GOVINDA • A Modern Mantra • Official Video from the album "Atom Heart Madras"
(© RNC Music, 2010)
giovedì 18 novembre 2010
sabato 13 novembre 2010
★ Review of DEVA "Between Life And Dreams" at Ravenheart Music (UK) by Philip Wooldridge • 9/10 ★
"WHEN METAL GOES OPERA..."
Beautiful Beatrice Palumbo, a bona fide, classically trained opera diva, and guitarist/composer Federico Salerno created the concept behind Deva, to forge a unique union between classical music and progressive metal, which would appeal to fans of artists as diverse as Nightwish (metal), Dream Theatre (prog), and Katherine Jenkins (female opera). The multifaceted songs swirl between soft and heavy, light and shade, with their influences coming from other bands that also have a classical element in their music. At their most gentle, Renaissance springs to mind, especially with the lovely Myriam Stallone’s John Camp like grunting bass, together with a touch of Kate Bush, while at their heaviest bands like Therion and Epica are reference points, but with more emphasis on the four musicians rather than orchestral bombast. Their more prog moments recall a heavier Yes, Focus and Genesis, with excellent soloing from Federico and synthesist Marco Castiglione, but thankfully no noodling. They also remind me at times of Streams of Passion, Edenbridge and in particular Diablo Swing Orchestra, but without the craziness and Beatrice’s voice is a lot softer and easier on the ear than Annlouice’s, who can get a bit shrill. They are not as heavy and technical as Dream Theatre, but that is the beauty of female fronted metal, the triumph of melody over muscle. It is unfair to pick out faves, all the songs have so much to commend them, but I will mention the sublime chorus of ‘Your Voice’, the Renaissance-esque opening and awesome climax of ‘Out in Fog’, the dreamy delicate ‘Fading From Here’ that gradually grows in power, I love it when a band gets into a groove and takes flight, and the incredible four part ‘Karma’ suite that is simply breathtaking. That the musicianship is top drawer is a given, I must also mention Thomas D’Alba’s skilled drumming, and the production by the band is equally impressive, everything superbly recorded and mixed with crystal clarity. There is so much packed into each song that this is a real grower, every listen revealing a fresh nuance. If you love your prog then I risk being trampled underfoot in the rush to get to http://www.self.it/ita/details.php?nb=80
venerdì 12 novembre 2010
★ Review of DEVA "Between Life And Dreams" by JoeNoctusat SPIRIT OF METAL ★
"This could be the next big band in gothic metal in 5 years, people!"
The term Gothic is too broad to be able to classify a whole genre with it. We have old gothic architecture, black leather and chains galore, dark splendor, and then there is music. You can't listen to something and think "Yes, this is gothic metal" with full confidence. It's why I like the genre, there's so much room to try something new and innovative without straying from the path people love. While Deva don't do anything revolutionary here, one thing is evident - they know their gothic metal!
Deva are newcomers to the scene from Italy. Within a few years of forming, they already have their full length - ready to storm the underground of gothic metal with their opus. Between Life and Dreams showcases the bands style both musically and lyrically, which I wouldn't hesitate to call a "demo on steroids". Unsurprisingly, the CD is full of gothic metal at its best standard. There are few bands I've ever seen with such potential in an underground band, and this doesn't come lightly.
The one thing that can make or break gothic metal is the vocals, since they have such a priority over most other things in the mix. Luckily, the lead singer Beatrice really nails almost everything she is given. Her singing style is quite operatic, and to me sounds a hell of a lot like the female vocalist of UneXpect, but perhaps a little bit less honed. I think with training, this vocalist could be transcended to the best this genre has to offer. The vocals are well sung and well handled, and this vocalist is obviously destined for better things!
To compliment this, the instrumentation is also very well handled. The guitaring is well played and sounds great. The riffs are well composed and catchy, which are the perfect compliment to the great vocals by Beatrice. As are the drums and bass - everything molds together as if each of the instruments were married to the vocals, they stick together to deliver a sweet and enjoyable sound. Nothing has not been thought of in this album, everything has their own priority.
Every song here is well composed with little room for improvement for what these songs are. There's a nice contrast between soft songs and more "metal" songs, which are all nicely transitioned so you will never get bored of one style before the next one comes in. You can tell that everything here has been thought through. It's really refreshing to see a band that obviously takes everything and everyone in the band into consideration and doesn't try to prioritize anything. This is what I like to see, and this is what tells me Deva will be around for a long time to come!
The songs are constantly changing, but I think it gets to the point where it could be problematic. It's difficult to tell each track from each other, which leaves the songs a bit unmemorable. Perhaps this was on purpose so it had the feel of an album rather than every individual track. This is definitely refreshing, considering bands like Nightwish have just become a band that simply makes singles and calls them an album. I really respect Deva for this, but perhaps they should give each song just a little bit more identity.
Overall though, I can't help but be impressed with Between Life and Dreams. It has a style of its own, a taste of its own and is certainly something gothic metal fans really cannot afford to not support. The songs are so well composed that I cannot help but recommend all of them, and where the production and identity may take some development, this is only a small gripe - these problems aren't enough to cast a shadow over this bright corner of the underground. This could be the next big band in gothic metal in 5 years, people.
17/20 - JoeNoctus
Review of DEVA "Between Life And Dreams" at PROGRASSIVE AREA (FR) by Shin Akuma
"...le combo italien a déjà un style propre, ce qui est assez rare dès une première production. Mademoiselle PALUMBO a la puissance d'évocation et ce qu'il faut de charge émotionnelle pour transcender la partie mélodique, la portant exa...ctement là où le groupe ambitionne d'aller : au plus profond d'entre nous ."
On a face à nous le premier album de DEVA, et il s'avère bien difficile à classifier. A défaut d' autre chose, on pourrait les situer quelque part entre le goth', le symphonique et le metal progressif. Ainsi, leur son évoque aussi bien THERION, NIGHTWISH (première époque) que THE LAST EMBRACE. Mais tout ceci ne rend nullement justice à leur univers.
En effet, le combo italien a déjà un style propre, ce qui est assez rare dès une première production. Mademoiselle PALUMBO a la puissance d'évocation et ce qu'il faut de charge émotionnelle pour transcender la partie mélodique, la portant exactement là où le groupe ambitionne d'aller : au plus profond d'entre nous .
Il faut à cet égard s'arrêter quelques instants sur le nom du groupe. “Deva” n'est pas un terme anodin. Il évoque les religions d'Asie tel le bouddhisme. Les Devas (sorte de dieu, pour faire simple) y jouent un rôle dans le cycle des réincarnations. Or la religion, le destin de l'âme sont parmi les thématiques majeurs de l'album (« New Essence », « Out in The Fog » et le triptyque final « Karma »). Cette clé peut aider à la compréhension du superbe artwork de la pochette. Par ailleurs la cohérence du projet force le respect, et prouve une fois de plus la maturité de ces musiciens.
Une belle voix, un son atypique, une magnifique pochette, que dire de plus ? Ne pas évoquer l'excellence des lignes mélodique du clavier constituerait une grave offense, elles sont au coeur de la toile que ces musiciens transalpins veulent nous dépeindre ! Si je devais trouver un équivalent pour ce qui est de leur qualité, je penserais aux parties claviers de l'album “Midian” de CRADLE OF FILTH. Le groupe possède un goût sûr, et ose déconstruire en apparence la structure mélodique. En effet, des breaks guitares/basse, dans la plus pure tradition progressive surviennent ainsi de temps à autre, ce qui accentue l'aspect unique de leur univers.
Bon, certes, le groupe succombe parfois au travers du « tu l'as vu ma belle technique, hein ? » , certains morceaux s'étirent un peu, et le chant est en anglais (l'Italien est pourtant une si jolie langue)…. mais c'est plus histoire de chipoter qu'autre chose !
En effet, le combo italien a déjà un style propre, ce qui est assez rare dès une première production. Mademoiselle PALUMBO a la puissance d'évocation et ce qu'il faut de charge émotionnelle pour transcender la partie mélodique, la portant exactement là où le groupe ambitionne d'aller : au plus profond d'entre nous .
Il faut à cet égard s'arrêter quelques instants sur le nom du groupe. “Deva” n'est pas un terme anodin. Il évoque les religions d'Asie tel le bouddhisme. Les Devas (sorte de dieu, pour faire simple) y jouent un rôle dans le cycle des réincarnations. Or la religion, le destin de l'âme sont parmi les thématiques majeurs de l'album (« New Essence », « Out in The Fog » et le triptyque final « Karma »). Cette clé peut aider à la compréhension du superbe artwork de la pochette. Par ailleurs la cohérence du projet force le respect, et prouve une fois de plus la maturité de ces musiciens.
Une belle voix, un son atypique, une magnifique pochette, que dire de plus ? Ne pas évoquer l'excellence des lignes mélodique du clavier constituerait une grave offense, elles sont au coeur de la toile que ces musiciens transalpins veulent nous dépeindre ! Si je devais trouver un équivalent pour ce qui est de leur qualité, je penserais aux parties claviers de l'album “Midian” de CRADLE OF FILTH. Le groupe possède un goût sûr, et ose déconstruire en apparence la structure mélodique. En effet, des breaks guitares/basse, dans la plus pure tradition progressive surviennent ainsi de temps à autre, ce qui accentue l'aspect unique de leur univers.
Bon, certes, le groupe succombe parfois au travers du « tu l'as vu ma belle technique, hein ? » , certains morceaux s'étirent un peu, et le chant est en anglais (l'Italien est pourtant une si jolie langue)…. mais c'est plus histoire de chipoter qu'autre chose !
giovedì 11 novembre 2010
★ Review of DEVA "Between Life And Dreams" at THE MELLOPHONIUM ★
"Between life and dreams" di Deva
Scritto da Massimiliano Morelli
mercoledì 10 marzo 2010
Ci sono mondi geograficamente distanti, linguaggi differenti e, apparentemente, inintelligibili tra di loro, suoni dissonanti, ancestrali, lontani. Ci sono oceani che dividono la terra, lembi di terra che separano le città, Capitali che raccontano storie diverse e peculiari. Ci sono mondi dentro questi mondi e altri mondi ancora: a volte basta un click, altre occorre prendere un mezzo di trasporto, a volte basta un gesto per farsi capire, altre bisogna averne studiato la lingua, il linguaggio. L’heavy metal delle origini, poiché tale la matrice di questo “Between life and dreams” dei Deva rimane e non potrebbe essere altrimenti, racchiude in un'unica principale regola la sintassi, l’ortografia e la grammatica del suo idioma: rompere tutte le regole. Per fare ciò occorre essere impavidi e preparati, pronti a tutto e addestrati, abili e sfrontati. Il riff portante, “in your face”, dell’opener “Your voice”, che arriva come un colpo di baionetta dopo la dolcezza dell’intro “Breathe”, mette subito le cose in chiaro: la band milanese è armata fino ai denti e pronta a combattere il nemico. Laddove ritmiche marziali e accordi in minore ci rimandano al primo elemento del titolo di questo loro album d’esordio (la vita, spesso cruda, difficile e ingiusta), keyboards eteree e voci al limite della lirica ci fanno oscillare - avanti e indietro, sottosopra - verso il secondo: il sogno, più delicato e colmo di speranza, melanconico ma pieno di quella vita per la quale i Deva combattono. Il contrasto crea il marchio di fabbrica e sul proiettile delle chitarre di Friedrik (al secolo Federico Salerno, mastermind del progetto e co-autore dei brani insieme alla cantante Beatrice Palumbo) veniamo tele-trasportati nelle corsie sonore della traccia successiva. “Dancing lane”, già cara ai fans pre-contratto (discografico, si capisce) e brillante negli incastri della sezione ritmica (per la gioia della bassista Myriam Stallone e del batterista Thomas D’Alba), ribadisce il concetto e apre ulteriori finestre su tempi dispari e arabeschi progressivi da mozzare il fiato. Con la track numero 4, “New essence”, le articolate e melodiose vocals, comunque ben lungi dall’essere una farsa della Ruggiero, ci cullano su onde non dissimili da quelle di alcune hit dei Matia Bazar, sdoganando la non meno complessa struttura musicale dal genere, se di genere si può realmente parlare, proposto dalla band. Scivolata via la più lineare “Out: in fog” (aerea e sognante, crepuscolare e inafferrabile come la nebbia di un immaginario hinterland metropolitano al tramonto) approdiamo al capolavoro di questa prima metà del disco. “Love and faith” (traccia numero 6), mai scolastica, riporta i Deva al loro elemento naturale (il progressive metal, diciamolo) e lo fa in grande stile: accelerazioni chitarristiche che sfociano in repentini cambi di tempo-direzione, synthesizers alchemici che mutano forma, contenuto e spettro sonoro al comando del tastierista Marco “Hyblos” Castiglione e basso e batteria a offrire al tutto la giusta e sempre agile spina dorsale. In “Fading from here” (numero 7) a farla da padrone sono invece le inaspettate soluzioni pop e hard rock (le prime udibili nella metricità della produzione, le seconde riscontrabili nella cadenza da ballata come nel fade-out tanto caro ai singoloni anni ’80), mentre è affidato alla multiforme e multistrato "Karma" (i cui contenuti sono divisi in quattro parti ed il cui minutaggio complessivo è stato distribuito lungo le altrettante tracce finali) l’onere di chiudere il disco: suite metal (poco più di venti minuti di pura goduria progressive) con la quale la band, con questo “Between life and dreams” all’esordio discografico, ricordiamolo, esplora un po’ tutti gli scenari e le peculiarità del loro stile (dai riff dittatoriali di Salerno alle partiture esoteriche di Castiglione, dalle voci angeliche della Palumbo agli ingranaggi ritmici della serratissima “divisione” Stallone-D’Alba) e gli estremi del genere stesso, con tutte quelle sferzate spazio-temporali e le (relativamente) lunghe partiture strumentali tanto care a ogni progster che si rispetti. Sicuramente impegnativo e magari non da subito facilmente assimilabile, e i cui testi non sono evidentemente di secondaria importanza, "Between life and dreams", in pressoché ogni sua parte, vince, convince e suona come una possibile colonna sonora del mondo dei Deva che, a metà tra vita e sogni, si apre e ci riporta a molti altri mondi ancora.
★ Mellophonium
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