'Marco Ragni' is an Italian multi-instrumentalist who has always been attracted to progressive rock and more particularly to the psychedelic of the 70s and who regularly releases albums, the most recent being 'Ocean of Thought' released in 2019. For this new baby, he surrounded himself with a big name of progressive rock since it's the guitarist of 'Airbag', 'Bjørn Riss', who also participated in projects like 'The Opium Cartel' or 'Oak' . We are therefore immersed in the subtle universe of the Italian with smooth compositions that take you on an air trip, warm on a little cloud.
From the opening instrumental 'Tales of Ordinary Madness', we are caught in this psychedelic dream with a first guitar solo of 'Bjørn Riss' with 'Gilmourian' sounds, then, 'Electroplasmic Dream' continues with a ballad in which we are lulled by the soft voice of 'Marco Ragni' and which highlights long psychedelic instrumental sections reminiscent of the early 70s with for example compositions like 'Echoes' by 'Floyds', and 'Engufled' him follows suit with some more energetic guitar riffs but which quickly give way again to an aerial atmosphere without really changing the tone which reinforces the haunting side of this style. What follows continues in the same atmosphere with references to 'Pink Floyd' as in 'If I Could Tell You' or 'Carnival of Ghosts' with long instrumental parts and the rest of the album is quite similar continuing to feature long remarkable guitar solos, the album ending in 'Awakened Creatures' with an acoustic guitar accompanying the hovering singing of 'Marco Rigni' and with a last solo 'Gilmourien' occupying a good part of the second part of the title.
In summary, this last album of 'Marco Ragni', although it remains quite linear on the whole, offers us an hour of relaxation and unfolds airy and soaring melodic lines highlighting multiple guitar solos 'Floydien' which destines 'If' to an audience loving psychedelic rock, taking us back decades but with a modern sound... | |
