TRAMA

Found in 1995 by guitarist Lorenzo Loria and drummer Paolo Gaggero, Trama from Genova, Italy were completed with the additions of Luca Scherani on keyboards, Annalisa Accorsi on lead voice and Gabriele Guidi Colombi on bass.The sixth hidden member of the band was their manager and lyricist Davide Bruzzone.By 1996 they had already started playing live and also sent a demo to the management of Mellow Records.As a result Trama participated on the Italian Prog tribute album ''Zarathustra's revenge'' in 1997, followed the next year by their debut ''Prodromi di finzioni sovrapposte''.

The album is balanced between the romantic sound of Classic Italian Prog and the more updated Neo Prog stylings, the use of crystalline female vocals with the keyboard-driven arrangements reminds me a lot of fellow-native acts like ZAUBER, TOWER, EMPIRE and CONQUEROR.The ultimate ace is Annalisa Accorsi and her beautiful voice, a combination of angelic chords and sentimental deliveries, supported by a tight company of musicians.The music is pretty melodic with atmospheric synth and piano passages and some more pronounced guitar moments, creating mostly dreamy and emotional tracks.However there are some strong instrumental parts with a bit of complexity akin to BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, remember, the sound is fairly keyboard-driven with lots of Classical interludes and sometimes pompous keyboards.The emphatic display of synths along with the synthetic production are the reasons the band could be linked with the Neo Prog movement and in parallel the reasons why some arrangements are less convincing.MARILLION are a good reference point as well, the smooth electric guitars along with the atmospheric background synthesizer create some sort of mood similar to the British 80's Prog groups.A couple of decent rockers and some virtuosic E.L.P.-like pyrotechnics add some depth in the process, but the cheesy sound of keyboards holds down the overall quality, fortunately the level of the compositions is pretty high, so the listener can enjoy some good music.

After the band participated in a couple more Mellow Records compilations/albums they added Elisa Montaldo in the line-up, who later became the leading figure of Il Tempio delle Clessidre.But soon they fell in hiatus with Scherani getting involved in La Coscienza di Zeno and various Fabio Zuffanti projects, while Colombi became one of the most active members in the modern Italian Prog scene as a member of Il Tempio delle Clessidre, Not a Good Sign and La Coscienza di Zeno.Trama returned in 2010 with a cover song on Marillion's tribute ''Recital for a season's end'', but a new album is yet to be desired.

Standard Italian Prog of the 90's, highlighted by a fantastic female singer and some great keyboard parts and striking tunes.Not the best around, but definitely a worthy addition for symphonic-oriented Prog fans.

Trama from Italy is one of the lesser known symphonic/neo prog acts who manage to release only one album in 1999 named Prodromi di Finzioni Sovrapposte at Mellow records label. , I was really surprised to see here and aswell elsewhere that his album is very low rated, wonder why, because the music and vocal arrangements are more then pleasent to my ears. The music goes as symphonic prog with hints of neo prog elements, also the atmosphere has that typical italian romatic feel. Trama does not detract from their influences from italian old school, but also from more recent scene, being similar with Conqueror for example. The beautiful deep voice of Annalisa Accorsi is the cherry on the cake here, she has some fantastic vocal lines, specially on pieces like Sogni (I Parte), Fuoco nel Buio or Morte a Mezzanotte. The instrumental parts are lighter with very nice guitar interludes and quite great keyboards passages provided by future very talentated keybordist Luca Scherani. All in all an underrated release, who needs a wider recognition at least for those who like italian school. From me 4 stars, very nice music, pleasent and warm.

Far from the worst album on Mellow (step forward, NOVA MALA STRANA), but it's hardly surprising that this one-shot neo-progressive outfit never got to cut a second LP. The album is mellifluous enough, and their love for classic Italian early seventies sympho-prog shines through, but simplistic song structures, overly vocal arrangements and an instrumental sound based around lazy synthesised keyboards and Dave Gilmour-esque guitar leads (as found on almost every other neo-prog album) do not translate into excitement for the listener.

***1/2

This is the only album released by this Italian band and it looks like it will stay that way. The music performed here is very soft progressive with a good melodic sense. The music is not on par with the best new Italian bands but it's hard to dislike this album if you like the traditional Italian progressive sound and appreciate also the newer bands. The most interesting detail of this band is the promising female vocalist Annalisa Accorsi. I find her vocals very pleasant and her voice fits perfectly with the soft progressive sound of the band. It's always nice to hear a female vocalist in progressive music. The music is quite even. There is nothing really special to be found but the good thing is that if you like one song from this album you will most likely enjoy all the tracks.

The group is classified as neo-progressive in the site and it's not probably completely wrong. However, they do not remind me of the English neo-progressive groups and not really even the Italian neo-progressive groups either. I believe the music of this group appeals to people who like the traditional Italian symphonic sound in general and perhaps don't even like neo-progressive like myself. You may want to check this if you enjoy a soft progressive symphonic sound. Sadly this seems to have been their only album and I say this because this album does show promise.

Conclusion: A nice album.