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Phoenix Again — Unexplored
((Not on label) no#, 2017, CD)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2017-08-25

Unexplored Cover art

Phoenix Again is an Italian progressive band that dates back to 1981 formed by the three Lorandi brothers Claudio, Sergio, and Antonio plus drummer Silvano Silva. Over the years they’ve gone through a number of changes and the tragic death of Claudio in 2007. Today the band continues as a family affair with the addition of Antonio’s sons Marco and Giorgio. The current line up is Antonio (bass and vocals), Silvano (drums, percussion, and vocals), Sergio (acoustic and electric guitars and vocals), Andrea Piccinelli (keyboards), Giorgio (percussion and guitar), Marco (electric guitar and mandolin), and daughter Alessandra Lorandi (flute). This past May Phoenix Again released their third studio album of modern Italian progressive music, Unexplored. The eight tracks are essentially all instrumentals, with short vocals on “That Day Will Come” and “To Be Afraid - Ansia.” Their music is a wonderful combination of metal prog, orchestral prog, progressive folk, blues rock, and jazz fusion. Each piece grows on you as you listen. I love that the Mellotron pops up on many of the tracks, my only gripe is that these passages are too short. Overall the tracks are intelligent complex compositions and what may initially sound like a simple note sequence evolves over the course of the track into some very interesting moments. The closing track, “Great Event,” is a beautiful cinematic tune with twinned guitar lines that ends after 2½ minutes. Then there are two minutes of silence that abruptly ends with a hidden track of an additional two minutes of acoustic guitars and drums. Phoenix Again is a new band to me and I did not know what to expect, especially with the Thomas Kinkade-like cover art. Needless to say, Unexplored is an album well worth exploring.

Filed under: New releases, 2017 releases

Related artist(s): Phoenix Again

 

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