Ologram is the musical project of the Italian multi-instrumentalist Dario Gianni who comes from Sicilia. People might known him for his work with Anema and as the founder of the Syracuse based progressive rock/metal band called Ydra, which spilt up in the early nineties. Ologram released their debut in 2022 La Nebbia. Before the new album La Mia Scia was released in 2025, we could already enjoy the single Come Cera one year earlier. La Mia Scia is a nice sounding album which unfortunately is a bit too short with a playing time of only one half hour. On the album we have with the earlier mentioned Dario Gianni (bass / keyboards / Mellotron), his brother Lorenzo Gianni (guitars), Roberto Gianni (keyboards), Fabio Speranzo (vocals) and Giovanni Spadaro (drums). They are accompanied by Gabriele Agosta who plays on the Fender piano and Moog (6) plus playing on the Crumar organ (2, 3, 7, 8). Furthermore we have Mateo Blundo on viola and violin (6, 8). Finally Raffaele Schiavo did some vocals (1). The music they display on their second musical effort can be described as pop meets prog. Because they cleverly combine simple sing a long tunes with complex instrumental passages. The album opens a cappella with the only one minute long 22.43. Follow up Kasbah sounds rather strong and made me think of Kashmir the classic Led Zeppelin composition. Maybe not so strange because both titles are similar. Next up Luna Piena is a good example of the earlier musical reference pop meets prog. The first musical highlight is next. Non Sarai is a great Genesis kind of symphonic tune. Included are strong guitar- and synthesizer solos next to bombastic Mellotron- and bass pedal parts. Also the following Jacaranda can be considered as another musical highlight. It is a rather mellow tune performed on the acoustic guitar. The Mellotron and violin parts just fit in perfectly. Also the next piece Descent is a wonderful piece of music thanks to the strong musical parts played on the violin, synths, Mellotron and electric guitar. The last two tracks La Mia Scia and 1997 are again good examples how to mix poppy parts with real strong progressive rock parts. It is so clevery done that you can't deny that they entertain you all the way! It's easy to say that Non Sarai, Jacaranda and Descent are the absolute musical highlights on the strong second effort of this Italian outfit. A second effort on which you can hear how pop meets prog. Simple sing a long tunes go hand in hand with complex instrumental passages. Maybe it's not everybody's cup of tea the way they do it. But I liked it all the way and had a great time during the half hour of music provided. If you want to know how pop meets prog, please check them out on the internet just as I have. You probably will not regret it! **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
