Deus Ex Machina - Cinque

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Cuneiform Records
Catalog Number: Rune 159
Format: CD
Total Time: 70:33:00

One has to hand it to the guys in Deus Ex Machina: they are one seriously unique unit. Forget about the fact that the heady vocals of Alberto Piras are almost completely in Latin, but rather concentrate on how this Italian sextet is far from sounding anything at all like most of its national peers, leaving behind any notions of sweet lyricism and opting instead for a highly energetic, visceral, and...well, let's put it this way, Deus Ex Machina certainly puts the rock back in Italian progressive rock.

Not precisely in a purely deflagrating manner, however, as the music contained on Cinque is simultaneously vibrant and eloquent, with acoustic passages that for sake of comparison come across as an almost brainy Led Zeppelin III and electrifyingly intense moments during which Piras threatens to take over the world with the help of his fellow mercenaries. It is a continuous flux of musical emotions and ideas that never depart too much from the basic line but yet span quite a large spectrum that contains the mysterious, the neurotic, the innocent, the rocking, the energetic, and all in one convenient package of 12 centimeters of diameter. There is the wonderfully intelligent, dexterous, and spontaneous guitar phrasing of Mauricio Collina, the hyperkinetic drumming identity of Claudio Trotta, and basically plenty of other assorted goodies to munch on with almost jejune delight.

And if it sounds too good to be true, it's because it is. Well, actually, it's not quite that there is anything obviously going wrong throughout the course of the album, and when Deus Ex Machina becomes intent on taking over, it definitely does just that without allowing for a split second of doubt. In fact, the listener is quite unlikely to perceive the album's slight flaw at first, favoring instead the perfectly natural and organic construction of "Convolutus" or the sheer unforgettable energy witnessed on "Il Pensiero Che Porta Alle Cose Importanti," but time and habit eventually reveal something of an excessive rambling, as if the band extended its instrumental explorations just beyond the appropriate limit. Not really anything that would kill the otherwise perfect aura of vigor that surrounds it, and not even enough of a hindrance to effectively slow down the most absorbing points of the record, but sufficient to dampen the general effect enough to make one think that Cinque falls short of its own promise by mere inches.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that Deus Ex Machina is just another one of those bands that can conveniently be placed under the "had potential, but never realized it" category, however. With Piras' wonderfully dynamic vocals and the intricate wall of sound that his cohorts develop and constantly mutate via a healthy mix of seventies principle with modern energy and conviction, one could hardly maintain that this Italian act isn't right on the money with its general approach, because it is. It's only that this time around things were drawn out a little too far, and thus consume part of the efficiency of each track and keep it from having full effect on the listener. Still, overly extended Deus Ex Machina is better than no Deus Ex Machina at all, so just adjust to this baby instead and keep your fingers crossed for the next one.

Tracklisting:
Convolutus (7:18) / Rhinoceros (8:19) / Uomo Del Futuro Passato (8:42) / Olim Sol Rogavit Terram I (5:04) / Il Pensiero Che Porta Alle Cose Importanti (7:28) / Luce (6:19) / De Ordinis Ratione (6:55) / Olim Sol Rogavit Terram II (8:10) - plus hidden track (20:23)

Musicians:
Alberto Piras - vocals
Maurino Collina - guitars
Alessandro Bonetti - violin
Fabricio Puglisi - keyboards
Alessandro Porreca -bass
Claudio Trotta - drums

Guest musicians:

Bonez Buonetti - violin
Luigi Savino -bass
Fabio Cocchi - violin
Nicola - viola
Enrico Guerzoni - cello

Discography:
Gladium Caeli (1990)
Deus Ex Machina (1992)
Diacronie Metronomiche (199?)
De Republica (1995)
Hiperesesia (199?)
Diacronie Metronomiche (1996)
Equilibrismo Da Insofferenza (1998)
Cinque (2002)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin IT

Added: August 25th 2002
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: www.derepublica.com
Hits: 4320
Language: english