Arbatel – Gamadión
$7.900
This is complex Symphonic Rock with a high level of technique but most impressive is the fact that Arbatel sounded extremely close to dark Italian Prog bands.Hints of IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO, MUSEO ROSENBACH and ALPHATAURUS are all over the place.Even more surprising, singers Cristina Peralta and Paolo Bruno even sing in Italian for a moment!
Musically the first half of the album is dominant, powerful, extremely rich and all instrumental Italian-flavored Symphonic Rock with a Heavy Prog overdose, proposed mainly in long and multi-parted arrangements.The style of the band is based on energetic Hammond organ, sharp moog synths and even mournful church organs, supported by attacking and powerful guitar moves and a solid rhythm section.A small dose of melodies also appears among the endless but really adventurous interplays.
The second part, although musically does not feature any really strong changes, contains also some vocals split in Spanish and Italian.However the sound is a bit more flexible, like on the Prog/Fusion ”Tu che sei”, which has some very nice violin drives in the vein of PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI of the ”Chocolate kings” era or the long closer ”Xolotl” (which appears at the start of the album but this is its vocal version), which contains an interesting middle part with a jazzy aura.Highlights of the album are definitely the vintage organ moves, the professional instrumental passages and the haunting, orchestral intros and outros on several tracks.