WARM SPACED BLUE

The talented Roman band Ingranaggi della Valle changed their direction with their second album totally. That should annoys the fans of the first album like me /it is my top 10 all time album/. However, this has not happened at all. I was just shocked throughout the first listening of the album. The direction is completely different of what i had expected before that. Their dynamic avant-garde jazz-rock style with symphonic hints is fully dissolved into dark slow eclectic profound sound with strong Anglagard influence. I haven't seen such a difference ever before between band's first and second album without this being a mistake. Ingranaggi della Valle maintain their extremely high level of professional, energetic and profound approach in building top ranged progressive music. Definitely one of the best young musicians in the worldwide scene still in their 20s. Highly recommended to all.

Warm Spaced Blue is the band's sophomore release from a group of young Italian virtuoso musicians who are drawn to create progressive rock music in the tradition of their RPI forefathers. Here is a band that has fulfilled the promise shown in its debut album. Ingranaggi della Valle burst onto the prog scene in 2013 with their amazingly mature concept album, In hoc signo. That album served notice that seriously talented musicians in Italy of a new generation were desirous of creating serious progressive rock music. Whatever reason impels them to do this is unknown to me. I just know I am exceedingly happy that they do.

1. "Call For Cthulhu: Orison" (9:24) opens up this album with a wonderful display of the growth and maturity these musicians have achieved--especially in the compostitional department as the band here uses much more use of space and slower development than In hoc signo. I have to admit to being rather surprised that the band chose to open with what is, for all intents and purposes, an instrumental like this (the first seven minutes) as the voice of lead singer Davide Savarese is one of the things I look forward to most. Still, a great song with a great sustained buildup and climax. (9.5/10)

2. "Inntal" (10:34) opens slowly, almost delicately, even as the song moves into full-band mode, but the dynamic build up is there, they're just taking their time. By the break and ensuing slow down at 2:25 they have established a solid foundation--one that was considerably lighter than what follows as a dark, heavy YUGEN-like feel emerges with the second section. As things amp up, Mellotron vocals and violin taking leads. The meaning and significance of the recording of spoken German in the sixth minute is lost upon me, as is the vocal that follows, but it flows. Nice guitar solo in the ninth minute. Great drums throughout, as usual. (This guy is a god!) (9/10)

3. "Call For Cthulhu: Through The Stars" (3:13) opens with ominous sounds of distorted, heavily treated bells and organ which are eventually joined by slow treated/distorted piano notes. More ambiguous than scary. (I don't know what their intended effect was.) (7.5/10)

4. "Lada Niva" (8:49) a complex song that displays this band's amazing compositional skills (as well as drummer Shanti Colucci's extraordinary skills). the only flaw with this song is that the vocal feels somehow unfinished. Untreated, it feels as if it should have a little something to help it fit into the song. (10/10)

5. "Ayida Wedo" (5:52) opens with what sounds like a fast paced electronic sequence which is quickly joined by heavily riffing guitars, bass, and drums before Mellotron signals a change. Everything drops down to bass and drums before unhurried electric piano and electric guitar arpeggi join in. This is the drummer's showtime. (And he is impressive!) Then at 2:30 things quite down again for a little bridge from the vibes before a new set of instruments--synths and heavily treated guitars--take over the previously established melody (and add some really beautiful stuff to it). (It's still the drummer on display, though.) Another quiet interlude at 4:20 sets up the final run-- which includes a repetitive bass and synth sequence playing steadily while the drums and other incidentals add their wildness. Interesting and cool song in a NOT A GOOD SIGN way. (9/10)

6. "Call For Cthulhu: Promise" (6:44) a surprisingly simple and emotional beginning to the album's final song (the drums don't even appear until the 1:30 mark!) with acoustic guitar and organ supporting Davide's plaintive vocal. It's trying to be eery but it's failing (for me). It's also like it's trying to be a Zeuhl song. After the soundscape really fills up around the 3:40 mark it finally begins to succeed in expressing the heaviness of its theme. And then there are some subtle shifts starting at the five minute mark--little individual inputs, each admitted one at a time, which turn the song's mood into a more positive, hopeful feel. The ending section saves the song! (8.5/10)

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of progressive rock music. Not quite fulfilling the promise and potential shown in their debut but I do consider this a step forward. I look forward to seeing/hearing more vocals and dynamic variation in the future (and as much Shanti Colucci as possible, of course!).

I had no intention of picking this up until reading some reviews here. Their debut just didn't do a lot for me mainly because of the vocals and the violin which were both too prominent for my tastes. Well both are scaled back quite a bit on this the sophomore album and the results are stunning. The instrumental work here blows me away, it's why I'm giving this 5 stars and the abundance of mellotron sure doesn't hurt either. Oh, and I love the album title for some reason.

"Call For Cthulhu: Orison" opens with the atmosphere sounding like it's hovering as other experimental sounds come and go. Very cool, like listening to some spacey psychedelia. Drums and violin take over around the 2 minute mark. That's replaced by pulsating keys ala LE ORME, mellotron and more. The violin is back along with bass. Soon it turns powerful as they kick some ass. Nice. It settles with the drums and piano standing out. Synths join in as it builds. So cool! The tension is released as it settles back around 6 minutes but not for long. Check out the drums and organ before 7 minutes. Vocals for the first time after 7 minutes as the mellotron sweeps across the soundscape and the vocals turn passionate. Ripping guitar follows and as usual the rhythm section kills. What an opener!

"Inntal" opens with sounds dropping like rain then this beat with keys take over. Mellotron too. It's building until a calm arrives at 2 1/2 minutes. Determined piano arrives and some drum outburts, so good. The mellotron is back and soon we get a storm of it before 4 minutes as the drums and violin also impress. A calm with mellotron before 6 minutes, some narration here as well. It then kicks in with some incredible depth before 7 minutes, love the bass. Vocals follow then another calm takes over followed by some soaring guitar and busy drum work. Check out the organ before 9 1/2 minutes.

"Call For Cthulhu: Through The Stars" features plenty of atmosphere as the soundscape almost vibrates and pulses from it as different sounds come and go. I'm so impressed that they did an instrumental like this one. "Lada Niva" opens with atmosphere and psychedelia until drum and bass outburts arrive with mellotron before a minute. The tempo picks up and vocals join in with huge bass lines bringing 3RD DEGREE to mind. A spacey calm 4 minutes in but eventually drums, violin and more start to build. Great sound 7 minutes. The tension releases after 8 minutes as the piano takes over to the end.

"Ayida Wedo" opens with intricate sounds that build until it turns powerful very quickly. This is complex too. It does settle back with some jazzy drumming and keys. More sounds join in including mellotron then it settles back again. Some powerful sounds return after 3 1/2 minutes. Love the liquid keys and big bass lines here. The mellotron sweeps in as well before another calm arrives ate but then it turns heavy again to end it. A fantastic instrumental. "Call For Cthulhu: Promise" is folky to begin with as we get strummed guitar and reserved vocals. The organ rolls in and drums and man the guy can play. Mellotron and bass too as the tension builds. Soon it's dark and haunting(love this!) then more organ 4 minutes in in this powerful section. The tempo picks up at 5 1/2 minutes. Brilliant! Violin helps out as well.

This one came out of the blue(haha), c'mon it's Christmas! Anyway this young Italian band has hit one out with their sophomore album and this is possibly my favourite RPI album of 2016, we'll see.

Italy's Ingrannagi della Valle delivered a dazzling and brilliantly performed debut, `In Hoc Signo', back in 2013 on the Black Widow label, a thrilling shot-in-the-arm for the traditional vintage symphonic RPI sound, fuelled by endless searing violin and extravagant vocals. It was the classic sound of Italy's proud prog past meeting a youthful and exuberant future, one for lovers of bands such as Quella Vecchio Locanda. So having accomplished that, what was next for the band? How about aiming even higher in something of a different direction and possibly setting the standard for modern progressive rock overall? Because that's what the band have achieved with 2016's `Warm Spaced Blue', a defining work that not only almost completely eclipses their first work, but more than ever sets the band up for a bright future that lifts their status considerably.

It's a little disappointing at first to discover that not only have Ingrannagi della Valle abandoned some of the more obvious classical/theatrical/symphonic styles often associated with those bands that fall under the RPI banner, they've also switched to singing in English (usually this is an absolute disaster, or worse, kind of offensive to purists of the style). But all of that is pushed to one side from the scintillating first few minutes of opener `Call for Cthulhu: Orison' that paves the way for a surprisingly predominantly instrumental-based album. Eerie droning electronic ambience and doomed piano, scratchy Mellotron and Marco Gennarini's stirring violin weave together in unison behind a constant rumbling drum storm and a brief crooning vocal, the spontaneous and lively piece thankfully still containing much of the gothic atmosphere and darker unpredictability found in many of the classic Italian groups. The unsettling and playfully malevolent mood grows in drama and heaviness, and it's perfectly complimented by murmuring bass contributions from guest musician Fabio Pignatelli of Goblin, Cherry Five and Goblin Rebirth.

The ten-plus minute improvisation-heavy `Inntal' is unhurried and offers endless twists and turns of glistening electric piano tiptoes, creaky Mellotron flutes/infernal choirs and Mattia Liberati's overall psychedelic keyboard malaise fused with a delicious jazzy shambling. It peppers the album with bombastic bursts, a gloomy narration, indie-rock posturing and sprightly acoustic jangling, culminating in `Call for Cthulhu: Through the Stars', a nightmarish collage of humming distortion and ghostly piano. Parts of the up-tempo and frantic `Lady Niva' come the closest to a more traditional vocal/song piece, Davide Savarese's wavering and young falsetto voice darting between Shanti Colucci's skittering drumming, Antonio Coronato's purring bass and Flavio Gonnellini's stop-start guitar spasms, but lengthy ambient drifts with serene Mellotron veils and cinematic-flavoured violin strings lift the piece to exotic heavens.

`Ayida Wedo' crosses the sombre reflection of Porcupine Tree's `Dark Matter' off their modern prog classic `Signify' with the heavy grooving guitars of their later `In Absentia'-period, with just a touch of playfully maniacal Goblin/`Roller' electronics thrown in for good measure too! Closer `Call for Cthulhu (Promise)' is a deceiving beast, opening sweetly with chiming acoustic guitars and a reflective vocal, but a creeping heaviness and growing tension emerge to quickly twist it with thick organ, mournful group-harmonies and no end of growling guitars and searing Mellotron.

`Warm Spaced Blue' presents a bold and challenging new phase for this talented Italian group, a work that holds plenty of appeal to both younger and older listeners. So much of the disc is made up of extended instrumental and improvised passages, yet it never sounds aimless or drawn-out, and the punchy vinyl length means it never becomes overlong or causes interest to wane. If there's any justice in the music community, Ingrannagi Della Valle will become one of the biggest progressive rock bands on the planet based off this album, and it is not only probably the best Italian disc of 2016, but absolutely one of the essential Prog rock albums of the year as well. Well done once again to this truly superb band!

Five stars.

Roman band Ingranaggi delle Valle is returning with a slightly more experimental sophomore album, having thrilled the prog community with their rather epic debut "In Hoc Signo". The main core of Mattia Liberati on keyboards, guitarist Flavio Gonnellini , violinist Marco Gennarinni and drummer extraordinaire Shanti Colucci are now complemented with a new vocalist in Davide Savarese, a full-time bassist in Antonio Coronato , as well as multi- instrumentalist Alessandro di Sciullo, who provides both keyboards, vocals and guitars to the heady mix. Guest appearance by iconic bassist Fabio Pignatelli, he of Goblin fame, only enhances the magic. This infusion of new blood has created a new sonic tangent, less jazzy perhaps and more atmospheric and stretching the bizarre even further

The 3 part "Call for Cthulhu" opens, continues and closes this mesmerizing recording, a true progressive sandwich that encompasses many of the stellar attributes that were unleashed on their debut but adding a ton of depth and atmospherics to their rather complex brew. Part 1 "Orison" remains mostly instrumental, as it highlights once again the spectacular interweaving of all players, obviously in tune with each other as if connected spiritually as well as musically and blending in some odd details, like the choir-like Mahavishnu Orchestra stylized voices that enhance Savarese's wild rant. Gonnellini does some serious screeching on his guitar as Colucci defies drum logic with a wild beating of the skins.

The Teutonic-tinged "Inntal" is a10 minute + affair that bewilders with initial delicacy, electric piano and booming bass setting the table, followed by sweet Mellotron waves. The various tangents come together unconditionally, a slow forming structure that reeks of Anglagard-like obstinate symphonism, Colucci doing his finest Bill Bruford imitation/tribute in syncopating the arrangement , exploding into a furious hurricane of insanity, violin in tow. The Mahavishnu- Larks Tongues-ear KC influence is overt and delightful, what with the violin, guitar, bass and drums creating a heady amalgamation of notes that stun and conquer. Bizarrely comes the unexpected German recited poetry (guest Florian Lechter) , as if to add to the bewildering confusion. Axeman Gonnellini shreds again in fine fashion, stripping, shearing and blasting unmolested.

Part 2 of "Call for Cthulhu", a perverse but short "Through the Stars", deafeningly unnerving and spectral, echoing bells and floating ghosts, very soundtrack Goblin. This seems the appropriate preparation for the highlight marathon "Lady Niva", a pulsating slash of melody and urgency, heavily dominated by cowering Mellotron washes, as the rhythmic tandem of Coronato and Colucci carve up quite a storm, while Savarese scales the octaves with a dissonant and hop-scotching vocal display that seems to ache with pain. Out of the 'warm blue', a mirrored pool of Frippian guitar streaks collide with a layered keyboard panorama that serves only to ratchet up the pulse, veering into almost Soft Machine/Isotope universes, clearly devoted to the jazz-rock idiom , before reverting to the initial symphonic storm. A hypnotic and repetitive piano note kills this masterpiece track off.

Obscurity tumbles on the sober "Ayida Wedo", a delirious blend of mathematical keyboard cubism (a la Richard Barbieri), a morose bass line and shifty drum beat. Clanging shards of guitar phrasings and Mellotron sweetness only add to the melee, then swerving into a demanding listen and frightening images that sear the brain. Complex, brooding and immaculately dark, perhaps in tribute to the Starless and Bible Black.

"Call for Cthulhu" finale "the Promise "fences in this troubling opus, a definitely engaging and unsuspecting ending that keeps the listener on a constant precipice, perhaps even vertigo. Organ, Mellotron and manic drumming create a tension-filled universe, a controversial flute solo from guest Paolo Lucini fueling the madness, the discomfort and the raw aggression. The experimental mid-section evolves into a cloudy universe of noises, effects and impressions, slowly rebooting the insanity and supplying the coup de grace.

Redefining the past by aiming for something unique, Ingrannagi delle Valle are part of the new vanguard of Italian prog (RPI or other various genres) that constantly keep the flame going, burning bright. This is very demanding music, requiring a devoted listen at all times, whether listening to the whole or the individual instrumental parts, it's a labor of love quite out of the normal context and augurs well for the future, with so many up and coming Italian groups , such as the magical Il Paradiso degli Orchi (still my favorite of 2016) and the arriving soon albums by Promenade, Il Rumore Bianco and La Bocca della Verita, that I just cannot wait to discover.

4.5 earnest spread-out sapphires

This young Roman band offers us his second album with guest musicians Mattias Olson (Anglagard) and Fabio Pignatelli (Goblin). We can hear influences of those two bands in the music that has an old Italian style but a modern Swedish influence including Anekdoten. From the ethereal opener, we are in a strange and dark territory with some violin and vintage mellotron. The drums patterns remind me of the classical song of Ravel "Bolero". The music is mostly instrumental with occasional English lyrics. The band enjoys building the melody slowly in a faster and louder tempo. In the second track, we can hear the piano and keyboards in a pure canterbury style. The third track instrumental starts again with a dark intro and has soundtrack atmosphere. The fourth track brings back the vocals with some jazzy excursions. "Ayida Wedo" is a little masterpiece of vintage sounds, smooth drums, delicate and beautiful keyboards tones with a King Crimson ending. The last song has an acoustic intro with that dark and intense atmosphere ending furiously in the Anglagard style. This album is another fine example of how the Italian scene can be very creative. It's like hearing the sound on the 70's in the modern age with the same songwriting quality.

Warmed Space Blue, the second release by this Italian band Ingranaggi Della Valle had left me completely speechless, in a completely unexpected manner, I expected them to continue on the jazz rock styles of Area and Arti & Mestieri, but instead go for a much more complex brand of eclectic prog of the more extreme end that borders on RIO at times. Really it's a giant leap forward for the band. The violin and vocals have been reduced, what vocals there are are usually in English. The Mellotron makes a bigger presence than before. What you basically get here is challenging prog in the vein of King Crimson, Änglagård, and even RIO. The music frequently takes on a darker, more sinister vibe, which is always a plus for me. On In Hoc Sogno, the band sounds positively like they're playing it safe in comparison to this! While that one featured Mattias Olsson from Änglagård and David Jackson from Van der Graaf Generator and the recent Osanna as guests, Warmed Space Blue features Fabio Pignatelli, of Goblin guesting on the opening cut. This was completely unexpected for me! Isn't the reason for prog rock is to challenge listeners and even their expectations? Well Ingranaggi Della Valle did just that! This could very well be one of the finest prog releases I've heard of the 2010s! To think of the musical progress, think of if Yes started off with their debut in 1969 and then make their following release Close to the Edge, but to be fair, Yes had three years to get to that point, and so did Ingranaggi Della Valle, the major difference was Yes had three albums released between their debut and Close to the Endge, and Ingranaggi had no albums released between those three years, but it still allowed them time to progress to where they are now. I just love it when new prog bands show their potential on their debut, but then really make that major leap on their next release. That's what IDV does here. But if you like the more jazz rock leanings of In Hoc Signo, Warm Spaced Blue would me a more rough ride. For those wanting new prog that's quite complex and challenging, there's no reason not to own a copy, this is essential!

In hoc signo, Ingranaggi della Valle's first album, was one of my favorite albums of 2013. The traditional Italian Symphonic style allied with the violin and a sound that kept the roots of the RPI but with modern approach captivated me. I was looking forward to the band's second album!

And after 3 years we got Warm Spaced Blue, also released by the Italian label Black Widow. And what do we have here? Pretty much an alien for fans of the first record. After some changes in the line up Ingranaggi della Valle basically changed 100% its sound...

First of all the vocals now are in English (not that this is a problem, since 90% of the album is instrumental ...), gone are the Symphonic elements, gone are the various layers in the overall sound, gone are the Italian touch that made their first album unique, everything's gone. What we have on the new record is a bizarre mix of Post Rock, with Space Rock and Symphonic Rock touches, ' la Pink Floyd.

Honestly? I just can't understand the changes and they do not lead the band anywhere, sonically. What was unique to them is now what everyone else is doing. Also, why so drastically a change in the sound of the band after having battled so much to record the first record, establish an identity and have received so much praise for the first album? This baffles me completely! However, I believe there's still hope for the band and I will wait for the third album and see what they come up with.

But I must confess that after Warm Spaced Blue I will not wait so anxiously for it...

Having paid tribute to the sound of the classic RPI scene on their debut album (In Hoc Signo), for their second release Ingranaggi della Valle shift to a substantially more modern sound, with Pink Floyd-via-Porcupine Tree-esque space rock mashed up with brooding, foreboding synth-oriented post rock.

It's an interesting stylistic shift which might see them faced with accusations of selling out, though to be honest if they genuinely wanted to sell out they wouldn't be playing prog in the first place. Admittedly, I'm not quite as sold on this as I was on their masterful evocation of RPI classics of the past, but it was enjoyable enough and if this was a necessary stylistic departure for them to grow their craft then maybe it will pay better dividends on later releases.

Review Nº 181

Ingranaggi Della Valle is an Italian progressive rock band from Rome which was created in 2010. The band was created with the goal of evoking the sound and atmospheres of the historical progressive rock of the 70's, creating their own music open to fusion, ethnic and jazz-rock influences. The band released two studio albums until now. Their debut album 'In Hoc Signo', which was released in 2013, is a conceptual album with its concept focused about the times when the first Crusade was made. We can say this is a perfect representative manifesto of their music and philosophy. Just over three years later of their debut, Ingranaggi Della Valle returned with their second album 'Warm Spaced Blue'.

While their debut studio album 'In Hoc Signo' was a tribute to 70's progressive rock music, where the focus was mainly on the instruments and the playing, and less on the song writing and the actual songs, with 'Warm Spaced Blue', they took a different approach and decided to put the focus more on the song writing. But there is another main difference. Also, the tone of this album is darker and reflects the members' personal feelings and situations in their life.

Since their debut album some changes on the line up of the band occurred. But, the main difference was the change of their singer. The change to their new front man David Savarese resulted in the lyrics on this follow up effort, as the title suggests, to be sung in English. And yet with that significant change and one that may bring the band to wider notice, one thing remains clear, lyrics are secondary on this traditional, symphonic, but clearly Italian progressive agenda.

On 'Warm Spaced Blue' the band tried to maintain their stylistic unity without setting boundaries in the arrangement by choosing from a wide range of instruments. All bands' members use a wide range of instruments. While maintaining a jazz approach for writing harmonies the band acquired a big structured rock sound and, as I mentioned before, they introduced English as the singing language. 'Warm Spaced Blue' really highlights some differences from the past.

The line up on the album is Davide Savarese (lead vocals, glockenspiel and Rhodes), Flavio Gonnellini (backing vocals and guitar), Alessandro Di Sciullo (backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Minitaur; Mellotron, Roland TR 808/TR 909, Akai MPC Touch, Korg Kaoss Pad KP 3 and electronics), Mattia Liberati (backing vocals, Hammond B3 , Mellotron, Fender Rodhes Mk V, MiniMoog, MiniMoog Voyager and piano), Marco Gennarini (backing vocaks and bass), Antonio Coronato (bass) and Shanti Colucci (drums and percusiion). The album had also the participation of Fabio Pignatelli (bass and Fx), Stefano Vicarelli (synthesizers), Paolo Lucini (flute) and Florian Lechner (narration).

About the songs, 'Warm Spaced Blue' has only six tracks. The majority of this album is reserved for the suite 'Call For Cthulhu', with more than 20 minutes, which is divided into three parts, 'Orbison', 'Through The Stars' and 'Promise'. In between those three tracks we can find three other songs, 'Inntal', 'Lada Niva' and 'Ayida Wedo'. What is more interesting about the suite is that 'Call For Cthulhu' is separated between the other songs. So, the suite is separated by the first, third and sixth tracks. 'Call For Cthulhu' has an experimental character by the use of modern electronics. Through the suite we can immediately know this is a very special album and a special band. This is true progressive rock music and I had to think of bands like Anglagard and Echolyn, not because their music is sounding like the music of those bands but because this band is also in the premiership of progressive rock. Certainly it wasn't a coincidence that Mattias Olsson of Anglagard participated on their debut. 'Inntal' is a song with great flute atmospheres. It's a real jazz-rock song, also with great guitar parts. Somehow it reminds me of King Crimson and Anekdoten, which isn't a strange think due to the use of the Mellotron. 'Lada Niva' develops itself also into a 70's progressive rock song, with some jazzy influences. It's a great song with great diversity. On 'Ayida Wedo' the sound gets more or less stronger and is a little bit aggressive. The song is instrumental. I confess the vocals aren't in the lead of this album, as I wrote before.

Conclusion: 'Warm Spaced Blue' is a brilliant album. Interestingly, Italian progressive rock has its own style, slightly baroque and absolutely opinionated. This is a real interesting approach of composing music. It's indicated for lovers of jazz rock/fusion. But above all, it's particularly indicated for lovers of the 70's progressive rock music if you love instruments in their real and own mode. However, this isn't an easy album to digest. There is a high standard of playing and of song writing but the album is very hard to grasp after the just one hearing. One definitely needs to listen to it more often, to get the whole thing and to keep up with the quick changes of passages and moods. This is heavy stuff, but still very well played and more original than some other bands that just copy their heroes' styles. But I'm sure you will like it if you like real progressive rock music with a dark atmosphere and if you love the Mellotron work, as I do, this album is for you. It's highly recommended especially for lovers of bands like King Crimson, Anglagard and Anekdoten.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Honestly the debut album of Ingranaggi Della Valle actually left me cold, so I didn't have great expectations on this second release. Probably if I hadn't seen Cthulhu mentioned in the titles of two tracks I wouldn't spend anything on that.

HOW I WAS WRONG...

This is an excellent album, dark, atmospheric and with some parts that may classfy the band in the RIO subgenre. Excellently played, full of musical ideas and most of all, able to raise in my mind the sensations that I feel when I read Lovecraft, which is a very difficult task in which very few artists succeeded. But the track that conquered me definitely is Ayida Wedo, which includes a great flute part played by Paolo Lucini, one of the guests artists. On the other tracks there's some good mellotron, anyway.

What else? My Zeuhl receptors have been triggered a couple of times, but more than once I've had the remote impression of the presence of Thierry Zaboitzeff. The voice of Davide Savarese is a perfect fit, and his performance is excellent.

This is one of the best albums I've listened to in 2019, three years after its release, but it's never too late to discover good music, and this is very good.

"Warm Spaced Blue" is the second album by Roman band Ingranaggi della Valle and was released in 2016 on the independent label Black Widow Records with a renewed line up featuring founder members Mattia Liberati (Hammond B3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes Mk V, Mini-Moog, piano, backing vocals), Flavio Gonnellini (electric guitars, backing vocals), Marco Gennarini (violin, backing vocals) and Shanti Colucci (drums, percussions) along with Davide Savarese (vocals, glockenspiel), Antonio Coronato (electric bass) and Alessandro Di Sciullo (electric and acoustic guitars, Moog, Mellotron, Roland TR 808 and TR 909, Akai MPC Touch, Korg Kaoss Pad KP 3, electronics, backing vocals) plus some prestigious guests such as Fabio Pignatelli (bass), Florian Lechner (narrative vocals), Stefano Vicarelli (synthesizer) and Paolo Lucini (flute). If compared with their previous album, the sound is darker and, in some way, bolder and more experimental. According to the band, this is a concept album sui generis, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's literary work, ghost stories and Gothic atmospheres dealing with "the relation between self-conscious and collective unconscious". Anyway, there is more focus on music than on lyrics and you can enjoy the album even without the help of a Jungian key to analyse the complexity of the concept while the art cover and the pictures in the booklet by Jacopo Tiberi could give a clue of what the music is about...

The disquieting opener "Call For Cthulhu: Orison" introduces the subject matter with an invocation to the return of a fallen god, the one who can sweep away laws and morals overcoming the difference between good and evil, restoring universal freedom... "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age..." (quote from H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call Of Cthulhu").

"Inntal" takes us in the eerie woods of the Inn Valley drawing pastoral landscapes and spectral shadows for a Gothic tale where fear can drive you crazy. The narrative vocals in German, the short lyrics in English, the music and the picture in the booklet evoke the ghost of a drowned girl and the irrepressible force that can attract you in her fatal arms and then push you into the void of the night...

The short instrumental "Call For Cthulhu: Through The Stars" takes you for a nightmarish trip into the deep ocean where you can experience an oneiric vision of the submarine corpse-city of R'lyeh, "home of great Cthulhu and his hordes, hidden in green slimy vaults...".

The following "Lada Niva" is a bit lighter and dreamy. It describes the troubles of the ghost of an old man hanging on his memories and who can't forget his old car and the sound of the rain on its wind-shield, making very difficult for him the last step into the afterlife. Then it's the turn of the mysterious "Ayida Wedo", a beautiful instrumental track whose title refers to the Rainbow Serpent of the Voodoo culture and to its double personality...

The long, complex "Call For Cthulhu: Promise" evokes in music and words claustrophobic atmospheres and cosmic journeys across the unknown territories of the mind. The promise of a spiritual rebirth and the hope for a come back from the abyss close an album that is really worth listening to...