Samurai Of Prog, The: The Spaghetti Epic 4

For all you Western movie fans out there you may want to check out The Samurai Of Prog’s fourteenth studio album title The Spaghetti Epic 4. If you are unfamiliar with the term, the so-called spaghetti westerns began in the 1960s, mostly filmed in Spain, and made most famous by Italian film director Sergio Leone. He sought out a young Clint Eastwood, previously starring in the Rawhide television series, and brought a whole lot of coolness to the role. Sure, many critics panned movies like, Fistful of Dollars, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, but I have always appreciated the somewhat cheesy humour and Clint’s classic antihero characters. Special mention needs to address the excellent artwork of Ed Unitsky, giving fresh air to days long since past, and for giving each story a life of its own.

This is a slightly different project for the international prog band, but like all their albums it is a work of fine craftmanship, extreme attention to detail, and most importantly an excellent set of tunes.

The album contains six tracks, half of which are instrumental, and half sung in Italian. Like previous albums, the band has gathered an excellent supporting cast of musicians, giving the album its diverse nature.

The opening track “Dead Or Alive�, penned by Marco Grieco, invokes the feeling of the Old West with an initial western style whistle and the tolling of a bell. The brooding violin gives a sense of inpending dread, a future gunfight perhaps? It’s a combination of western and symphonic prog. Pörsti’s rapid fire drumming leads into wonderful keyboards from Marco before the song breaks into sound effects creating an old saloon and you would swear you are in the American southwest. The violin continues to add western colours and another keyboard solo signifies this is indeed progressive rock. “Mira Al Cuore�, the first of two epics, takes the listener through varying themes and musical vistas, from serene mellowness to full tilt ensemble prog where the musicianship is world class. Great violin, keyboards, and guitar, held together by some outstanding work from Bernard and Pörsti. The twenty minute “La Resa Dei Conti� is the second epic, another disc defining moment to be sure. Again, the band flirt with virtuosic performances, but are often subtle and serene in nature, sometimes even dreamy. The flute from Sara Traficante is outstanding, especially her full bodied tone and the mesmerizing guitar solo from Marcel Singor is perhaps my favourite moment on the disc. A western inflected acoustic guitar intro begins the jaunty instrumental “Snakebite�, an amalgamation of country, folk, and of course prog. You just have to love anytime you hear banjo on a prog rock album and the viola work is really something special. The inclusion of Marc Papeghin’s trumpet is an awesome touch. Samurai Of Prog veteran David Myers contributes his vibrant solo piano on the instrumental “The Fabulous Felipe� before the disc ends with the fantastic instrumental “High Noon� that has Bernard, Pörsti, and Grieco playing with passion and intensity, a fitting ending statement to what is a highly enjoyable album.

Folks, The Samurai Of Prog has done it again. Another top ten album for me. In the CD booklet the band hints of the next/latest album Anthem To The Phoenix Star, this time harnessing the sci-fi genre. I for one cannot wait!

A Seacrest Oy release.

Track Listing:
1. Dead Or Alive (6:04)
2. Mira Al Cuore (23:39)
3. La Resa Dei Conti (20:10)
4. Snakebite (8:07)
5. The Fabulous Felipe and His Dancing Squirrels (3:07)
6. High Noon (6:31)

Added: December 19th 2022
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band on Facebook
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Language: english

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