AMBIGRAM

Ambigram came to life some years ago in Piacenza on the initiative of two experienced musicians such as Beppe Lombardo and Max Marchini who gathered around them a kind of super-group to give form to their musical ideas mixing seventies influences and up to date sounds. In 2021 they finally released an excellent eponymous debut album on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash label with a line up featuring Francesco Rapaccioli (lead and backing vocals), Beppe Lombardo (guitars), Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (drums, percussion) and Max Marchini (bass) plus the guests Annie Barbazza (vocals), Max Repetti (piano, keyboards), Marco Rancati (backing vocals), Paola Folli (vocals), Camillo Mozzoni (oboe) and Paolo Tofani (guitar). By the way, an ambigram is a word or drawing that retains meaning when viewed from a different direction or perspective and the art work by drummer and graphic artist Gigi Cavalli Cocchi gives an idea of this concept, with the name of the band on the cover that can be read the same way if viewed upside down...

The opener "A Mediterranean Tale" starts softly, the atmosphere is dreamy as the music and lyrics evoke ancient legends and myths related to the Mediterranean sea under a starry sky. From the images of Troy to a charming singing of mermaids, the sea seems to bring its secrets up to the surface and the wind carries them away on the changing rhythm of the waves...

Dreams turn into nightmare in the following "Cerberus Reise" that describes in music and words the meeting with an infernal three-headed beast raising from a concrete rock to angrily rape and kill. But the protagonist is a poisonous, lethal prey that wields a sword of light and is ready to fight back the evil creature...

"Pig Tree" starts by an aggressive electric guitar riff, then the music and lyrics lead you on the frontier between good and bad, where there are deep, dark waters under your feet and flashes above still clouds. It might be just a matter of points of views but we live in a world where money rules and where even Alice gives no pills for free to let you enter in wonderland, a world that hides many moons and where many suns shine...

"Sailing Home" every now and again could recall Yes in the first part while the middle section features the female vocals of the guest Paola Folli and recalls Pink Floyd. Your destination is still hidden by the horizon but, as you sail on a calm sea, you can already smell the air of home and dream of the end of your journey...

The reflective "Imaginary Daughter" portrays with visionary lyrics and nervous notes a rebellious girl who follows her wild nature and dreams of being a mother in a hostile, poisoned world... Then comes the dramatic "L'absinthe", a piece dealing with the problem of alcohol addiction. The protagonist wrongly believes that alcohol can destroy his nightmares and help him fighting his inner ghosts. The absinthe sings with voice of a gentle giant lighting the candles of illusion and bringing lost songs from the sky. But eventually the protagonist's soul cries as he's led away by madness, broken down...

The introspective "Patchwork" depicts in music and words snowy landscapes and a frozen lake reflecting your thoughts. In just thirty seconds you breathe on curved air, it's a time with no space nor meaning to create, the moment in which you must begin your personal search to love... Then it's the turn of "Pearls Before Swine", a short piece about the cruelty of pig killing: did God create a paradise for them?... A radio edit version of "Cerberus Reise" ends the album...

On the whole, a very interesting work.

Ambigram is a new band formed by four musicians who have all been around the scene for years, and they somehow also managed to get Greg Lake involved the project who co-produced opening song "A Mediterranean Tale". This is more than six minutes long, and while the vocals are great, and there is some quite superb bass, I was finding it all a little twee and quite boring in its laidback style. Then just before three minutes it totally changes direction, becomes upbeat, has some lovely classical guitar, and my view changed quite considerably. It is almost as if the band was lulling us into thinking one thing, before suddenly they took the blindfolds off and let us see them in their full glory. It is when they are more frenetic that singer Francesco Rappacioli really comes to the fore as he is just sensational, but Beppe Lombardo (guitars), Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (drums), and Max Marchini (bass) all play wonderful roles, so much so that the more time is spent listening the more there is to discover. Max is definitely far more to the fore than many prog bassists, but he is not running a heavily distorted or fuzzed sound but instead keeps it clean.

There are many complex and complicated strands in their music, with a huge amount of space, and they have also brought in additional musicians and singers to fill out the sound (keyboards are incredibly important, hats off to guest Max Repetti). Towards the end of "Cerberus Reise" Francesco allows himself some lovely long notes before a gently fading oboe ends the piece which is really nice. These guys should be considered crossover in its truest sense as they are mixing together loads of different styles, and while they often are in neo they definitely bring in other elements while never going to the style often associated with Italian bands of huge banks of keyboards. This is a debut prog album well worth discovering, which repays repeated listenings.

What do you know about corporate design? Well, someone has really thought about that here. Recognition value for example. The band name lettering on the cover, yep, it's a typical ambigram, meant as a calligraphic design that has two or more distinct interpretations regarding the symmetries. Furthermore every symbol is standing for a particular musician. Not really intended for a simple one-off performance, right? Thus AMBIGRAM is a band comprised of four experienced members, living in Italy, and knowing each other for years. Based on their common love for progressive rock music, at some point the qualitative leap was only a matter of time. And fortunately they decided to form that unity.

Of course, at long last it all works when the music comes coherent. Really markable is Francesco Rapaccioli's singing voice. Surely defining, the instruments though are free to develop anyhow. While listening bands like Bolus or Instant Curtain came into my mind, which sound-wise are partially close. The eight songs are covering beautiful melodies and a great range of rock styles with prog sentiment, but also some AOR attitude too. Hereby guest musician Max Repetti enriches diverse songs with sparse keyboard input, Camillo Mozzoni in the same way due to some oboe contributions. The entertaining A Mediterranean Tale is starting the expedition, sounds a bit Genesis and Marillion inspired.

Let me single out the lovely Pig Tree especially, my album favourite. Tricky flow, variating mood and tempo, top vocals, psychedelic guitar, nice organ and synthesizer appearing. Fantastic! That is prog at its best! The heart-melting Sailing Home then is dominated by a nice male/female (Paola Folli) vocal symbiosis, as well as Beppe Lombardo's sensitive guitar solo performance. Patchwork shows some unusual guitar/fretless bass cooperation in between, magic, innovative, you can hear that they have experimented at some point. Definitely a recommendation. Another enjoyable gem released on MaRaCash Records.