CITRINITI

'Between The Music And Latitude' - Citriniti (8/10)

The past decade has seen the fusion of metal and jazz music reach a state of virtual perfection. Although bands will come and go, it seems that the collective consciousness of metalheads have fine-tuned fusion metal to a science. Citriniti is one of those 21st century acts that aims for that golden ration of metal and jazz in equal measures. With their second album (and first under the band name Citriniti), 'Between The Music And Latitude' showcases the work of a trio of musicians who have formed an incredible chemistry with each other. A mind-boggling meeting of quirky compositions and virtuosic musicianship makes this a fusion lover's paradise.

Jazz metal in earnest first sprung out of the Floridan death metal scene, where household names like Atheist and Cynic would season their tech death stylings with jazzy undertones. Citriniti takes this fusion between genres much farther, often to the point where a listener could define the music as being one or the other. Running a parallel with the virtuosic jazzmanship of Pat Metheny, Citriniti funnels their incredible skill through very complex songwriting, occasionally bringing memorable hooks into the music, but generally focusing on creating complex orchestrations and templates where the band can play off of each other.

Although there are a host of guest musicians here to add extra layers onto the album, Citriniti is essentially a power trio, and it is pretty incredible what they can do with that line- up. Armed with a drum kit, a bass and guitar, the brothers Citriniti, and guitarist Fabrizio Leo usually play in equal balance with each other; that is, no one musician takes a bigger slice of the mix over the others. Fabrizio Leo's guitar work is focused on awe-inspiring lead sweeps and jazz-infused leads, although he does not forget to throw a few metal riffs our way. Domenico Citriniti's bass work is a defining trait of the band, often noodling around with quirky slap bass rhythms that lead in and out the songs. Danilo Citriniti's performance on the drums is not as impressive as the string players, but while his playing feels simplistic by comparison, it is only because there is so much going on overtop the drums that Danilo seems to get held back a little too much, although he does not forget to rip up the drums during the more intense moments in the album.

This fusion of prog metal and jazz is a working formula, although I may have liked to hear the band get a little heavier at times, for the sake of dynamic. Citriniti are one of the most talented underground prog metal acts I have heard, and their chemistry works brilliantly with the fusion template. As an album however, 'Between The Music And Latitude' lacks the sort of flow and cohesion that I normally associate with a masterpiece of the genre. Domenico's slap bass work is fun and technically impressive, but starts to feel just a tad overdone by the end of the album. Fabrizio Leo's beautiful sweeps stand out to me the most here, although each member of the band brings something excellent. For any fan of fusion metal, or even someone wanting to hear what a collision of metal and jazz music sounds like, 'Between The Music And Latitude' comes highly recommended.

ASTONISHING!This is the only word that comes in my mind when I think at CITRINITI,the ultra technical Italian band of Ciitriniti Bros and the great Italian guitar player FABRIZIO LEO!In fact,when I think at their musical style,which is 100 % instrumental,I can compare them only with the ultra technical vocal bands like SPIRAL ARCHITECT,TWISTED INTO FORM or AGHORA!After an audition of any CITRINITI album ,the listener remains KO, because you don't have any reaction or impulse to hear something of the same caliber!They are simply fabulous! Millions of notes and the alchemy is perfect between all the 3 musicians!The bros are perfectly compatible with the blistering FABRIZIO LEO,,the Italian answer to the American fusion master GREG HOWE ,in my opinion!Musically speaking an album like this one is difficult to dig,because it's so intense and compact,dense in it's musical message!It's prog metal fusion with an agressive touch at it's best!At a certain level,we can say it's music for musicians,but amateurs of virtuosity have here what they are looking for!This album pushes even further the scarry technical demonstration shown on the first album BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND THE LATITUDE,which impressed even guitar guru Mike Varney from SHRAPNEL,which offered them the chance to edit the first album worldwide !This second one is self produced,but has the same qualities and great production like the first impressive one! Pure wizzardry and great technical demonstration!Almost inhuman!They are not so mad and chaotoc like BEHOLD ...THE ARCTOPUS..or heavy orientated like CANVAS SOLARIS...but the appreciation that they are anchored in prog metal fusion fits perfect! COME AND TASTE IT!!!Satisfaction guaranteed! 5 STARS for technical frenzy!

Amazing!

As a fusion/prog project this album is simply breathtaking, because It has supreme technicality to it as well as great feeling and athmosphere. The Citriniti bros from Italy make these technical patterns and blazing fast arpeggios sound easy, and when you add one of the best guitarists of Italy in the mix, you have my favorite band. The songs in this album are different in style, because the solos are performed by various guitarists. Songs like: Naked words, Test, Comedown and Ritual are bit jazzy and weird, but rest of the songs: Inferno, Time out, Latitude, Drunk and Invisible sound little like some Tech metal bands like: Spiral Architect and Meshuggah, especially the bass lines. Fabrizio Leos appearance in this album is virtuosic, due his great alt-picking skills and sweep picking techniques. This guitarist is influenced by guitarists like: Vinnie Moore and Steve Lukather, and he plays in a pioneer tech/fusion band.(odd?)

The 2008 self titled final release by Citriniti turned a lot of heads with my inner circle of friends. Indeed if you have listened to the previous album entitled Between the music and the latitude, you would seen a stark contrast between the two in many areas. First off the band has definitely gone all out on this album and the overall sheer complexity of the compositions can be very difficult to wrap your head around on the first listen. Its also important to mention that band has now gone a bit more metal in them. But something about the album kept making me wanting to play it over and over, eventually I began to realize what a fantastic album it really is. Make no mistake this is very complex music, but there is much soul and passion in their music. What I really like about this band is there unique sound, I really can't compare them to anything... both of the Citriniti brothers already have a unique sound of there own and add Fabrizio Leo on guitars (a unique voice in his own right) and the end result is a record that really stands out. In the end I will say if you are new to Citriniti try the 2nd album, and then come to this album, however if you love complex (but still tasteful) over the top music... by all means start here! Hopefully its not really their last album!!!