Yes, the name sounds like a shady actor in a low budget porn movie, or like a very old monk from Transylvania, but in reality it's... well, a rather shady musician in an Italian band - so close, but no cigar! Antonius Rex make that typical Italian prog from the seventies: slow, elaborate, lots of flute, singing in Italian in a way that even Italians don't comprehend and by George, rather nice I have to admit. Especially the flute playing sometimes has that Focus- edge, rather than Jethro Tull, without complete bursting at the seams. On the contrary, the guitar playing surely reminds one of the old Tull: bluesy with heavy but never too heavy riffing. The end result has some elements of Shocking Blue, without the woman, and Earth & Fire, again without the woman, mixed together with the aforementioned Jethro, without the man, and Italian bands like Banco and PFM. This all lead to rather dark and moody music that flows nicely, but without too many highlights. Except for the last tracks that are - not coincidentally - the longest and the most symphonic tracks. Ralefun is mainly the work of Antonio Bartoccetti, who is actually after a long rest in the eighties and nineties, still releasing records to date. **+ André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
