Although this album was released in 1995, I did not get my hands on it until March of 2004. On my first playing I was slightly disappointed, but after the third time I had warmed considerably to it, and looking at the CD cover was amazed to discover it was almost a decade old. It played more like an album released within the last year than in the mid-90's. I even loaned the CD to a friend of mine who is more savvy with the current music scene outside prog than I, and he confirmed that a lot of what is on here is only just starting to be explored by elements of the alternative scene now.The music is eclectic and jumps from one style to another frequently. On my first listen it sounded a little messily cobbled together to me, but each new style is played with competence and conviction, and never sounds artificial. The band achieve this diversity by making use of a string quartet, an early music ensemble with some traditional Arabic instruments, a choir, a Celtic harpist and a number guitarists as well as the three core band members.
The unifying element, and indeed the main drawcard, is the voice of of Katya Sanna. It is usually dominant and often present multiple times, singing duets and trios with herself. According to her publicity she has a four octave range, and I have to admit that I initially thought her lower register had been digitally enhanced, so deep did it get. She spends most of her time on the upper end of the soprano range though, so those who dislike high pitched female vocals beware.
From what my poor Italian tells me of this album, this is an exploration of myths from around the world, and the diverse range of stories probably fits in quite well with the patchwork nature of the music. Myths are taken from as far afield as The British Isles, Japan and the Aztec nation.
This is a lovingly put together album, with so much multi-tracking there is no hope of realization in live performance. It's possibly not everyone's cup of tea but it certainly is mine. I rate it easily among my ten favourite Italian albums of all time, and I am a big fan of Italian prog. Very highly recommended!
review by Conrad Leviston — 4-27-04 —
