian, but never sacrifices their own substantial talents and artistic dreams with the mere regurgitation of said heroes. They are not a metal band. They are a kickass hard rock band (think Zep x Queen) with a strong Italian prog flavor, catapulted to perfection by their obvious abilities at not only songwriting (most compositions by Petrini and/or Cecchini), but crafting songs to have nice variations of light and heavy, electric and acoustic.and strong thematic celebrations with the spirit of Ange or Balletto di Bronzo. And why not? I believe from getting to know them a little that they feel very strongly that they have a special opportunity to be heard, so why be subtle or meek? BDM is not interested in just putting out polite/average albums over and over, they are here to make a splash-one listen to these two modern classics and you'll know exactly what I mean. Or as they put it themselves, the goal is to create a free music and spread their energy. Two albums in, the mission is on course!

The debut opens with a heavy slog of a classic bluesy rock riff, sounding like something early Zeppelin. The first several minutes of the album arrive at full throttle as if to announce "look the hell out, BDM is here folks!" They did not yet have Daniele Rinchi in the band and thus this album has a more hard rock edge to it-this album may appeal more to the hard rock fans, while the 2nd album more to the Italian prog fans who love more piano and violin play. Halfway through the first track Cecchini brings in the next color with his acoustic minstrel sound. The 2nd track is another full-out rocker that just kicks. It is in the third track, the 15 minute "Scorticamento di Marsia" where BDM really begins to expose the true depth of their sound. After an eerie beginning, in waltzes Ms. Morelli for the first time with her incredible flute. Eva always plays it just right, sometimes a beguiling mysterious melody that makes the moment by itself, other times a whirling dervish craziness that serves to broaden the appeal of the full band. Cecchini's vocals here practically get "out of body" in their boldness and theatrical passion, he competes with any of the revered '70s Italian prog singers. Then, just at the right moment, in steps Simone Brozzetti with another gorgeous lead on his Les Paul (finally..SOMEONE who understands that a Les kicks butt on any Fender sound.) Petrini and Caprai keep the bottom nailed firmly in place. You've been treated to a single track better than most bands produce in an entire album and still you've just finished side one. Side 2 is just as tasty. I don't really have the adjectives to do a full track by track with BDM.they need to be taken on the whole as an album. I would have a nervous breakdown trying to articulate my feelings ;) And yet with all they accomplish on this fine debut they will take it to the next level on their second album, improving all aspects of their presentation to perfection. Both albums feature impressive artwork done by the band's bassist Federico Caprai: what is very cool is that if you lay out the two gatefold cover paintings they in fact are actually connected into one larger visual. The entire spread of the two together is really fabulous and together provide a visual adaption of the band's musical themes. On the debut the booklet folds out into one large lyric sheet with yet another Caprai painting inside.

What more can I say? If you've read the great reviews and my interview with the band in the "Interview" section of this site and still haven't ordered one of their CDs, you are missing out on one hell of a ride. Recommended enthusiastically to all fans of hard rock and/or Italian progressive. If only all music were so authentic-this is a very, very fine red wine from the countryside of Perugia to your heart. Don't miss it. All we need now is the live DVD!

This new Italian Heavy Prog band was recommended to me by my Italian PA friend Andrea Cortese. During the first two songs on this album I got heavy doubts, "perhaps Andrea had sipped too much red Italian wine" I thought cynically: mainly hardrock inspired songs with raw Italian vocals, biting guitar, propulsive guitar riffs and a thunderous rhythm-section. But from the third song Il Bacio Della Medusa started to deliver exciting Heavy Prog: parts with dreamy acoustic guitar and flute, heavy with propulsive guitar riffs, fiery vocals with powerful flute, acoustic guitar with emotional vocals and a part with sparkling flute, fiery saxophone, a jazzy bass and heavy guitar in Scorticamento Di Marsia (Part I/IV), a warm sound with an omnipresent harmonica, the Latin-American charango, emotional vocals and a final part with heavy guitar and fiery drums in Il Vino (Breve Delirio Del Vino) and from mellow with flute and acoustic guitar to heavy with fiery guitar and a propuslive rhythm-section in Cantico Del Poeta Errante (Part I/III). But my highlight is the final track Cantico Del Poeta Errante (Part I/II): it is built around a swinging rhythm in which a flamenco rhythm is blended in a very captivating way and we can enjoy lots of captivating shifting moods and a lush instrumentation, from organ and biting guitar to folky mandoline and exotic conga's, great!

This is not very easy prog but if you are up to an exciting musical adventure, Il Baccio Della Medusa is yours! My rating: 3,5 stars and ... multo grazie Andrea!

The first minutes from the opening track are quite hard to digest as far as I'm concerned: super heavy music with poor vocals. Little to do with the Italian genre I love. But after some time, the lead vocals turns out softer and more passionate, which saves the bill. Even if "Requiem" ends up in the vein of the start with a ferocious guitar solo.

One needs to reach the third song to finally get on his marks. The groove bass still conveys a heavy sound but a rather contrasting flute play makes the whole of this introduction much lighter. Still, vocals are average but, on the contrary, the electric guitar play is quite impressive: melodic at times and wild during others. The closing section is a mix of jazzy / bluesy textures: so "Scorticamento Di Marsia" has led us through quite a number of musical genres! Not bad after all.

Although this band is currently active, most of their songs sound quite vintage ("Il Vino" but not only). There is also some truly symphonic Italian passages, which are the moments I prefer by far. My favourite track is the beautiful "Cantico". Sweet vocals this time, and again some very pleasant fluting are highlighting this excellent song which leans of course to heavy territories for the "finale".

The closing song is just over twelve minutes long and also offers several musical genres (even some flamenco blend is featured). The whole is quite upbeat, at times dark but overall, it is quite enjoyable. Excellent bass play as well.

After all, this band should have been catalogued into the heavy-prog genre. It would have been obvious to anyone which type of music could have been expected here.

A good debut album: three stars.

Having already heard Il Bacio Della Medusa's excellent second album, Discesa Agl'Inferi D'un Giovane Amante, I was a bit disappointed with their 2004 self-titled debut. Discesa is a superb album that is full of variety and invention whereas the debut is a fairly ordinary hard rock album, albeit that it incorporates some progressive and folk elements. To me a lot of the tracks here just sound too similar, with thrashing guitar and heavy drums dominating much of the album.

Requiem Per I Condannati A Morte sets the tone with the aforementioned style of guitar and drums accompanied by harsh-sounding treated vocals, although things improve with the acoustic second part of the song. Orienteoccidente is more of the same heavy rock, but the Queen influence near the end of this track is good. There's a pleasant change of atmosphere with the opening section of the four-part Scorticamento Di Marsia. This is the longest track on the album at just short of the 15-minute mark, and Eva Morelli's flute-play is wonderful throughout. Simone Cecchini's vocals constantly change from right to left channels during this song; this idea is slightly overdone as the same technique was used on the previous track. The closing section features guest musician Angelo Petri's soprano and alto saxophones combining with flute in a funky groove that reminds me of some of Lalo Schifrin's 1970's television theme music.

Il Vino begins promisingly with accordion and charango, something like a South American ukulele. Simone Brozzetti's electric guitar even sounds mellow, although it still has a metal tone that is in danger of overkill on this album. We finally get a taste of the band's real potential with Cantico Del Poeta Errante. This is a lovely flute-led acoustic ballad that even includes some Spanish-sounding rhythms. The album finishes with De Luxuria, Et De Ludo, Et De Taberna. This song features mandolin and excellent percussion, and later there's some psychedelic organ along with syncopated drums. Drummer Diego Petrini presumably plays the organ, as he was responsible for the keyboards on the second album.

This album lacks the mature compositions and arrangements of the band's later work. There are some nice moments but what we have is, in the main, straightforward heavy rock. This disc also suffers due to an overall lack of variety in the instrumentation; violinist Daniele Rinchi had yet to join at this point and Petrini's superb keyboards are all too scarce. As stated in the first paragraph, the band's second album is excellent and would be a better choice if you were new to the band. Il Bacio Della Medusa is an exciting contemporary band and there's nothing wrong with this album in itself. However in my opinion it's one for fans of the band and RPI collectors only, so 2 stars only I'm afraid.

I learned this Italian band from friend's recommendation, and the two first albums really made the suggestion worthwhile. I have not heard their latest third album on time of writing, and though I liked both of the two, I personally was yet more satisfied with their debut, focusing to more heavier art rock activity than their following record, that being really amazing too.

"Requiem Per I Condannati A Morte" kicks in with heavy stoner riffs, reminding a heavier incarnation of early Black Widow's line-up heard on "Return to The Sabbath". The horror themed vintage heavy prog with supporting female vocals and acoustic tender middle parts contain both fine instrumentations and powerful moods, following the Italian melodic traditions. Powerful bass supports this fine compositional approach culminating in intelligent arrangements and rhythmic changes, yet not confusing the listening experience or revealing attempts of adding unnecessary tricks for virtuosity displays.

"Orienteoccidente"'s ethereal psyhcedelic soundscape intro leads then to bluesy turmoil, reminding old rockers like Ten Years After and Agnus Strange, concluding to really heavy guitar storm. "Scorticamento Di Marsia", a small suite divided to several parts, is built from contrasting themes; Oppressing spacey ambiences, lovely caresses of flute-driven bucolic scenes, and bluesy progressions leading to more hectic acid rock guitar sequences. I appreciated here especially guitar's and flutes melodic dialogues. The later moments reveal some anxious sadder motives, then redeemed with more vital notes from the flautist, last rock passages leading to the bluesy beginning themes with sax solo in style of good old Colosseum records.

"Il Vino" opens trough soundscapes, and appeared to me as a traditional Italian folk's music sounding minor drinking song, shimmering with powerful passion though the vocal interpretation. After drinking, the sleeping time arrives with lullaby of flutes beautiful melodies on "Cantico Del Poeta Errante". A really lovely ballad gaining power from alterations of key shifts for "De Luxuria, Et De Ludo, Et De Taberna", preparing for the end of the album with doomy guitars descending in a form of Andalusian-sounding wild dancing. Composition visit also calmer acoustic phases, and the developments of the dominant themes conclude to a short circus scenario, closing this fabulous record.

Songs form dramatically pleasant flowing album entity, reaching much from their own tonal language's potential. I liked the quality of overall production, fine compositions and powerful male and female vocal duo presence. The record offered for me fine both artistic sensation and experience of rock&roll power, and it is certainly recommended. If you like more symphonic art rock requiring focus in listening, then the following "Discesa agl'inferi d'un giovane amante" album might be even yet more suitable for your tastes.

One of the recent products of the Perugia scene, Il bacio della medusa came together in the autumn of 2002 under the leadership of drummer Diego Petrini, bassist Federico Caprai and singer/guitarist Simone Cecchini.Many line-up changes would follow and a stable line-up would occur in 2003 with Eva Morelli on flutes and Simone Brozzetti on guitars.Over a year of preparation led to the band's self-titled and self-produced debut in 2004 with the participation of Angelo Petri on sax/accordion and Daniele Rinchi on violins.

The words that describe generally Il bacio della medusa's debut are energy and passion with the band delivering in a very dynamic Hard/Psych Prog style with many retro influences from the classic period of Italian Prog.The sound is based around the powerful guitar work of Brozzetti, featuring hard lead guitars and soulful soloing, and Cecchini's incredibly theatrical and sharp voice, perfect for the band's overall style, not unlike bands like IBIS or OSAGE TRIBE.These guitar-based crescendos are supported by a number of nice breaks with romantic acoustic passages and also the delicate flute interludes of Eva Morelli, as the sound reaches the legendary approach of PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI.The composition are full of guitar/flute interplays and shifting moods between soft acoustic textures and attacking guitar parts, showing a wide range in the decibel scale.''Il Vino'' shows even a great Mediterrenean-inspired attempt by the group to explore more traditional paths with accordion and acoustic guitars in evidence, a fantastic offering indeed.

A very good debut by a group with a bright future.Passionate Italian Prog, where straight-to-your-face rock music has plenty to offer among the proggier moments.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Heavier rock-based music similar to the approaches taken by the great rock-oriented acts of the 1970s RPI, such as, Biglietto Per L'Inferno, Quella Vecchia Locanda, Panna Fredda, Osanna, and even Museo Rosenbach.

1. "Requiem Per I Condannati A Morte" (Incl. "Sogno Post Mortem: Fine D'Un Inverno") (8:55) A classic rock classic. The highlight for me are the harmony vocals. Well recorded and produced. (17.25/20)

2. "OrienteOccidente" (5:24) opens like an AREA song before turning classic blues rock like the early 1970s. (8.5/10)

3. "Scorticamento Di Marsia (I,II,III,IV)" (14:54) a little more delicate blues rock using flute and acoustic guitars for the opening section. At times bluesy, at times hard rockin', at others jazzy-rock, this suite/epic is worthy. (26/30)

4. "Il Vino (Breve Delirio Del Vino)" (6:50) definitely an folk-infused Italian drinking song. With the presence of the accordion, syncopated rhythm, and call-and-response type of party vocals, there is quite a little LES NEGRESSES VERTES feel to this song. I really like the passion and pride coming through in this song. (13.75/15)

5. "Cantico Del Poeta Errante (I,II,III)" (8:23) another flute and acoustic guitar opening. The rest of the band joins in for the second verse in a kind of JTULL way. Once vocalist Simone Cecchini enters, he gives the song that same colloquial feel as the previous song. The second section is noted for its raucous multi-voice vocals despite the bands choice to remain mostly acoustic and slower in pace. The third section is defined by the presence of two fiery electric guitars. A cool Italian song that grows on you with repeated listens. (17.75/20)

6. "De Luxuria, Et De Ludo Et De Taberna (I,II)" (12:02) slow, plodding heaviness with great drumming and potential drama in the guitar play turns up a couple gears in the second minute to race across the landscape. Again, the classic instrumental jams of the early 1970s come to mind. But then vocals enter: two: one in the right channel alternated with another in the left, talking to one another. Great percussion! The shift in the third minute gives the song an even stronger South American feel to it--like something by LOS JAIVAS. Organ takes over above the fiery drums and percussion for the second half--that and the incidental operatic "lo-lo-lo-lo" male vocals. Then, just when you think it's ending, it turns into something altogether different: more soloing from the bass, drums, and percussionist. (21/25)

Total time 56:28

While I respect the retro-rock sound the band aspires to, it is the more colloquially-infused Italian traditional music that attracts me to their sound. More of this, less of the classic early 1970s rock sound, please.

B-/3.75 stars; a nice addition of Italian-infused retro-"1979s classic rock" to any rock lover's music collection.