Massimo Discepoli is an Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist (drums, keyboards, synths, bass, guitars). In the past, his music was used by several well known companies and organisations such as MTV, CNN, Bill Clinton Foundation, Black Box, Picture Shack and Red Bull Media House. Under the moniker of Nheap, Massimo already released several albums. His first effort was Realight (2008), followed by Skymotion (2009) and Clouds Under The Table (2011). His latest album got the title Flying And The Silence (2013). Flying And The Silence is an hour long album with a unique mix of electronic, jazz, ambient, post-rock and progressive rock. The ten compositions which Massimo selected for this release are mostly sounding rather mellow. You get the impression they are recorded whilst improvising in the recording studio. A leading role on the album is for the electric piano, probably a Fender Rhodes or a good sample of it. The hypnotic atmospheres and eclectic moods that he created on his keyboards, in a way made me think of his fellow countrymen of Nosounds. They also hardly try to change the pace during their mostly relaxed sounding compositions. Occasionally, Nosounds also use the sound of an electric guitar to give the song a bit more variety. The completely instrumental songs would fit perfectly to the images of a documentary or tragic movie. Don't expect any happy tunes on this album. I guess you have to be in the right mood to understand what Mr. Discepoli tried to achieve with his music. Flying And The Silence is certainly not an album that can be played by everyone who enjoys progressive rock music. Those who love the well-known names in the progressive rock scene, will probably ignore this album. As mentioned earlier, lovers of a band like Nosounds are at the right address when listening to the music of Nheap. My advice is to check out the websites that stream the music composed by Massimo Discepoli. Only this way can you discover whether he can light a spark in your brain, just like he did in my grey cells! *** Henri Strik (edited by Esther Ladiges) Where to buy? |
