Argentina

I serien HVORFRA? Er det nå Argentina som er under lupen, og landet sør i Sør-Amerika vil nok overraske en og annen musikkelsker. Antakeligvis er både kvantitet og kvalitet langt over hva folk flest skulle tro. Dypdykk i Argentinsk prog vil sannsynligvis fører til noen virkelige vidunderlig musikalske opplevelser for de aller fleste som leser disse sidene!

Republikken Argentina er et land i Sør-Amerika, plassert mellom Andesfjellene i vest og Atlanterhavet i øst og sør. Det grenser til Paraguay og Bolivia i nord, Brasil og Uruguay i nordøst, og Chile i vest og sør. Argentina gjør krav på de britiske oversjøiske territoriene Falklandsøyene og Sør-Georgia og Sør-Sandwichøyene. Landet gjør også krav på 1 000 000 km² av Antarktis som overlapper deler av Chile og Storbritannias krav. Arealmessig er landet det nest største i Sør-Amerika etter Brasil, og det åttende største i verden.

Also Eden

About Time

About Time is an apt name for the first album by Cheltenham band Also Eden whose roots span a full dozen years. From a "bloody awful blues-based metal [band] with endless guitar solos and soul-less vocals about partying all night long", vocalist Huw-Lloyd Jones and keyboardist Ian Hodson took a sensible change of direction and formed a progressive rock band. Eventually, a stable line-up was completed by the addition of Simon Rogers (guitar), Ralvin Thomas (bass) and, the recently departed, Mark Hall (drums), with the group's first live performance in July 2005. The album was recorded off-and-on between late 2005 and throughout 2006, finally being released at the Summer's End Festival in October last year.

Between The Lines sets out the prog stall with riffing guitar and layers of synths. Some fine melodies, interesting drum beats and intelligent lyrics combine to give a very interesting induction to the album. The sound is akin to some of the 1980s period prog bands and Abel Ganz, in particular, come to mind, while there are traces of early Marillion towards the end. For Bumble is a sensitive song dealing with suicide. Again, the intelligent lyrics are sympathetic to the topic and, despite the subject matter, there are some very uplifting moments, particularly the keyboard solo and the ending. A well arranged song that nicely flips between acoustic and electric moments, the best song covering this subject matter since the single Just Another Case Of Suicide by 1980s band Money.

Pandora starts with a metronomic beat resembling the grandfather clock mentioned in the opening lyrics. A tale of the internet (the titular Pandora's box) and it's opportunities for disseminating information against it's rather more nefarious uses, the piece is more centred on the lyric (there are a lot packed into the six minutes of the song!). As a consequence the song seems somewhat flat although Hodson contributes a reasonable guitar solo. The Enemy Within is an oblique love song, which is performed at a steady pace. Perhaps too long an 'introduction' for the tempo, things get more interesting at about the seven and a half minute mark with a nice change of pace, added backing vocals and a rather dirty guitar solo followed, inevitably, by a keyboard solo. Some shades of early IQ but a good way to wind up the track. Final song, Children Of The Night, tackles another 'controversial' subject in child prostitution - a far cry from wizards and goblins that a lot of (uninitiated) people seem to think that is all prog rock bands sing about! Musically more up-beat and rhythmically quite involved, the band really gel on this song. Well arranged, the song is a rousing end to the CD.

Over all, About Time is a promising debut album. The CD is well packaged and looks better than a lot of major label releases. If you remember the so-called prog-rock revival of the 1980s with fondness, then Also Eden have done a decent job of updating that sound and may well be worth checking out. Go on, take a listen to the samples on their website, you know you want to!

Tracklist: Between The Lines (8:47), For Bumble (13:21), Pandora (6:09), The Enemy Within (12:13), Children Of The Night (8:33)

Andromeda

Extension Of The Wish

Question: what is the similarity between Flower Kings, Pain Of Salvation, A.C.T, Evergrey, and Wolverine? Indeed, these are all Swedish prog/metal bands that have gained quite a reputation outside the land of elks and IKEA. I would not be very surprised if Andromeda could soon be added to this list, since their debut album Extension Of The Wish immediately managed to conquer a spot on my high-rotation list and that certainly does not happen to each and every CD that I receive for review purposes.

Andromeda was formed in June 1999, but did not manage to record their debut album until last year, because of their problems finding a suitable vocalist. They actually ended up using a session vocalist on Extension Of The Wish, Lawrence Mackrory (ex-Darkane). By now they seem to have found a permanent singer in David Fremberg, though. Apart from him, Andromeda consists of Thomas Lejon (drums), Gert Daun (bass), Martin Hedin (keyboards), and Johan Reinholdz (guitar).
The cover of Extension Of The Wish is interesting: a branded, doll-like figure is standing waist-deep in water, stirring the fabric of the universe where the water ends. The inside of the booklet is nice, but not very adventurous. It contains all lyrics, which have been printed on a background of stylised letters, and mainly deal with the (psychological) problems which so many people have to face every day (e.g. problems with a loved one, betrayal, fear, thoughts of suicide).

Although Andromeda is centered around guitarist Reinholdz, Extension Of The Wish has not become a collection of tracks filled with "guitar masturbation". Reinholdz is responsible for all the music and lyrics, but the seven tracks on the CD are definitely proper songs (i.e. not endlessly repeated chord progressions over which a continuous stream of flashy guitar licks and solos is played, like one can often find on CDs by the likes of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai) in which the keyboards play a large role.

The first track, The Words Unspoken, kicks off with a great, reverbed guitar riff. When the other instruments join in, the music becomes a nice mixture of Dream Theater and Evergrey, though some of the keyboard sounds remind me very much of A.C.T. Especially the parts where the keyboard melody is doubled by the guitar are very nice.
Mackrory's vocals are not your typical high-pitched metal screams. They carry a great deal of emotion and - as will become clear in the other songs - are very versatile in sound. I do detect a slight accent and the way the words are stressed is not always entirely correct, but I have heard much, much worse, so this is only a minor complaint. The information sheet accompanying the CD mentions that Mackrory had never heard either the music or lyrics before stepping into the studio with Andromeda, but it sounds like the guy has been singing with the band for ages. Impressive!

Apart from some Dream Theater-like sections (in the style of Awake), Crescendo Of Thoughts contains some (keyboard) parts that remind me strongly of Ayreon (Into The Electric Castle). Very much in the vein of the previous song, but different enough to be a great track as well.

Track 3, In The Deepest Of Waters, is one of the heaviest songs on the album. It starts with a massive wall of power chords, the sound of which reminds me a lot of some Rammstein tracks, but then three times as fast, and Metallica's Sad But True. When the vocals join in, the track gets a different feel. Mackrory's (sometimes distorted) vocals and the floating keyboards create a threatening atmosphere very much like the one on Faith No More's Midlife Crisis. This combination, plus some great guitar solos, killer-keyboard parts, a brilliant job by the rhythm section, and the very quiet middle of the song, make me play this track again and again. This is definitely my favourite on the album!

Chameleon Carneval seems to be the odd one out on this album. Contrary to the other tracks, this one is without vocals and it sounds a lot like an extended jam. Using a recurring theme as a basis, all instruments get the chance to take center stage in their respective solos. It does not do very much for me, though. Good musicianship, sure, but this track just does not seem to be in place on this album.

Track 5, Star Shooter Supreme, also contains some nice guitar melodies doubled by keyboards (once more, Dream Theater seems to have had a large influence on the band). The vocals are distorted and all but shouted into the microphone. They bear a strong reminiscence to Junkie XL's Rude Boy on, for instance, Saturday Teenage Kick and Billy Club. A couple of great keyboard and guitar solos add some extra spice to this song.

The title track, Extension Of The Wish, is the longest one on the album (10:03). It starts very quietly with some undistorted guitar and I must say that that is a nice resting point after all the violence of the previous songs. After a nice guitar solo the band change gear and the heavy guitars return, accompanied by some lovely keyboard licks. As if to demonstrate that he possesses even more different vocal styles, Mackrory now takes on the guise of Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree) as he sounded in The Nostalgia Factory (from On The Sunday Of Life...) mixed with a bit of Babylon Zoo's vocal sound on their only hit Space Man.
At 4:15 minutes the song seems to end abruptly, but it continues with a long instrumental section which I think is a bit too repetitive at times. Once more one can hear a big hint of Dream Theater, especially in the parts where the guitar melody is doubled by the keyboards.

Arch Angel starts like a somewhat average metal track, but soon becomes more complicated both in melody and in rhythm changes. The first few verses and choruses are delivered over a rather calm section with undistorted guitar, after which the music becomes as heavy as before. I think this is very fitting considering the lyrics (the narrator is looking for protection from the violence around him). Apart from some more Dream Theater references, this track contains some nice oriental influences. Sadly though, it ends with a rather cheapish fade-out.

Andromeda's debut album Extension Of The Wish is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys the heavy side of prog. On this album you will find some high-powered music in which both guitar and keyboards play a large role, and which includes a steaming rhythm tandem and a versatile singer. Related bands: Dream Theater, Evergrey and Pain Of Salvation.
Knowing how much I appreciate Mackrory's vocals, I really hope that the "new" singer David Fremberg has the same kind of voice. I have seen that Andromeda will play at ProgPower 2001 and that (as well as the rest of the bands that have been confirmed by now) sure makes it worth visiting this festival!

Tracklist: The Words Unspoken (5:28), Crescendo Of Thoughts (5:25), In The Deepest Of Waters (7:07), Chameleon Carneval (5:00), Star Shooter Supreme (5:18), Extension Of The Wish (10:03), Arch Angel (5:55)

Andromeda

II=I

This is the second review of an Andromeda album to be featured in DPRP CD Reviews Page, and because Hester included a band bio in her review of Extension Of The Wish, I have omitted it here. For their previous album, Andromeda used a session vocalist, but on II=I, a permanent vocalist in David Fremberg, has been added to the band. Although I have not been able to listen to the previous album, the mp3 samples from the Andromeda website give me the impression that this new singer is an improvement (although the session vocalist was also pretty good). I also get the feeling that Andromeda has moved towards Dream Theater-like music even further.

Encyclopedia starts off with a keyboard loop that fades in, right after that the metal guitars kick in. The song is a rich collection of tempo changes, something that can be said of all songs on this album. Andromeda is not a band that likes to drag melodies endlessly with heavier guitars, and more screaming guitars following each other constantly, and at the end comes a slow keyboard tune with a screaming guitar fade out. The beginning of Mirages reminds me of The Gathering's Strange Machines. The refrain has been stuck in my head for days. I find myself yelling "Mirages" (in my mind of course) all the time.

In Reaching Deep Within the keyboard takes the prominent role and has a haunting sound that supports the refrain. This does not mean that other instruments have a lesser role, as on all the other songs on this album, they are nicely balanced. The first half of Two is One is a slow ballad and shows that David Fremberg is an excellent singer. In the second half of the song, the transitory ballad becomes more up-tempo as the metal guitars and then the speedy loops of the guitars emerge. This song is not only the longest on the album but really is the masterpiece as well.

Morphing Into Nothing could have been a song on a Dream Theater album, with a large number of tempo changes, the drums not only determine the rhythm but also are part of the melody. This instrumental song is impressive. Castaway is a slower piece that does stay interesting throughout the complete song, because of the vocals and backing vocals which sound good together. Parasite takes some getting used to, at first it seems a bit incoherent reminding me of the earlier Pain of Salvation songs. David Fremberg proves here that high pitched vocals are also within his reach. The first piano tones of One In My Head could be the start of a subtle horror movie. The uptempo piano and guitar parts further on however, are too straight-forward for that same horror movie. This Fragile Surface closes the album and it leaves you wanting for more. The dramatic keyboards and again the tempo changes of subtle guitars and metal guitars. Drums that are right all the time.

Andromeda is a band of good musicians, and although I am not a Death Metal lover, the fact that Andromeda's guitarist Johan Reinholdz also plays in NonExist makes me curious to explore their music too.

Comparison sometimes is the best way to give an idea of what a band or songs sound like, but Andromeda is in no way a copy of any other. I immediately liked this album and after listening more often, I think I can safely say: this one is a keeper. I am really impressed. I have not written a lot of reviews yet so you cannot know if I would say this easily. I think not, as Andromeda really deserves it. Find out for yourself!

A final point to note is that the excellent cover artwork is by former DPRP team member, Mattias Noren.

Tracklist: Encyclopedia (7:35), Mirages (5:42), Reaching Deep Within (4:50), Two Is One (10:09), Morphing Into Nothing (7:34), Castaway (6:16), Parasite (6:54), One In My Head (8:02), This Fragile Surface (8:04)

Andromeda

Chimera

The last album that I acquired 'On Import' was the debut release from a little-known New Jersey band called Bon Jovi. Thanks to the worldwide reach of the internet and online record stores, the whole concept of 'import' albums has pretty much disappeared.

However the third album from Swedish ProgMetal masters Andromeda was actually released in Japan way back on January 21, yet for some reason, unless you live in France where it came out on the Replica label on March 27, it won't get a worldwide release until June 23 on the Massacre label. Therefore grabbing my second ever import album, was the only way to avoid a frustrating wait.

The band's first two releases, the intense, riff-based Prog of Extension of the Wish and the more refined II=I, have set this band as one of my favourite purveyors of classic progressive metal. No Dream Theater clones here. Thanks to the amazingly gifted voice of David Fremberg and the even more amazing guitar work of Johan Reinholdz, Andromeda have crafted a sound that is immediately recognisable as their own. Indeed you won't read any comparisons here. Andromeda stands alone, in their own corner of this ever expanding genre.

Chimera is certainly not as heavy or complex as the band's debut. That may be off-putting to some, but will probably be more attractive to a great number of people. It really is a natural, albeit slightly simpler version, of II=I. Slightly more accessible, slightly more melodic and, at the present time for me, slightly more enjoyable.

The opener, Periscope, leaves you with jaw dropping ever downwards, as it's one of the best song's the band has ever recorded - and will be a major contender for my favourite tracks of the year. From then on, the music just takes the listener to wonderful places - constantly moving, never stagnating. This is no musical ego trip but progressive metal with the song at its heart.

And if you splash out for the import - then you get the pleasant bonus of the instrumental track, Chameleon Carnival, captured live in concert.

I said this with their last album, and I'll say it again with this time around, Andromeda really should be one of the big players in the ProgMetal genre - equal in quality to the likes of Threshold, VandenPlas and Fates Warning. Hopefully the worldwide deal with Massacre will help them on the way. And if you're put off by the price of an import, then put the date of June 23 in your diary now! Awesome.

Tracklist: Periscope (6:11), In The End (4:58), The Hidden Riddle (5:51), Going Under (6:27), The Cage Of Me (7:08), No Guidelines (6:23), Inner Circle (7:03), Iskenderun (5:30), Blink Of An Eye (12:29) Bonus: Chameleon carnival - Live! (5:12)

American Folk-rock

En undersjanger av folk-rock, som også går under betegnelsen US folk. Amerikansk folkemusikk eller amerikanske folkeviser vokste frem rundt slutten av 1930-tallet.

Folkrock betegnelsen ble etablert når artistene tok i bruk elektriske instrumenter, og ble musikalsk inspirert av band som Beach Boys rundt midten av 1960-tallet. Sjangeren hadde sin storhetstid under hippiebevegelsen.

F.eks. artister som:

Joan Baez

Buffalo Springfield

The Byrds

Crosby, Stills and Nash

Donovan

Bob Dylan

Woody Guthrie

The Mamas & The Papas

Joni Mitchell

Peter, Paul & Mary

Pete Seeger

Simon & Garfunkel

Neil Young

osv.

AOR

Forkortelse for Album Oriented Rock, en undersjanger av rock som dukket opp eller hadde sin storhetstid ved begynnelsen av 1980-tallet. Forkortelsen kan også bety Adult Oriented Rock, som betegner samme fenomen.

Det startet med amerikanske FM radiostasjoner som spilte utvalgte låter av artister og band som ble kjent for sine gode album fremfor enkelte singel utgivelser. Generelt sett mainstream radio poprock, som gjerne har voksne lyttere.

Ved slutten av 1970 og begynnelsen av 1980-tallet kom også flere av de mer progressive band fra 70-tallet med karakteristiske AOR tendenser, eksempelvis ELP, Kansas og Yes.

Asia

Bad Company

Barclay James Harvest

Bon Jovi

Boston

Bryan Adams

Chicago

Duran Duran

Europe

FM

Foreigner

Honeymoon Suite

It Bites

Jefferson Starship

JoJo

Journey

Little River Band

Magnum

Mr. Mister

Pink Floyd

REO Speedwagon

Styx

Supertramp

Survivor

Toto

osv.

Age Of Nemesis

Psychogeist

I admire Queensrÿche, mostly enjoy the band’s work, and acknowledge their importance (and especially that of their Operation: Mindcrime album) to progressive metal. Why do I mention Queensrÿche as I begin a review of Age Of Nemesis? Because comparisons between the two bands (and between this album and Operation: Mindcrime) will inevitably be made. Both bands play powerful, inventive progressive metal; Age Of Nemesis’ singer, Zoltán Kiss, has a voice in many ways similar to that of Queensrÿche’s Geoff Tate; and both bands have recorded concept albums (in Age of Nemesis’s case, sort of a concept half-album) about the manipulation of innocent people by shadowy government forces. But I’m happy to say that Age of Nemesis not only survives that comparison but perhaps comes out on top.

Now, I’ll admit that Queensrÿche’s album was, at the time of its release (can it really be eighteen years ago?), groundbreaking; and I’ll further admit that Age Of Nemesis’s story is more particular and bizarre and thus less generally engaging than Queensrÿche’s. And with those admissions I’ll abandon for now the comparison and concentrate on this particular album. The first six songs constitute "The Psychogeist Story" – and, as I say, the story’s a weird one. Very briefly, it concerns a young boy from a broken family who’s raised in an unknown location by his doctor father. When the father dies, the mother finally locates the child, only to discover (eventually) that he’s been the subject of horrific medical experiments that have turned him into a “psychogeist.” As the extensive liner notes explain, he’s been “taught to step outside himself, to places independent of his body” and has thus become “a horrific weapon of unimaginable power.” Eventually, the mother persuades (or so she believes) the son to abandon his powers, his desire to kill those who harmed him, and his determination to kill himself as well.

Yes, this is gloomy stuff as well as odd. But it’s an ambitious idea, because it forces the band to try (I think successfully) to suit the music in the six pieces that make up “The Psychogeist Story” to the many twists and turns of the story. And again here the band’s link (and I’d say debt) to Queensrÿche can be clearly heard. The album’s superb production showcases all the instruments in turn, probably most noticeably the widely varied keyboards and the excellent guitars, the former courtesy of György Nagy and the latter of Zoltán Fábián. In fact, I can hardly praise Fábián more highly than to say that, before I read the liner notes, I’d assumed that the band had at least two guitarists. Nope: Fábián does it all, from deft shredding to soaring Strat-sounding leads to chunky riffs that put me in mind of nobody so much as Zakk Wylde.

But the virtuoso guitar work and those neat keyboards only contribute to the overall excellence of the album. The songs themselves (those that constitute “The Psychogeist Story,” the three other songs, and the two instrumental pieces) are all individually interesting, well-constructed, and melodic. I think my favourite song on this album is the weird Eye Of The Snake, which on its own fulfils the band’s promo letter’s promise of “an exotic Eastern vibe” with its minor harmonic leads and nearly-sitar-sounding guitar. Also excellent is the album-closing instrumental Awaking Minds, a lovely keyboard-and-guitar piece that nicely lightens the overall dark mood of the album. But there isn’t a weak song on the album, and that’s another of its many strengths.

But no album’s perfect, and this one has a few flaws. It goes on too long and (perhaps this is largely the same thing) is a bit too ambitious, especially in the case of the conceptual half of the CD. I’d have to say that the story is a bit much, melodramatic or portentous but not truly chilling (as, I think, Operation: Mindcrime’s story was). And, while I’m very hesitant to fault the band’s English (they’re Hungarian, and this is only their second English-language release after four in their native language), it’s probably an indication of the obscurity of the story that each song, beside the printed lyrics in the booklet, has a lengthy paragraph explaining those lyrics. While I’m one of those fans who love to read CD booklets – though, as my poor eyes age along with me, I long nostalgically for the much larger print we used to see on record sleeves! – I also believe firmly that an album should stand without explanation. And, frankly, the lyrics (themselves translations) really do need explaining.

Musically, though, for fans of progressive rock and especially of progressive metal, this album is a treat from beginning to end. Over six albums, the band has found its groove, and both the music and its execution are simply excellent. I happily recommend this album and look forward to more from Age Of Nemesis.

Tracklist: Fate’s Door (6:10), Grey Room (4:33), Faceless Enemy (4:56), Mommy’s Crying (6:33), Psychogeist (3:16), Breaking Away (7:53), Goddess Nemesis [Instrumental] (3:26), Eye Of The Snake (6:03), Karma (7:02), Abraxas (7:51), Awaking Minds [Instrumental] (2:36)

Amber Light

Stranger And Strangers

Wiesbaden's finest The Amber Light follow up their recommended debut album Goodbye To Dust, Farewell To Dawn with a four-track EP Stranger & Strangers. Continuing with their eclectic blend of musical genres, this latest disc is quite a diverse package. Opening number Softly There, Everywhere has a prominent bass line and recurring drum pattern that gives it a feel somewhat akin to early The Cure, although the guitar riff and smooth, yet plaintive, vocals make it somewhat less morose. Continuing with Still Going Nowhere, The Amber Light prove that progressive bands can run with a groove. This upbeat number is a fine mixture of engaging beat and chiming guitars. The juxtaposition of slower melody line with a faster tempo back beat works well resulting in a song that will get the feet of even the most reluctant dance floor participant tapping!

For better or worse, prog rock has become synonymous with songs of extended duration. This has sometimes resulted in tracks that are lengthened beyond their natural duration or containing one too many solos. This may be one of the reasons why progressive music is dismissed by the wider population as being self-indulgent and a forum for displays of technical ability with style overcoming content. The Amber Light succeed in their longer pieces by having an arrangement that keeps the listener actively engaged for the entire length. Stranger & Strangers is no exception. Closest in style and structure to the group's album, the song will undoubtedly be the main incentive for a lot of people to buy this release. And they will not be disappointed. Starting slowly, the song gradually builds from a brief vocal introduction leading to the extended instrumental section with keyboards and bass holding the song together and laying down a foundation for the guitar to provide the light and shade. No solos as such, but a heady mixture of crashing chords, feedback, arpeggiated riffs and more reflective and subdued sections. Sigur Ros comparisons are still valid in places but this is only a small part of the whole and is so integrated with the song that it almost renders the comparison redundant - the band have really defined their own sound.

Hide Inside rounds of the album and again shows a different side to the band. Recorded live for a German radio session in May of last year, the song is stripped back to basics performed on two acoustic guitars. This gives it a more immediate impact and focuses the attention on the vocals and lyrics largely hidden in the more frantic electric band version found on Goodbye To Dust, Farewell To Dawn. As with any good song, laying bare the basic elements should still result in a piece that stands up and, indeed, should reveal otherwise hidden nuances. Again The Amber Light succeed and, if anything, the acoustic version holds sway in the preference stakes over the electric version.

Stranger & Strangers is a worthy filler while we wait for the next full-length album (although when you think of it, the early albums by The Beatles and The Stones were of a similar length to this EP!!). However, 'filler' is entirely the wrong word to use as each of the songs on this release is worthy of inclusion on anyone's MP3 playlist. And one shouldn't just focus on the title track, great as it is. The other three tracks are well worthy of attention displaying the diverse nature of what I consider to be Germany's hottest band. Well worth a listen.

Tracklist: Softly There, Everywhere (4:20), Still Going Nowhere (3:29), Stranger & Strangers (14:27), Hide Inside (acoustic) (3:55)

Alex Carpani

Alex Enrico Carpani was born in Montreux (Switzerland) in 1970 of an Italian father and a French mother. At the age of 6 he gave clear signs of a particular inclination for music, starting playing electronic organ and taking his first lessons of solfeggio and music theory. Later he passed to piano and composition. He was gifted of an ear for music that his first music teachers defined "out of the ordinary", but his musical education has been mostly a self-taught one. He constantly refused to enter in a conservatorium and to follow an "academic" musical education. 

He took a graduation in Musicology at the University of Bologna, he specialized in "music for film" at the C.E.T. (a famous Italian school of music) in Central Italy, as well as in "sound engineering" with top Italian sound technicians at the Arte Scenica Foundation in Bologna. He's also been awarded in several Italian and international composition prizes.
From all these training and forming experiences, he acquired the tools and knowledge to become an indipendent artist and to be able to produce his own music, taking care of all the artistic and technical aspects of a project: composition, arrangment, recording, mastering, creation of the cd artwork, promotion via Internet (by his self-built site), etc.

Alex Carpani is a versatile composer and his repertory ranges from progressive rock to classical music, from electronic music to new age, from music for films/video to electro-jazz, from music & poetry to jazz-rock. The meeting with "Keith Emerson" at the age of 7 has been fundamental in his musical formation: Emerson's son Aaron was a classmate of Alex in his parents' college in Switzerland. From this moment, the progressive rock and the love for keyboards became part of his life, influencing his style and his following music experiences. 
In 1990, at the age of 20, he formed the instrumental duo Gemini with another keyboardist and composer, starting to compose intensely and in a continuous way. Gemini recorded two concept albums: "Polychromie" and "States of Mind from a Surrealist Existence" with a mix of new age, Renaissance melodies and ballads and progressive rock. The duo made also several concerts in italy in which music, videos, dance and scenographies were mixed together.

One of their pieces, "Gentle Ballad", has been included in a compilation LP distributed in Italy. Despite of the interest of the listeners and the producers, the duo disbanded in 1992 because of soloist projects that started to overlap, just before the recording of the third album, that remained unaccomplished. However, some tracks have been re-arranged by Alex Carpani and have been included in his first solo album "Hypothesis" in 1993. 

Later, the meeting with Mogol (the best Italian lyrics writer, author of Lucio Battisti's greatest hits) in 1994, when Alex has been selected to enter in Mogol's top level music career school, has been basic for him as well. There he studied with some great film composers and started writing symphonic and orchestral music.

From 2000 his attention has been mainly focused on the following genres: 
- Progressive rock: this genre has always influenced and inspired him, maybe because of the "magic" encounter he had with "Keith Emerson" when he was a child... In 2005 he signed a contract with Cypher Arts, an American indipendent label that will publish and distribute his prog albums.;

- Electronic music: he composed several electronic albums and has been performing multimedia concerts with fractal animations and slides; he also has been reviewed on the Italian electronic music webzine "21st Century Music" in 2004;
-Music & poetry: he composed a 3cds-trilogy inspired by the poems of Edoardo Sanguineti, one of the greates Italian living poets, and 2 albums inspired by the poems of Filippo Finardi, another Italian poet and writer; in both cases, the music has been composed starting from the recorded voice of the poet reading his poems;
- Music for theatre and multimedia: he composed the music for a multimedia theatre show called "Il Ritorno" (The Return) written by Filippo Finardi and represented in an historical theatre of Bologna, the music for the multimedia theatre show "Cerco un paese innocente" (Looking for an innocent country), directed by Sandra Cavallini and represented in Bologna,  the original soundtrack of a short film called "Passaggi" directed by Dario Marzola, the original soundtrack of a promotional DVD of CMAS (an international diving association), that has been distributed all over the world and the original soundtrack of a short film dedicated to the "Caritas" House of Piacenza, Italy, directed by Giorgia Scalia.

Alex Carpani lives in Bologna, a nice historical city of about 400.000 inhabitants in northern Italy. He speaks three languages (Italian, French and English) and has got a true passion for cinema, computer music, vintage synthesizers and modern & contemporary art. Besides being a composer he's the manager of the culture department in a municipality near Bologna.

Comments:

Perfect, amazing, great,  wonderful, marvelous and a pleasant Progressive Music come from Switzerland with an Italian spirit and, deserves all our attention. Influenced by the best and famous Italian bands from the seventies, the musical style retains the pure late 70s Progressive Rock, with touchs of the European Symphonic Prog Rock groups. We are talking about a complete musical orchestration including, elaborate arrangements of which consist of very tasteful intrumental. In fact, I´m talking about Alex Carpani, a versatile composer and keyboard player, the man behind some interesting musical projects and, one of them is "Waterline". The music on this album is rich, with a perfect balance of orchestral-driven sympho progressive instrumentals, playing by a collection of musicians with different experiences and many inspiration. Delightful guitar solos flows brilliantly into atmospheric keyboards sounds, complemented by melodic vocals from "Aldo Tagliapietra". The music from Alex Carpani remind me of "Genesis", "EL&P", "Gentle Giant", "Camel", "Le Orme", "Locanda Delle Fate", "Banco", "La Torre Dell'Alchimista", "CAP", "Il Castello Di Atlante", "Foglie Di Vetro", "Nuova Era", "La Maschera di Cera", and "PFM", in any moments. Listen carefully "The Siren And The Mariner", "The Levees' Break", "In The rocks", "Recalimed", "Agua Claro", "Starcurrents", "A Gathering Storm", "The Waterfall" and "Catch The Wave" you realize how many different passages of music they play on "Waterline". Brilliant and fantastic, highly recommendable...

The musicians on "Waterline" are:
Alex Carpani - Keyboards 
Aldo Tagliapietra - Vocals 
Dan Shapiro - Bass
Ken Jaquess - Bass
Neil Bettencourt - 
Drums
Tony Spada - Guitar
Lindsey Boullt - Guitar
Michel Sajrawy - Guitar
John Thomas - Guitar
Robert Wolfe - Guitar
Marc Pattison - Guitar
David Scott - Guitar
Shelley Doty - Guitar
Cory Wright - Sax And Flute
Beatrice Casagrande - Vocal On ‘the Siren And The Mariner'

The musicians on Alex Carpani band multimedia show are: Alex Carpani - Keyboards and Vocals
Ettore Salati - (former ‘The Watch’) Guitar
Maco Fabbri - Drums
Fabiano Spiga - Bass, Guitar and Singer

"Waterline"

01) The Siren And
......The Mariner
02) The Levees' Break
03) In The rocks
04) Recalimed 
05) Agua Claro
06) Starcurrents
07) Song Of The Pond
08) A Gathering Storm
09) The Waterfall
10) Catch The Wave
11) Prelude No. 2 In
......C Min. (BWV847)*
* composed by J.S. Bach, arranged by Alex Carpani

"Waterline" (c2003-2004) this album has been published in 2007 by the American label Cypher Arts.

Also, you can read more informations, and all about Alex Carpani recording process for all albums in, Alex Carpani´s MySpace Site.

After Forever

After Forever

The best Dutch rock band of this moment has finally released their finest album to date called After Forever, as it is a “compilation” of everything the band has done so far. The album has lots of atmosphere (Decipher), progressive aspects (Invisible Circles), catchy melodies (Remagine) and lots of power (Prison Of Desire). The new album is a splendid musical mix of pop, industrial, progressive, metal, classical and rock elements, perfectly produced by Gordon Groothedde. There are also some well-known guest appearances on the CD, namely Doro and Jeff Waters of Annihilator. The entire album is filled with heavy guitar riffs, killer grooves, keyboard layers, amazing melodies, but most of all with the fabulous, unbelievable voice of Floor. Her vocals are so crystal clear on this album that one wonders how this will sound on stage. Especially in brilliant songs like Cry With A Smile (an extraordinary ballad), the epic Dream Flight and the out of this world chill to the bone power ballad Empty Memories her golden voice enchants the listener.

But there is a lot more to enjoy on this album, take for example the up tempo song De-Energized with sparkling guitar solos of Mister Annihilator and Sander Gommans. Or the wonderful song Who I Am featuring the German metal lady Doro, a couple of really doomy riffs and some Eastern influences. Energize Me is the first single of the album and that one could well turn into a hit single as it has a really addictive chorus that will stay in your system for days to come…

However the musical highlight of this CD is without any doubt the longest track called Dream Flight, a song with lots of diversity. It is bombastic, you can enjoy grunts (not really my thing, but they fit in here nicely), the keyboards are very dominant, Bas Maas (the other guitar player) sings a couple of lines, and there is again the magical throat of Floor, giving me gooseflesh almost during the entire eleven minutes.

Need I say more, this album will become After Forever’s real musical breakthrough and that is well deserved after four studio albums and their tenth year anniversary. Buy or die!

Tracklist: Discord (4:36), Evoke (4:23), Transitory (3:28), Energize Me (3:09), Equally Destructive (3:31), Withering Time (4:31), De-Energized (5:09), Cry With A Smile (4:25), Envision (3:56), Who I Am (4:35), Dream Flight (11:08), Empty Memories (4:55)

After Forever

Mea Culpa

Review one

The Dutch symphonic metal band After Forever have been around now for 10 years and after working for Transmission Records for 6 years they decided to change record labels. This "farewell album" consists of the best tracks that After Forever recorded with Transmission. Among others there are songs with great musicians like Sharon den Adel, Arjen Lucassen, Damien Wilson en Marco Hietala. Furthermore the album features previously unreleased songs, non-album tracks, alternatives mixes, rarities and previously unreleased remixes, making this a special album for all the fans. The album is divided into two parts: Chapter 1 features the AF episode with guitar player/composer Mark Jansen and Chapter 2 contains all the songs that were recorded after Jansen left to form Epica.

"Mea Culpa", the Latin title refers to the Roman Catholic native region in the south of The Netherlands from which the band originates, is NOT the beginning of the end. On the contrary: this collection simply marks the end of the beginning!!

The artwork of the album is sheer magic, just check out the extensive 44 page booklet and you know what I mean.

For people who are not familiar with the CDMs Follow In The Cry (2000), Monolith Of Doubt (2002), Emphasis (2002), Exordium (2003), My Choice (2003), Digital Deceit (2004), Being Everyone (2005) and Two Sides (2006) this album is extra worthwhile as lots of songs from those albums are featured here. For die-hard fans there are only three "new" interesting pieces to discover: Life's Vortex (unreleased single version), Attendance (unreleased industrial remix) and a piano version of Strong taken from the SACD version of Remagine.

A fantastic album of an amazing band, only two misses, namely the covers Who Wants To Live Forever (Queen) and The Evil That Men Do (Iron Maiden).

Hopefully After Forever will release a lot of new and great albums in the near future, but for the moment you can enjoy this marvellous compilation!!!

Review two

The break up of After Forever and their record label Transmission is one that is subject to a number of explanations, and although there more than 40 pages in the CD booklet it does not give an explanation of the break-up. It simply states that this is the end of the beginning. In any case this is the closure of an era. This album contains an overview of six years of collaboration between Transmission and After Forever.

Before anything I need to get the following off my chest: this CD is copy protected and I hate that! I tend to rip my CDs to MP3 and put them on my iPod something that is made very hard by copy protected CDs. Next to that I archive my CDs with a tool that retrieves information from the internet. In fact most of the tracklists in reviews I copy and paste in stead of typing them myself. But not with this CD, the copy protection prevented that.

I must admit that the software that starts up once you insert the CD in the computer is pretty good. It shows album covers while playing the tracks, it does give the ability to create audio files for an iPod or even send MP3s to a friend. And it even gives the ability to copy it to a CD-R. It might seem strange this software does everything copy protection should prohibit but of course it does this on the terms of the software. So maybe this is one of the best copy protected CDs this far countering all the complaint people have about copy protection. Still I would just like the freedom of an "ordinary CD". Unfortunately stuff like this is probably needed to help copyright owners protect their property.

After this short side step we still have the music to discuss:

Compilations like this are probably only interesting if you use them to get to know the band or if the compilation itself contains new music. Looking at the tracklist of this album it is very suitable for getting to know the band, as it gives a great overview of their back catalogue and the most important songs have been included. Every stage of the band's development is addressed. If, like me, you already own most of the studio albums then this compilation also has about 15 new tracks in store, a very acceptable number (although some of them are of course different versions of known tracks). If you own the complete After Forever's back catalogue there is only three surprise on this album but then again a die hard fan would want to own this album just because it exists.

Mea Culpa is an A Cappella version of the first track on Prison Of Desire. So this album starts