1984 - L'ULTIMO UOMO D'EUROPA

La Fabbrica Dell'Assoluto is another new Italian band (actually they formed in 2007, but only released their debut in 2015) that is nothing short of amazing. Heavy Italian prog in the vein of ELP, RDM, Metamorfosi, Museo Rosenbach, Biglietto per L'Inferno, in that ballpark, meaning you'll love this if you're a fan of said groups. This is another one of those albums inspired by George Orwell, but sung in Italian, so as a non-speaker of the language, I'm not sure what they're on about (well maybe some, there is a lyric booklet that comes with it and I was able to pick out a few words), but even if you don't know Italian, you still get a clue if you're familiar with Orwell. Pretty obvious "Chi Controlla il Passato Controlla il Futuro, Chi Controlla il Presente Controlla il Passato" ("He Who Controls the Past Controls the Future, He Who Controls the Present Controls the Past") refers obviously to the various Ministries that control Oceania. "Giulia" obviously referring to Julia, Winston Smith's love interest. "La Stanza 101" obviously Room 101. This album is full of great analog keys like Hammond organ, Mini Moog (original, not the Voyager), Davoli synth, and Logan String Melody, with Clavia Nord Stage 2 for the piano and Mellotron parts. Then you get plenty of great guitar passages, as well as Pino Ballarini of RDM making an appearance here (he and the band even performed material off Contaminazione live). I noticed one passage that sounded like it was taken right off Le Orme's Collage. There are some spacy experimental passages, but by and large this is heavy Italian prog, and great stuff to boot. I've only own one other album inspired by 1984 and that was Anthony Phillips, but that was an all instrumental synth-driven album that resembles solo Tony Banks. I never bothered with Rick Wakeman's 1984 as I never bothered with anything he's done solo after 1977 as I can't possibly imagine finding them particularly enjoyable. I can't believe what Black Widow Records have been offering of recent. They appear to be on the forefront of an Italian prog renaissance (another great example: Ingranaggi Della Valle's In Hoc Sogno) and La Fabbrica Dell'Assoluto is another great example that comes highly recommended! I only hope for more stuff from these guys in the future.