| 16.02.2003 | ||
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| SPECIAL
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| by Dalia "gryphon_spirit" Di Giacomo | ||
| Well yes, it's possible: a fan and admirer of Heavy metal and Rock Progressive can found a label of his own like Mr. Aldo Bonanno , chef of this interesting Italian label , did. After a consolidated experience like manager he decided to produce support and promote in first person young talented bands: Wounded Knees and Equiseti not only in Italy but in other parts of Europe too like France (Musea records distribution ) and Benelux (Distribee). Heavy metal and Prog as job and passion. | ||
| www.abrecords.it | ||
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PRODUZIONI A.B.RECORDS tel - fax 0182/52510 www.abrecords.it
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WOUNDED
KNEE 
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"Heyoke"
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1.
Come in / Curley 2. Perceptions of reality (the beast) 3. Red stained childhood 4. Achtung banditen! 5. Apo-logy 6. Anna Mae 7. Sententia |
the Heyoke line up Fabrizio
Bonanno: electric and acoustic guitars key-programming sequencer
guests
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| This band around
"mastermind" and guitarist Fabrizio Bonanno is rather well
known in the Italian scene: born like cover band, Wounded Knee develop
very soon their own musical way, gathering many good critics. With the
song "Phenomena" Wounded Knee took part in the 2 CD
compilation released through the label Black Widow "E
tu vivrai nel terrore" (tribute to Horror and Gothic movies
with cover art by H.R. Giger) together with acts like Death SS. Heyoke
is their second and latest full length album , released on June 2001.
The band is now working on new stuff with 2 new musicians in the line
up: Matteo Peluffo (vocals) and Marco Manzani (guitar - keyboards).
Heyoke is very remarkable , not only for the good music expressed inside,
but also for the concept that inspired its creation. But before speaking
a little bit about Heyoke, i would point out that Wounded Knee is, in my
opinion, a very engaged band in the cultural, social and ethnic field,
let's take just their name : actually Wounded Knee is a place in
the USA in which a massacre against the Indians has been perpetrated in
1890. And this concept of historical and social hints inserted in their
music is also the soul of Heyoke, an album centred on different
characters who lived and fighted for their ideals or were simply victims
of awful moments of the past. So every track is dedicated to one of
these characters: for example "Curly" is dedicated to
Crazy Horse, "Sententia" to Fabio Campanella, "Achtung
Banditen" to the partisans of the WWII, "Perceptions of
Reality" to Albert Hoffman, "Red stained Childhood"
to all children victims of wars, "Anna Mae" to an
American "redskinned" woman, killed in very dubious
circumstances . And the word Heyoke is a Lakota term which means "opposite".
"The boundaries of sanity I see The light of the morning star will shine no more The whistle of the wind became a tempest of pain voices into my head sorrounding my grave we're children victims of war won't sigh nomore..."
Moreover the lyrics are written not only in English but in Italian too ("Achtung Banditen!") and even in ancient Renaissance Italian ("Sententia"): thing this one that will capture the attention of every Leonardo da Vinci fan like me. And the music? Between Heavy and Prog , sometimes with a touch of Power above all as far as the vocals are concerned, Heyoke presents seven ecleptic tracks, in which ,in spite of the clear prog orientation, you can find many varied inspirations, speed and mid-paced tempos, melody and heaviness; rough, crunchy biting guitars, with a lead creating musical embroideries. But above all you will find a lot of ability, energy and virtuoso moments. Ok, we are not in front of Dream Theater but the band is very talented and the tracks are played with an admirable self-confidence and smoothness. I would add that for me personally a certain subtle echo of Judas Priest too makes this band even more lively and unmistakable "metal". In the opener Curley a cool violin can be heard and the presence of an instrumental track (Apo-Logy) is not missed. Their music is far away of being monotonous and commercial . Overall a quality and varied album , very interesting to be listened to. A work done by true musicians that should be appreciated by all who wants from Rock/Metal music something more than the usual. And finally last but not least, Wounded Knees, is organizing a series of gigs together with Equiseti in order to support the fight against vivisection. Thumbs up! the current line up: Fabrizio
Bonanno - guitars
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| these pics are taken from www.abrecords.it | ||
| more
photos of Wounded Knee at
http://www.abrecords.it/bands/WoundedKnee/foto.htm
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EQUISETI
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"Il Rito"
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1.
Crystal square (the cube) 2. Nerone 3. Wind of freedom 4. When a dog finds a home 5. Winter lake 6. Freak out 7. Le valli perdute 8. Wayana 9. Hunt the hunter! 10. Il bosco 11. Il bosco (Videoclip) |
Simone Carabba - vocals Fabrizio
Bonanno - guitars Maurizio
De Palo: drums, percussions, psaltery calimba; |
| It seems that
the current inspiration for Equiseti is the nature in its many facettes,
but we can find also tracks characterized by a subtle but
mercyless criticism against the politics of Rome ("Nerone")or
against the vivisection ("When a dog finds Home") . In
general, Equiseti propose and showcase a Prog highly melodic
music , very far from Power, rhythmed , many times cactchy,
enhanced by lead guitar virtuosisms, always fully agreeable.
The melody and the sound structure finds its roots in the modern
and intellectual Italian typical metropolitan scheme, flourishing in the
80's and 90's thanks to a great generation of Italian singer-songwriters.
Equiseti enhance their album also with the use of many unusual instruments, like psaltery and calimba, which provide an unique mixture of prog metal and ethnic flavours. The lyrics, here again, are in English and Italian ("Nerone" - "Il bosco"). On the CD "Il Bosco" is present also as videoclip. In Il Rito we can listen to "round" clear male vocals supported also by a beautiful female contribution. All in all the album is very deep , intense, once again ecleptic, with a lot of enjoyable musical experimentations. The use of so many instruments and the few but original acoustic and not- metal passages make this album very creative. It can be truly appreciated by those who sincerely love the Prog (like the Dream Theater fans), the Medieval too, and the music with ethnic touch. Equiseti are an intelligent and clever band to be recommended to everyone that doesn't dislike to listen to a totally different genre from the Death or Black. The dominating presence of a group of varied instruments played with ability and agility, giving origin to a sonic kind of voyage around the world, mediated by an Italian taste, offers a new vision and a new horizon within the Prog. Among all these valuable 10 tracks, always "signed" by very energetic but agreeable drums, i personally like very much the charming instrumental Winter Lake, that i personally enjoy more than many Dream Theater compositions; the heavy, a little bit trashy and stop-starty "When a Dog finds Home", and the beautiful opener "Crystal Square (the Cube)": catchy, melodic, at times heavy ,at times gently, with so many guitar "plots" which create a web in which you will like to be a prisoner! |
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C'era un tempo in cui il mondo parlava alla terra quando la luna sorrideva alla notte... ...era il tempo delle valli , le valli perdute"
There was a time when the world was speaking to the earth when the moon was smiling to the night... ...it was the time of the valleys, of the lost valleys" |
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| Dalia FC Di Giacomo | ||
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| this pic is from www.abrecords.it | ||
| more
photos of Equiseti at
http://www.abrecords.it/bands/Equiseti/foto.htm
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| other Fabrizio Bonanno's side projects: | ||
| RAINBIRD - "Assassin's Night" (demo cd) (Hard Rock) | ||
| ARCANE VISIONS - "Sacred Lies" (Heavy Metal) | ||
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Niederrohrdorf
- Switzerland