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Macchina Pneumatica — Riflessi e Maschere
(Black Widow BWRDIST680, 2019, CD)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2020-01-10

Riflessi e Maschere Cover art

Macchina Pneumatica is a neo-Italian prog band that pays homage to their forebears, wiith Riflessi e Maschere being their debut album. And a killer it is! Coming together in Milan in 2013, band members Raffaele Gigliotti (vocals and guitar), Carlo Fiore (synths, Hammond organ, electric piano, choir), Carlo Giustiniani (bass, choir), and Enzo Vitagliano (drums) found a home on Black Widow Records. The result is symphonic Italian prog with ties back to the 70s mixed with a contemporary sound. The album opens with “Gli Abitanti del Pianeta” and its heavy blues rock and emotive vocal links to Black Sabbath. Over the course of six minutes, the music grows on you along with some quiet interludes. “Quadrato” is a bit darker, driven by organ and synths. “Come Me” changes pace with a calm piano and vocal duet the swells into blissful symphonic prog. Then we have the darkly titled “Avvoltoi,” Italian for “Vultures.” What Italian prog album is complete without some gothic references? This song is pure Italian prog with some references to the masters Le Orme. Moving on we encounter “Sopravvivo per Me,” a heavy, almost spaghetti-western themed song with aggressive vocals, excellent Hammond organ, and guitar jamming which really rocks! And the disc closes with the four-part instrumental “Macchina Pneumatica” with some beautiful piano and guitar work. Overall quite a nice album.

Filed under: New releases, 2019 releases

Related artist(s): Macchina Pneumatica

 

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