Tuesday 9 December 2014

IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR

The roots of Entity date back to 1994 when Gigi Longu and Mauro Mulas, two skilled musicians based in Cagliari, formed the original nucleus of the band. After many years of hard work, personnel changes, some demos and a good live activity, in 2013 the band finally released an official full length album on the independent label Lizard Records with a consolidated line up featuring Mauro Mulas (keyboards), Gigi Longu (bass, guitar), Marco Panzino (drums), Marcello Mulas (guitars) and Sergio Calafiura (vocals). It's titled Il falso centro (The false centre) and is a conceptual work about an identity crisis based upon some introspective poems written by Yuri Deriu, an old friend of the band, that form a kind of screenplay that the musicians interpret with passion and enthusiasm. The music is rich in ideas, the influences range from classical music to jazz, from the Italian prog masters of the seventies to more recent sounds and the final result is excellent. If you like bands such as Le Orme or Il Banco del Mutuo Soccorso I'm sure you'll enjoy this album as well.

album cover

The opener "Davanti allo specchio" (In front of the mirror) is a charming instrumental piece that sets the atmosphere. It starts by an oblique waltz, you can imagine a kind of ghastly dance in front of a mirror where you can have a close look at your face and try to dig in your hidden thoughts. It's a perfect introduction to the following "Il desiderio" (Desire), a long, complex track where melancholia and desire run one after each other on a dangerous path leading nowhere. Are you really what you appear to be? Now you're nothing but an empty shape, drawn away by a vortex of passions, unable to break through the protective shell where you are trapped. Your desires are a continuous renewal of old wounds, they are burning you out but you can't help it, you are not able to stop, to come back from a labyrinth with no exit door... The music is powerful and evocative, the heartfelt vocal parts convey emotions and feelings... A great track!

"Il tempo" (Time) is a dark, melancholic piece about time passing by. The atmosphere is ethereal and perfectly fits the poetical force of the lyrics. Time is a great deceiver and too often it doesn't keep its promises, so you beg useless delays, lost in an endless waiting. You keep your memories in your heart, you keep your head down, you're always busy but you know that this is nothing but an alibi. It's like if you were flying into the glass of a window like a fly while the days inexorably fall from your hands like sand in an hourglass...


The music of the beautiful "Il trip dell'ego" (Ego trip) recalls Le Orme and their brilliant counterpoints while the short vocal part evokes the loss of the sense of identity and a lack of direction. Then comes the romantic "ANT", a piece dealing with ideal, eternal love and the alchemy of feelings. It begins by a beautiful piano pattern, then Procol Harum could come to mind while the music and lyrics paint deep emotional landscapes, dreams carried away by liquid sentences and getting drowned in a lake of words, poisoned by troubled thoughts and desire.

The disquieting "L'armatura" (The armour) opens with grazing electric guitar riffs and dark organ waves conjuring up a nightmarish atmosphere. Your sweet-hart, your idealized love is gone and you feel the need of a shield to protect you from a falling sky, you feel like a trunk after a shipwreck, you're floating on the waves of life thanks to natural laws and not because of your will. But your armour is melting, you can't run away from your faults, you can't deceive yourself anymore, now you look in the mirror and for the first time you begin to perceive your real face...

Entity on stage 2010

The delicate, cathartic "La notte oscura dell'anima" (The dark night of the soul) concludes the album and comes like the calm after the storm, on the notes of a nocturnal piano passage. Finally, in a dark winter night you feel empty and distant from everything. Now you wear no armour but you feel lighter without the weight of your ego: a part of you is dead but you can start a new life with a new awareness...

Well, on he whole I think that this is a really good album, full of musical nuances and poetical strength: a must-have for very Italianprog collection!


Entity: Il falso centro (2014). Other opinions:
Uwe Zickel "Rivertree": Well, currently there's a lot going on, speaking of the Rock Progressivo Italiano genre. While offering fine melodies and an entertaining flow ENTITY turns out to be a real shooting star, this album certainly belongs to the Crème de la Crème... (read the complete review HERE)
Michael "Aussie-Byrd-Brother": 'Il Falso Centro' is simply one of the most self-assured, confident and downright bombastic Italian debuts of recent years, and the band perform with truly envious power and skill gained from the almost twenty years of honing their craft leading up to this work... (read the complete review HERE)

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