Il Cerchio D’Oro - Il Fuoco Soto la Cenere - 2017
“... another fine RPI album ...”
intro
The history of the Italian band Il Cerchio d’Oro goes far back in time. The band was formed in the year 1974 but besides some singles the band never managed to secure that so needed record deal. Twenty five years later the Italian label Mellow Records released that material as a self titled debut album. That was followed in the year 2006 by an album (“La Quadratura Del Cerchio”) full of covers of Italian bands. It only became interesting in 2008 when the label Black Widow Records released the album “Il Viaggio Di Colombo”, an album full of progressive rock with influences of the seventies. This fine album was followed in 2013 by the album “Dedalo E Icaro”. An album that shows a band who developed a mix of modern Prog with some vintage atmospheres. Last year (2017) Black Widow Records released the new album “Il Fuoco Soto la Cenere”.line-up
Franco Piccolini - keyboards; Gino Terribile - drums, percussion, vocals; Giuseppe Terribile - bass, guitar, vocals; Piuccio Pradal - acoustic guitar, vocals; Massimo Spica - guitar; Simone Piccolini - keyboards, choirs
Special guests:
Pino Ballarini - vocals on “Per Sempre Qui”; Paolo Siani - drums on “Il Rock e l’inferno”; Giorgio Usai - organ and vocals on “Il Rock e l’inferno”
Special guests:
Pino Ballarini - vocals on “Per Sempre Qui”; Paolo Siani - drums on “Il Rock e l’inferno”; Giorgio Usai - organ and vocals on “Il Rock e l’inferno”
review
The album opens with the title track “Il Fuoco Soto la Cenere”. The composition is carefully built with a long and tasteful keyboard and guitar intro and gradually the melodies are built up with nice guitar and synthesizer solo’s. Only after four minutes the acoustic guitars and vocals are joining the music. Slowly the music becomes more hectic with aggressive guitar parts and a nice organ solo. This first nine minutes of music is varied enough to remain fascinating. The title track is a fine opener. The next track “Thomas” has also a duration of more than nine minutes. This track also breathes the atmosphere of the seventies. You can find wonderful vocal melodies on this track. These more ballad like parts are combined with more up-tempo and uplifting melodies. The band make use of the several good voices of it’s members. Besides the many keyboards this track includes several nice electric guitar solo’s. The next track is called “Per Sempre qui” and is featuring guest Pino Ballarini on vocals. In overall this track is a wonderful ballad with beautiful vocal melodies. In the last part we can enjoy a lovely synth melody before the electric guitar also joins in. In the first part of “I due Poli” you can also find beautiful vocal melodies. The middle section is a great instrumental part with some great keyboard parts. In the last part the vocal melodies return. I love the beautiful Mellotron strings in “Il fuoco nel bicchiere”, a very nice track. The next track “Il rock e l’inferno” is featuring guests Paolo Siani (drums) and Giorgio Usai (organ and voice). This track is one of the tracks that has more influences of rock and blues. The album has a worthy ending with the track “Il fuoco sulla collina”. Like most of tracks on this album this is food for the lovers of RPI (Rock Progressivo Italiano). Expect tasteful guitar and keyboard parts and passionate Italian vocals.conclusion
If you like the Prog music of the seventies and in particular RPI this album is for you. The music is diverse enough to keep the attention of the listener. That diversity is also accomplished by the several vocalists, both band members and guests. You can find a lot of keyboards, fine guitar work and lovely vocal melodies on this album. Check it out and see for yourself.