Italy's Il Sogno Di Rubik consists of vocalist Cosimo D'Elia and Multi-instrumentalist Francesco Festinante. Among the guest musicians appearing on the album is bassist Richard Sinclair (Caravan, Camel, Hatfield & the North) who has a solo on the track Animali Sintropici - which is absolutely outstanding. Like their compatriots of classical Italian progressive rock from the past the music combines flowing musical harmonies with complex time changes. Stati Equivoci Dell'Essere starts the album off with a very classic sounding progressive epic with lots of power and mood changes. It is flowed up with the aforementioned Animali Sintropici. The third track, Frattali E Santi, is a fairly mellow and moody piece which features an incredible vocal performance from D'Elia - the track builds toward a stunning climax. Chanson Balladée (L'Almanacco Di Rubik) follows as a powerful track with a somewhat Celtic feel counter-pointed with some absolutely brilliant guitar work from Festinant. This is a brilliant track which at just under 3 minutes in FAR too short. Con Le Mani Legate is a musical work out with fluctuating time signatures, key changes with yet another powerful vocal performance! The album concludes with the epic Jerofante, which in the finest tradition of Progressive Rock is very theatrical, bringing to mind the best elements of early Genesis and even Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso but with an originality and power that sets it apart from its influences. Overall, this is a fantastic album, but it is terribly short, really not much more than what would be considered an EP these days, which is probably the only thing that kept it from being a 5 star album. This a MUST have for fans of GREAT Italian progressive rock! **** David Carswell Where to buy? |
