LA MASCHERA DI CERA

I had an older Italian man come in the store the other day when this album was playing. I told him about my love for Italian music, and went back to get the cd case in order to show him what I was listening to. He looked it over and said "This is sort of morbid, but "La Mascera Di Cera" means "The wax mask", in ancient Roman history the people used to make wax masks from the faces of loved ones who had died, and would put them in a prominant location in their homes". He went on to say "they used to really revere the dead, and would often have shrines in their homes that were dedicated to their dead loved ones. Later in history, they would have artists paint portraits of their loved ones and hang them on the wall".

The first song "La Mascera Di Cera" is divided into 6 parts and is almost 20 minutes long.The very first sounds you here are the waves of mellotron from Agostino Macor. Nice.There are many mood and tempo changes in this fantastic song.The piano and vocals early in the song are slow paced and beautiful. 4 minutes in we get a variety of sounds as piano, organ, drums, synths and flute help out. There are some sinister sounding vocals briefly as the flute, drums and organ follow.There is way too much in this song to describe but it's all quite amazing.

"Dol Mondo Che Crolla" opens with flute out in front leading the way. Synths, drums and waves of mellotron follow. Vocals and organ come in and more fantastic mellotron ! "Del Mio Abisso E Del Vuoto" is divided into 3 parts. Flute and light drums open. Nice. Vocals become passionate later as the song gets louder. The song becomes haunting with mellotron and dark sounding vocals. The guest female vocals are haunting as well. Flute with mellotron and vocals to end the song. "Del Mio Volo" opens with mellow flute and fragile vocals. Mellotron comes in as the sound becomes fuller. Synths add to this as well. And the organ and vocals are quite uplifting to end the song.

What a debut ! The vocals are so well done and in Italian. This is really faithful to the seventies Italian masters. Well done ! The next one will be even better.