L'IPPOGRIFO

While the band apparently regarded this release as a bit of a "comeback" after the ill-advised hodgepodge of "Passo dopo passo", it's rather telling that none of the tracks feature in their Live 2014 album. The violin driven symphonic sound remains intact, alas too much so, with most of the artificially elongated tracks being mired in second gear and second rate repetition of motifs that weren't high end to begin with, some splendid passages notwithstanding. If this were a novel it would be long on character development and suspense but woefully short on plot and resolution, and as music it's just as disappointing. The first track casts the die and only "E Rectito Anch'io" and the closing number modestly succeed in liberating themselves. It's the cumulative effect of squandered opportunities that really sinks this one and renders the whole far less than the sum of its parts. "L'Ippogrifo" is certainly not the stuff of fantastic legends that it purports to be, and is IL CASTELLO DI ATLANTE's weakest album to date. 2.5 stars rounded down.