DOPO IL BUIO LA LUCE

The name of this Italian progrock band is derived from the two Salis brothers, Francesco and Antonio. The music on their fourth album from 1979 sounds like dynamic symphonic jazzrock and reminds me of the splendid Spanish band Mezquita, it's also based upon captivating interplay between fiery and powerful guitar and vintage keyboards, including a Steinway Grand piano, Fender Rhodes electric piano, organ, Minimoog and ARP string- ensemble. The level of the musicians is very high, we can enjoy strong soli on guitar and keyboards and many captivating moments: exciting shifting moods and virtuosic piano play in the titletrack, excellent guitarwork in the vein of Jan Akkerman (Focus) in "Peccato Che .. !", a Spanish climate featuring strong vocals, howling electric guitar and orchestral keyboards in "El diablo" and swirling Fender Rhodes piano and fiery electric guitar in "Inquinamento".

A STRONG AND CAPTIVATING ALBUM, FORZA ITALIA!

Salis was the surname of two brothers from Santa Giusta, Oristano in Sardinia, bassist Antonello and guitarist Francesco.The origins of the band can be found in late-60's as Salis'n'Salis, but by the first album ''Sa vida ita est'', a Psych/Pop Rock affair from 1971, it was already shortened to Salis.A new brief line-up was formed in 1972, when the duo had moved to Cremona, soon to return to Sardinia with bassist Pino Martini and drummer Salvatore Garau, later the rhythm section of Stormy Six.In 1974 a new album comes out, entitled ''Seduto sull'alba a guardare'', being more of an Antonello Salis solo release than a group effort, with a totally different crew.Five years later Salis return with a full-prog release, ''Dopo il buio la luce'' on IAF, with Antonio Lotta on keys and Antonio Sardu on drums.

Surprisingly the album contains all the basic fundamentals of the Italian Prog scene despite being release at a time when Progressive Rock was just shadow of the past.The style is split between great Symphonic Rock passages and virtuosic Jazz-Rock performances, being largely instrumental with only some space for vocals on ''Diablo'' and the closing ''Yankee Go Home''.''Dopo il buio la luce'' offers plenty of great breaks and technical interplays, heavily based on Lotta's keyboards and Francesco Salis' guitars with an alternation between parts with a romantic flavor and professional music textures with a technical diversity.The guitars have a strong jazzy taste overall with some fantastic solos througout, while Lotta is willing to offer a varied work of jazzy electric pianos, symphonic moog synths and great piano interludes.Especially the rich interplays follow one another with a termendous ability by the group to create memorable tunes, often supported by an orchestral grandieur.The overall sound of the band resembles to the lines of acts from early to mid-70's and a mix between the aesthetics of FOCUS, GENESIS, BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI and RETURN TO FOREVER seems like a good description.

Salis did not escape the luck of all those late-70's progressive groups and split up a year later.The two brothers continiued being part of the music industry and also released the tape ''Signora del porto'' in 1988, featuring re-recordings of old compositions, along with a brand new CD work in 2003 entitled ''Statue e fiori''.Unfortunately death would separate them, as Francesco sadly passed away in 2007.

Among the greatest Italian Prog material ever to be recorded during the second half of the 70's, ''Dopo il buio la luce'' is an album full of great inspirational moments and different imaginative colors, always stuffed with the familiar Italian atmosphere.Highly recommended.

One of the lesser knowns in the 70s Italian prog scene, SALIS consisted of the two brothers Antonio Salis (bass, vocals) and Francesco Salis (guitar, vocals) who started playing together as Barrittas in the 1960s on the island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy. After a brief stint as Salis 'n' Salis, the brothers finally decided upon SALIS and officially formed their band in 1969. Despite one of the earliest progressive acts to emerge on the Italian scene, SALIS wasn't very prolific having released its debut "Sa Vida Ita Est" in 1971 which featured a psychedelic folk sound with minor progressive elements. It would take another three years for the following "Seduto Sull'alba A Guardare" to emerge and once again the band released a primarily pop flavored album with minor progressive elements.

It would take still another five long years for the band to reinvent itself into the quartet of Francesco Salis (guitar, vocals), Antonio Salis (bass, flute, vocals), Antonio Lotta (keyboards) and Antonio Sardu (drums) with an emphasis on dreamy symphonic jazz rock that offered beautiful but complex acoustic guitar moments, vintage keyboard sounds, classic era Italian prog compositional fortitude and an overall epic sound. While mostly an instrumental a few vocal moments are scattered about and after existing as a simpler pop based band for its entire career, SALIS had finally become a fully indoctrinated progressive rock band. DOPO IL BUIO LA LUCE (After The Darkness There Is Light) came out in 1979 when progressive rock bands in Italy were abandoning all traces of complexity and simplifying their style into catchy pop music.

Undeterred SALIS generated an interesting style of progressive jazz rock with symphonic touches that evades any true comparisons with other artists. A nice mix of keyboard driven melodies with electric guitar lines and off-kilter time signature patterns that evoked the symphonic prog craze of the earlier part of the decade. The album featured eight tracks at just under 42 minutes with most hovering around the 5 to 6 minute range. The lengthy title track at nearly 8 minutes provided the most stellar prog workouts, the most mood shifts, strange motifs and an overall airy breezy vibe. The album as a whole is more on the mellow side although Francesco Salis' guitar workouts can get a bit fiery. Tracks like "Diablo" show great contrast between vocal-driven symphonic prog in the vein of classic PFM or Banco but showcases the band's ability to break into heavier outbursts and then jump right back into the sophisticated vocal-driven symphonic prog again.

Lots of keyboards layered on this one upping the dosage of symphonic possibilities but another unique feature is the interesting guitar style that adds bizarre contrapuntal aspects thus making DOPO IL BUIO LA LUCE sound nothing like the band's previous efforts but also gives it a unique sound that is unlike pretty much any other Italian band that came before. As far as the mellow nature of this perhaps it would appeal most to those who can appreciate the subtleties of Locanda delle Fate's late to the prog game 1977 effort. The track "Inquinamento" showcases some English Canterbury jazz flavors. Overall this is interesting album that stands on its own two feet. Sadly the prog scene had completely vanished by 1979 and as a band SALIS called it quits the following year. While not the cream of the crop of the burgeoning 70s Italian prog scene, DOPO IL BUIO LA LUCE is nevertheless yet another excellent slice of Italian prog that went completely unnoticed.