THIRTEEN TOLLS AT NOON

An Italian band from Valenzano built in 1995 around brothers Mimmo and Gigi Ferri (keyboardist and guitarist respectively) and singer Michele Moschini.The several line-up changes led to a brief disbanding in 1998 but at the dawn of the millenium Floating State returned with a stable core, featuring also female drummer Beatrice Birardi, female sax player Grazia Stella and bassist Francesco Antonino and leading to the demo ''White flower''.Winners of the "Una suite per un anno" prog competition, Floating State signed a contract with Lizard and released their debut ''Thirteen Tolls at Noon'' in 2003.

Over 70 minutes long, the album is characterized by the two very ambitious epics, the 22- min. ''White Flower'' and the 44-min. (!) ''Pilgrimage to Nowhere'', containing plenty of changing climates performed in a smooth Italian Progressive Rock style with strong Folk references and a mild dose of Jazz aesthetics.These are split by three shorter tunes.''White flower'' presents a COURT-like approach of Medieval/Folk Prog with several soft moments interrupted by more intense instrumental excursions and strong lyrical content.Here the band sounds a lot like a mix of OSANNA, DALTON and DELIRIUM, where the flutes have a dominant role, sax solos come and go, but there is also a fair amount of keyboard interludes, piano lines and CAMEL-esque guitar melodies to add a trully proggy vibe to the composition.The very long ''Pilgrimage to Nowhere'' is another story.It is closer to Classic Italian Prog, the folky and jazzy tunes of the previous track are still present, but the overall approach is definitely rockier.Lots of crazy interplays, monster synth explorations (and even some Mellotron waves) and stronger guitar hooks (hints of KING CRIMSON and NUOVA ERA are evident overall) are blended with melodic passages and acoustic themes in a composition that contains many great moments, but the huge number of different moods make it rather inconsistent as a result.

Next year shows the departure of Moschini and the arrival of Marco Esposito, while the band participated in several tribute and compilation albums until 2008.In 2009 Antonino also quit to be replaced by Simona Armenise, but eventually (according to a statement by Moschini) Floating State's career came to an end in 2011.

''Thirteen Tolls at Noon'' is characterized by all the goods and the bads of Progressive Rock.The compositions are very ambitious but a bit excessive, the instrumentation is varied but the numerous shifting changes hurt its consistency, the band was talented but the talent did not transform into very tight playing.The final feeling though is positive and I can recommended this album warmly to all fans of Italian Prog or Progressive Folk.