The Italian band Il Fauno Di Marmo, founded in 2001, hail from Fiuli Venezia-Giulia in the north-eastern part of Italy. At the time, these experienced musicians named themselves The Rebus. The repertoire of the band consists of original prog rock compositions and a few covers in that typical style of the seventies. So far they recorded two privately released albums: Homonymous (2002) and Acroterius (2005), complemented with a live album recorded in Trieste, 2009. In 2012 they changed their name into Il Fauno Di Marmo after making a deal with the Italian label Andromeda Relix. Currently the line-up consists of Francesco Bonavita (keyboards), Alberto Ballare (bass), Luca Sterle (vocals, flute), Luca Carboni (drums) and Valerio Collella (guitars). These musicians recorded the new album Canti, Racconti E Battaglie. The opening piece Benvenuti Al Circe is a fine up-tempo prog rock track in the vein of the bands from the seventies, which means the use of a Hammond organ, emotionally sung lyrics by Luca Sterle and second voice Frederique Sterle, and with lots of tempo changes and a nice violin solo. Madre Nature is a short but nice folk rock song in the vein of Jethro Tull. The longest track on Canti, Racconti E Battaglie song is Hop Frog. It starts with a long intro blending the music of Uriah Heep and Focus with dramatic, almost spoken Italian words, duelling guitar parts and Hammond organ. It's a well-composed track that kept my attention from the first until the eleventh minute. In the middle-section a beautiful bass solo by Alberto Ballare can be enjoyed accompanied by Sterle's flute. After some strange soundscapes and a countdown Magic Kazoo is the first song that really rocks having the electric guitar as the most dominant instrument. Nova Res is an instrumental dance song with cheerful flute passages and bongo rhythms. The penultimate piece Un Villaglio Un'Illusione is also a well-played rock song with flute and electric guitar. In the last song Dorian Gray they let go off all brakes. All the aforementioned qualities of Il Fauno Di Mauro are demonstrated for the last time in a great finale. Well, people who don't have any problems with the Italian language and who like bands like Jethro Tull, Focus and Uriah Heep should check this one out. I think you'll be surprised by the music of Il Fauno Di Marmo. ***+ Cor Smeets (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
