DELLA STESSA SOSTANZA DEI SOGNI

"Della Stessa Sostenza Dei Sogni" ("About the same essence of dreams") is the third studio full-length album of the band from sunny Palermo, playing music deeply rooted in stylistics and "in spirit" in Canterbury scene. If Hatfield and the North and other similar groups were created by the Italians and sang in Italian, then perhaps they would sound like Homunculus Res. Also it is worth mentioning the group with whom people compared, compare and probably will compare Sicilians - Picchio dal Pozzo. This Italian ensemble released two studio albums in the second half of the 70s / at the turn of the 80's (and again at the beginning of zero), apparently inspired by the "classic" Canterbury bands, but sounded more jazzy, a little slower and much more "more seriously" than the heroes of this review. The leader of Homunculus Res - singing composer and multi-instrumentalist Dario d'Alessandro - was able to attract a large number of musicians to the studio work. These include not only the regular members of the group - all of them, together with the leader, five - but also approximately 15 guests, performing vocal parts and playing various instruments, from guitars and keys to numerous wind instruments. There is also a "guest composer". He is the leader of the group Brezhnev Fun Club Rocco Lomonaco, dragged (in varying degrees) in creation of two works on the album. Homunculus Res, like the legendary representatives of the Canterbury scene, embody the compositional ideas built on jazz harmonies and complex/changing measures in very short songs with almost pop tunes. All tracks last less than 5 minutes, and the musicians managed to "lay" 12 such tracks in the "format" lasting about 42 minutes. Among them, it is difficult to mark the highlights (for me at the moment it is "Bianco Supreme"), but everything in general leaves a pleasant impression by its 'laconicism' and relaxedness. Comparisons of some critics and listeners with Henry Cow and Magma are not clear to me: the creativity of Homunculus Res is absolutely not gloomy or "stressful". Complicatedness does not "stick out on the surface". At the same time, a rich and varied sound, coupled with frequent changes in musical events, can strongly entice lovers of the "complex prog". "Della Stessa Sostenza Dei Sogni" is one of the best releases of the AltrOck Productions label for the last few years.

p.s. Many times I re-listened to this album and came to the conclusion that it is (almost) essential opus.