CINEMA STYGE

Hailing from Milan, Cinema Styge took recently form on the initiative of Gianluca Bonelli (vocals, guitar) and Stefano Sabbatino (bass) later joined by Luca Montone (drums, percussion) and Andrea Gobbo (piano, organ, synthesizers). All the members of the band share the same passion for the prog scene of the seventies, passion that is reflected in the original material they compose and perform. In 2023 the band self-released an interesting debut album, entitled "Tra di noi" (Among us), where they mix vintage sounds and the freshness of their own musical ideas. In my opinion, to appreciate this work you have to step into the art cover like Alice going through the looking-glass and plunge into the dark landscapes of an unsettling dream where nothing stays steady...

The complex, excellent opener "Si sa mai che" (You never know what) takes you on the banks of an infernal river for a surreal quest to the tree of evil, a monstrous, threatening weeping willow. Once found the tree, the protagonists will have to struggle to cut it down and let it sink into the waters of the Styx...

On the following "Rivelazione" (Revelation) we can hear the voice of the immortal tree that's desperately shaking its thousand branches and fronds and looks for a way out from the damnation of the eternal flames of hell. Then the music and lyrics evoke the images of souls lost in the waters of a raging river of pain and a desperate desire to escape from a dream that's turning into a nightmare...

"Come allora" (Like then) starts softly as the music and lyrics bring us unpleasant reminders of a grim memory. The borders between life and death seam to get blurred while love burns and wears your body out, your pride bends reaching the breaking point and the need to hang on reality fades out leading to the short instrumental "Esme"...

melancholic "Spettro del profeta" (Prophet's spectre) where the music and lyrics conjure up images of melting glaciers and raging waves on the sea while flames of madness lighten the darkness to give voice to an infernal cosmic silence... The rhythm rises with the following "Cosmofobia, Part II", a piece evoking new horizons and the charm of unknown territories to explore in a new dream...

"Bus Carillon" ends the album taking you on a kind of dark, psychedelic trip across an ocean of stars in a magic bus where freedom dances at the rhythm of a strange carillon. Eventually shadows melt and you get lost in the sky, far away from planet earth and reality...

On the whole, a very good work that deserves a try.