IFSOUNDS / EX IF

There is no doubt the world has been through dramatic change in the last few years, as have Ifsounds, with only Runal (lead vocals), Dario Lastella (guitars, bass, synth, vocals) and Lino Mesina (drums) still members of the line-up which recorded 2018's 'An Gorta Mór'. They have been joined by Lino Giugliano (piano, organ, synth, keyboards), Italo Miscione (bass), and Ilaria Carlucci (lead & backing vocals) while ex-member Claudio Lapenna is one of four guest singers on the opening track, and he also provides piano on another. Recorded over two years, it is bookended by "MMXX" and "MMXXII", one year which changed all our lives forever and another where we look back with a sense of loss.

I love choirs, as if it wasn't for a choir, I would never have been born, so I can literally say it is in my blood. My grandfather was the founder of Brixham Orpheus Male Voice Choir, my mother was the accompanist, and she and my father met when he decided to join a choir in his new town to meet people. I listened a great deal to choirs when I was younger, my mother was also a well-respected singer and soloist, as well as sang in them myself, but I never thought I would hear a song where choirs were being used to perform in connection with progressive rock, but we get that in the opening title track, which is more than 24 minutes in length! That it starts with the choir, with enough reverb to make it sound as if they are recorded in a cathedral, is even more shocking and caused me to look at what I was playing to make sure there had not been an issue with the download. Does it work? I think the answer to that is a qualified "yes", and I only qualify it as I am sure there are plenty of progheads who have no understanding of this form, and consequently may not appreciate. When the vocals stop, we go into a section which is led by an organ, again keeping the classical form to mind before we have male lead vocals. It does not always gel quite as it might, but to even think of undertaking music which attempts to blend such diverse styles together is incredible.

The songs in the middle are more traditional prog, if there is such a thing, yet there are times when they bring in huge elements of jazz, especially with some of the piano and they are crossover in its very truest sense as they shift into different sub genres, with some elements of RPI and others of Neo. It is a fascinating piece of work, and I am still having issues with deciding if this is a work of sheer genius, or if it totally misses the mark. What I do know is I have not heard anything quite like this previously, as they really are attempting to blend two complex forms and using the choirs to drive the sound forward instead of just using them as a harmony support, which is often the case. This is an album with those who have open minds about what progressive rock truly is, but if you want something attempting to do something different as opposed to cloning others then this may well be for you.

It has been some years since I first came across Italian band If, but I remember enjoying their 2008 album 'Morpho Nestira'. That was actually their last album under the name If, as they changed it to Ifsounds a few years later and after signing with Melodic Revolution Records in 2010 they released this double disc compilation, which brings together songs from their first four releases as If, plus a new number as Ifsounds. Earlier this year I saw a post from head honcho and top hat aficionado Nick Katona celebrating the tenth anniversary of this album, and that it was being made available free of charge to download (just go to the MRR website and search for it) so I decided to renew my acquaintance with the band.

Over the course of their first four albums the band released 40 songs, and there are 17 of these on this set, so it is possible to hear virtually half of all the albums they had released to this point. But what is strange is the lack of continuity overall, which can often be an issue with compilation albums spread over a large number period of time, but apart from the new song, opener "Don Quixote", all the material here was from just 4 years. The change in styles and recordings means this is actually a hard album to get inside and really enjoy, although individual songs definitely do stand out. Generally, their sound is very melodic, very crossover prog, but when they do let themselves go a little such as the much more rocking "Background Noise" it works very well indeed. "Loser" is one of the highlights, with gentle piano and vocals, and strangely I discovered that if I just came in and out of the album for individual songs I got way more from it than playing it from beginning to end.

Overall this is a good way of discovering the band for those who have yet to come across them, especially as it has been made available free of charge by the band and the label, but I would use this more as a way of hearing them and then going back to the original albums to hear them in the original setting.

Reset is ifsounds' album of reinassance, while the line-up is quite completely different from the previous Red Apple album. And the sounds are very different too: more classic rock than prog, but everything is crafted with ability and good musicianship: the main issues with previous ifsounds' works were quite weak vocals and a slight sensation of a good but somehow "artificial" project. But in Reset the music sounds more direct and powerful: at least new ifsounds sound as a "real" band and Runal's vocals are powerful and warm. Fabio De Libertis on bass and Gianni Manariti on drums provide a solid, aggressive and brand new rhythm section, driving Dario Lastella's guitars and Claudio Lapenna's keyboards to a different approach. For the very first time in ifsounds' history, the band released an Italian version of the album, which is the same of the English one but the lyrics. I think that the highlights of Reset are the stunning opening "When I was born again", the sweet acoustic ballad "Laura" featuring gothic band Hexperos on strings, and "Run away" with a PFM's feel on the synth riff. All in all a very good and surprising effort by new ifsounds. Maybe 4,5 out of 5, but I'll round up to 5 to award the band's new era.

Even before making it onto the player this 2008 album makes quite a statement as the artwork is both stunning and enticing. The band is still in existence in 2014, but with a different line-up and name, as they changed from If to Ifsounds in 2009. But listening to this album does make me wonder what I have been missing out on all these years. Formed as long ago as 1993, this Italian act started out as a covers group and the broke up for four years before reforming to record their debut in 2004, and this is their fourth. By the time that this was released they had already won accolades for classical, easy listening and progressive rock so it is safe to say that here is a band that isn't content to easily sit firmly within one genre. They may have tried a bit too hard to be Floydian by using recordings of people talking between the songs, but that aside here is an extremely polished and enjoyable album.

There are times when they almost move into AOR/melodic rock, especially on the bouncy "Poison" where one can imagine guitarist Dario Lastella recording the piece with a huge smile on his face as he is allowed to whack out some distorted rock riffs, but there are plenty of others where the music is far more peaceful and reflective with some beautiful piano and keyboards. It really is a huge melting pot of music, never in the face of the listener, but somehow it is compelling and brings the listener in closer. Mind you, listen to "Naked" and you will think that you are playing a long list song from 'The Wall', but mostly they follow their own path and a mighty interesting trip that is. For more details on this and all of their other releases then visit www.ifsounds.com. If the rest of their output is as good as this then here is a band really worth discovering.

Well, this Italian band some years ago had the name of If, but in 2010 they decided to change it in order to put a more personal and unique touch to their project, so people can now easily recognize them as Ifsounds. With that change of name they also changed their style in some way, producing more mature and interesting music than in their first years, a clear example is their album "Apeirophobia". Now, in 2012 they released a new studio album entitled "Red Apple" in which they confirm their sound and direction. This album features 11 songs with a total time of 61 minutes approximately.

So the alarm sounds and it is "Another Dawn", "it is 6 o´clock in the morning of a Wednesday 7th, November 2012. This is an introductory track, a new album, a new day? and then keyboards enter along with guitars and drums, to be honest, the style reminds me of Parsons' "Sirius". "Red Apple" begins with delicate acoustic guitar and then the other elements are being introduced little by little. Here we can listen to female voice, cool drums and a great keyboard work. The album starts promising!

Let me tell you that the album runs as if it were a single song divided in 11 tracks, they are all connected, you can tell it by the "narrator". "Web Tube Stars" is a cool song, catchy but faster, with nice backing vocals while the front female one does her work. The rock element is more present here, we can notice it with the guitar riffs, though the prog one is also evident in the last minute with the keyboard fiesta. "Messages from the Stars" is a cool instrumental track, that guides us to the atmospheric and experimental sound of Ifsounds, here one can close the eyes and see images, and also feel water, space, vertigo, a lot of things, and when that happens, means that the music was successful with you.

"After" is a sweet kind of lullaby, here with male vocals and a truly soft and relaxing sound, not a ballad, but neither a rock song. After three minutes it changes and introduces guitars and drums in a cool instrumental passage where the emotions increase. A second half of the song begins at minute four when female voice appears, so a new structure is now being built, though the soft sound prevails, but now with a sexy addition of a saxophone.

"They're Almost Here" shows once again their atmospheric and experimental side in the first minute, the kind of futuristic sounds created give a cool slice of our destiny, which is greatly accompanied by Federica's voice. There is a beautiful violin after minute two, it adds cadence, while in the other hand, we can listen to sorrowful sounds. Then all of a sudden we listen to a scream and the song becomes heavier. "New World Order" is one of my favorite tracks, it has a clear jazzy tendency that makes a wonderful contrast with the spoken words from the "President Nicholas Wakeman", here I really love how they managed to blend music and words, two worlds apart made one, so the listener can enjoy both phases and pay attention to them as one body. The voice disappears after three minutes and the music becomes again faster and rockier, great!

"Red Sun Tonight" shares delicacy and softness, one can listen to it and feel ease and relaxed, I like the acoustic guitar work and the female voice in the first half; then, in the second half the music changes, an ambulance can be heard, keyboards have a main role, the sound is more intense and emotional, and one can feel trapped somehow. Great. "Space Refugees" may be the proggiest track here, the instruments play what they want in different places but all in the same one, hope you get me; the bass lines are great, guitars and keys produce a kind of spacey mood, while drums add a jazzy touch. The first part, the instrumental one, might be my favorite from the whole album; later the song changes, vocals appear (main and back) and a softer mood as well, though it only lasts for a minute and a half and then it changes again with a rockier passage, just before the radio host enters.

"The Crossing" is a delicate and beautiful piano based piece, a wonderful contrast with the album, it has nothing to do with the previous songs, but it does fit there. The last song of the album is "Christmas 2012" and though Christmas should be a good time, here we can sense some melancholy and regret, "there once was advanced people who suddenly disappeared", not so far from the real world; though there is still hope. Nice song to finish this excellent album.

It is a solid work from Ifsounds, I like the music and the concept, they really sound as an experimented band now! Truly recommendable, my grade 4 stars, but almost 5!

Enjoy it!

Italian band IFSOUNDS have been around a couple of decades now, initially starting out under the moniker If and releasing 4 studio productions under that name. "Morpho Nestira" the most recent of these, a CD that appeared in 2009. Since then a new drummer and vocalist have joined the folds, and this revised version of If decided that a new name was in order at this point. "Apeirophobia" is the first studio production they released as Ifsounds, and was issued by US label Melodic Revolution Records in 2010.

Musically we're dealing with a fairly ambitious outfit, and on this occasion they explore a sound that mainly stays within a framework whose outer boundaries are formed by Pink Floyd and Rush respectively. Relatively gentle excursions sporting symphonic backdrops with additional sounds and textures of a kind inspired by science fiction and space complement dampened guitar riffs and blues-tinged careful soloing David Gilmour style for the former, while the latter sports energetic riff patterns and keyboards with a more dampened and subservient role. The occasional majestic passage with rich and compact guitar and keyboard constructions is also a part of the package, and by and large this band produce pleasant pieces of progressive rock of the accessible variety.

Their new vocalist Elena Ricci is a fine addition to this band. She's got a good and pleasant voice, and while my impression is that she's far from fully developed yet she has the talent and capability to be able to lift a song by her input alone at best. The main example of this on this production to be found in the epic title track that takes up the final slot on this disc, where her voice really makes a grand impression in a sequence sporting more of a jazz-oriented expression. The one where the piano takes the lead, if anyone familiar with this CD should be curious.

The title track an experience worth a paragraph of it's own, clocking in at just under half an hour and exploring a great variety of moods and expressions. Opening as a gentle, warm and rich affair that sounds like a piece of music residing in the exact middle between late 70's Pink Floyd and early 80's Vangelis, a theme later revisited incidentally, and later on visiting shamanistic folk-inspired territories, taking on an expression with closer links to Flamenco, the aforementio0ned jazzy insert also a part of the proceedings alongside a pacier AOR-tinged one and sequences with more of a distinct Floydian feel as well. Great variety, many compelling parts but not at the level that makes this one any more rewarding than your average epic length creation. A good construction with moments of brilliance.

The most intriguing composition as far as I'm concerned is the second to last one actually. A piece very much different from the rest of this production, sporting a careful piano motif supplemented by strings. A warm, rich, sad and distinctly melancholic instrumental, and an impressive one at that. It is difficult to write and perform such pieces in a manner that does make an impression, but this one succeeded quite nicely at that.

If you enjoy late 70's Pink Floyd and bands like aforementioned Rush, Ifsounds latest creation Apeirophobia is a CD you might want to lend an ear too. A nice and pleasant album in general, and if you have an interest in productions of a conceptual nature you'll get those cravings catered fore quite nicely too. Including the use of cinematic lead-ins and lead outs to emphasize the nature of the story told.

If/Ifsounds returns again with a very ambitious album.

I have to admit I am not a member of their fanclub. Neither in spirit or as a card carrying member. But Apeirophobia is doing a good job converting me.

Apeirophobia is a crossover album from Ifsounds where they tries to include a lot of styles into their bedrock as a rock band. The new elements is mostly neo-prog and symphonic prog. But there is some folk rock here. But Ifsounds is basically an Art-Rock band from Italy. Something Elena Ricci's (excellent) special arty vocals underlines. The rest of the musicians also does an excellent job here.

The music here is a mix of hit potential in the song Summer Breeze to the symphonic prog tune Apeirophobia. A twenty-seven minutes epic which includes some Arabic and Spanish folk tunes too. The other songs are more art-rock styled and not in the same league as these two songs mentioned. I suspect they are fillers........ sorry, being a bit cynical here.

I really think Summer Breeze is a superb song. Apeirophobia is great too, but looses it's way during these twenty-seven minutes and peeters out. The rest of the album is good. This album is bordering to being great, but it still lacks that little extra. Maybe I am a bit too harsh here and maybe I will up this up one star later on when given it a couple of more years. But for me, this is a very good album and worth purchasing.

3.66 stars

Great album from the new Ifsounds!

Since I knew about this band thanks to Torodd's interview, I've been following them and their music, fortunately, last year (2010) they released a new album entitled "Apeirophobia", an album that also could be considered as the first studio album of Ifsounds, because if we remember, their name was If, but they decided to change it in order to give the band an own style and name that anyone would recognize.

With their two-CD compilation album named "If?Sounds" they composed "Don Quixiote" an unreleased song which actually represented the change of the former If to the new Ifsounds. But now, we can appreciate a full-length album, not only a song.

This release consists of five compositions that together make fifty minutes; the first four are the short ones (under ten minutes) while the last one is a long 28-minute epic, so take a sit, relax and listen to Apeirophobia. It kicks off with "Anima Mundi", and a female voice appears, seconds later guitars, drums, bass and keys appear, but I liked that vocal introduction. Then, Elena Ricci's voice reappears but in a different style. The song is pretty good, I like the keyboard work because it gives a special flavor to the music, also there are some nice guitar riffs here and there, and some nice changes in time and tempo. The track ends with a nice acoustic guitar, charming.

"Summer Breeze" opens with a delicate piano sound, seconds later it ends and some kind of airport announces sound, moments later they fade out. Then an acoustic guitar start playing a soft and gentle melody, vocals appear and that delicate piano returns and creates a nice harmony together. Just before the fourth minute, the song changes, turns heavier and more emotional, it is a pretty good track!

"Last Minutes" has a constant beeping and some steps, like being in a hospital. They disappear and the music begins, it is a rockier piece with cool lyrics, the female voice starts telling a story and male backing vocals appear saying important things. At the second minute there is a change which gives the melody a new mood and atmosphere for some seconds; then the music returns as it began, the steps and beeping return until they fade out.

The shortest track (two minutes) entitled "Aprile" is a wonderful and charming composition. There is a beautiful piano sound all over the song, that is accompanied by some strings, the violin sound is also precious and together produced an adorable piece of music which put some images in my mind, I was actually touched by this song.

Now, on the other hand we have the longest composition, I believe it is their longest song since they were If. "Apeirophobia" is a 27-minute epic which offers an exquisite variety of sounds, textures, colors and feelings, and also it let the listeners know how capable they are to produce challenging music with excellent results.

This song has several passages, first, they give us an instrumental piece with an intriguing atmosphere, one can easily be waiting for the next to happen, but what happens next?, you don't know. Those first four minutes are pretty cool because they create images on you and even you can imagine your own story. Then the vocals appear and the direction of the music changes a little bit, I like the piano of Claudio Lapena, he knows how to use keyboards in the right place and moment. There is a cool guitar solo by Dario Lastella just before minute seven, then the song continues its way.

Until minute eight when it makes a sudden change and an acoustic guitar appears along with some spacey effects reminding me of Riccardo Zappa; that mood continues and then that acoustic guitar becomes more Spanish-like, there are some claps on it also. I am not sure but I think that this passage was taken from the previously mentioned "Don Quixiote" song. When it finishes, a rockier passage begins, the vocals return and the music is quite good and enjoyable, the only thing I don't really like are the robotic vocals.

As you can imagine, all of a sudden another change and a new passage begins, with some kind of African percussion and some sounds simulating a ritual; I like a lot this part because I do imagine that ritual and several things, also, when the addictive bass sound appears I fell like in a dream, motivated and caught in a short but nice dream. But when I woke up, I found myself in a different place with a cool guitar sound and a rockish song.

Those spacey effects return and give a different flavor to the music, actually you can imagine a new place and a new atmosphere, and the vocals help a lot here. But well, minutes later a surprising change with a sad piano appears, this change was not really my favorite, it sounds like a scene of a character bringing memories of the childhood or something like that. The last minutes of the song are very good, with great guitar solos, that wonderful voice and strong musical moments.

I am happy with this album, now I am looking forward to their next release. Take a listen to this album, so far my favorite of Ifsounds. My final grade will be four stars!

Enjoy it!

Morpho Nestira is a concept album from the Italian band "if" (later "ifsounds"). Morpho Nestira is a Brazilian blue butterfly and the concept is about greed and materialism that converted human beings in monsters ("sometimes metamorphoses take other directions?" from the closing number "Oceans of Time") one of the highlights of the album.

Musically this work goes in several directions, but never loses its unity and sounds very coherent despite the huge numbers of genres that the band plays (from hard rock-quasi punk to acoustic, from jazz to prog?). I really enjoyed the instrumental title track divided in two parts: the first is an incredible samba rock led by the work of Luca Di Pardo on drums and Franco Bussoli on bass, while the second is keyboards-led with a wonderful piano solo by Claudio Lapenna.

A real good album I discovered only when I purchased their last work "Apeirophobia" (even if they changed name and line up?). 4,5 stars? rounded up to 5!

Apeirophobia is a Greek word that means "fear of the infinity" and centres this concept album by Italian band ifsounds. The lyrics by guitarist Dario Lastella are always very deep in researching the psychological implications in the stories that he talks about. There's a song about emigration (Summer Breeze) and one about the last six minutes of a woman in a death row (Last Minutes), but conceptually the highlight of the album is the title track suite. Apeirophobia is an epic 28-minutes-long trip in the history of human consciousness about faith and fears. Musically the album sounds a little like an updated Italian album of the 70s' even if there's a strong floydian influence in it (the opening Anima Mundi and Last Minutes are clear examples of it). The band has a very good cohesion and sound and the new singer Elena Ricci has a powerful yet sometimes slightly imprecise voice. But maybe the main instrument is the Claudio Lapenna's piano that along with Lastella's guitars makes the best sonic textures in ifsounds' songs.

One of the best albums I've listened to in the last years. 5 stars.