Bakerteam 2013
Fervent reveries raving: Italian noise-makers let their hair loose and their imagination run wild.
Given the abundance of folk-influenced metal it comes as a surprise that traditional rhythms very rarely affect rock tempos, so you’re in for a treat with the first bars of “Manicomium” that opens this Florence formation’s third album in an epic fashion, flamenco figures passing their dance to weighty riffs. Although it sounds Iberian, the record’s concept was inspired by “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” with an appropriate level of fervid madness in the likes of literary-bound “The Great Escape” or “Electroshock.” But if sci-fi effects kick in the latter as an equally exotic counterbalance to Kostas Ladopoulos’ guitars and bouzouki in the former, such an aural assault ebbs away in “Insane Wishes” allowing William Costello’s voice to unfold in full.
Elsewhere, “Vanessa’s Vox” bares the band’s cold shoulder to push the prog envelope towards alternative clatter, while “Food For Thoughts” offers electronic spicing and acoustic jive to the heavy swirl with a slight symphonic slant. Sometimes the clang lapses into a pure metal, yet there’s enough of a Saracen shuffle in the spiky “Sirens” to make the piece stand out on the strength of its infectious chorus, a violin invasion and the amazing groove courtesy of Filippo Capursi’s drums and Vieri Pestelli’s bass. The title track ups the tragic, theatrical stakes in its cinematic twang, and even though the dream on display is actually a nightmare, living it in this kind of fever feels attractive and alluring. Quite an event!
****4/5
