Italian retro prog
Latest release: S.E.I. (2020)
---UMR notes
S.E.I. (2020)
La Maschera di Cera is arguably the band that best represents the Italian early 1970s progressive rock renaissance. I made that same point a few years ago for my modern Italian prog list. It's been a full 7 years since their last album, the fantastic Le Orme influenced Le Porte del Domani. So has La Maschera di Cera continued to improve or did the rot sit in?
The album gets to business right away with thunderous woody bass, crunchy Hammond organ, complex rhythms leading to Martin Grice's (Delirium) flute, mellotron sounds, and Italian vocals. You just got your answer. Boom! And they don't let up from there. 3 tracks and 45 minutes later and there's nothing but greatness to reflect on and savor. This is an album made by retro prog guys for retro prog guys. No room to negotiate here. You're either in or you're out. With their 6th release in 18 years, I think La Maschera di Cera has somehow managed to top everything they've done prior. They continued to improve with age, and clearly are ardent students of their own native early 70's music culture. Brilliant really.
LuxAde (2006)
Hard working bassist Fabio Zuffanti has many bands (Finisterre, Hostsonaten, Aries, Zaal, etc…), and each one represents a certain sound that he likes to explore more in detail (his initial band Finisterre is the one that is truly eclectic). La Maschera di Cera is his vehicle dedicated to the early 1970s Italian progressive rock scene, with only vintage gear being deployed. Along with the usual keyboard (Hammond, Mellotron, Moog), fuzz bass and guitar sounds, there’s quite a bit of flute, an instrument that was predominantly featured in 70s Italian music. In the end, the group achieves what it sets out to do, though I’d say LMdC are not quite as complex of some of the finest bands of the 70s (Jumbo, Semiramis, Banco, RRR, etc..). LuxAde is their 3rd album, and is arguably one of their finest (as I update this in 2019). It's really hard to imagine being a fan of Italian prog and not walking away from LuxAde completely satisfied. The style has been well-studied and executed here by the band. There's a reason why I chose La Maschera di Cera as my primary group for the renaissance of Italian Progressive Rock list: Italian prog from 1987 and beyond.
1/14/19; 6/16/23 (new entry)
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