Magni Animi Viri - Heroes Temporis


Year of Release: 2006
Label: self released
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00

Visitors to this website are no stranger to the phenomena rock opera. The classics, like Tommy by The Who, The Wall by Pink Floyd, and not forgetting the real classic, Jesus Christ Superstar. But also recently, releases like Music Machine by Erik Norlander, Avantasia by Tobias Sammet or Into The Electric Castle by Ayreon. However, if you look closer to all of those rock operas, they all have one thing in common: top class rock and metal singers. Now I'd like to share a thought provoking idea: What would happen if we take a band like Kamelot (for example) and add to that someone like Andrea Bocelli or Pavarotti? How would that combination sound? My point? Most of the rock operas lack the real classic element. Nightwish had it, with classically trained Tarja Turunen. But most don't.

Some time ago I received a mailing from an Italian press company that caught my attention. I responded and little over a week later, I received their release. And when I hit the 'play' button of my CD player, it just hit me and all I could do was turn up the volume... In my CD player I had the first release of the Italian Magni Animi Viri (MAV), entitled Heroes Temporis. Before we move onto the music, a brief background on this fantastic project.

The backbone of MAV are Giancarlo Trotta, a classical musician and Luca Contegiacomo, a prog musician. They are both from the same town in Italy (Battipaglia) and they came up with the idea to create a rock opera, and incorporating in it a 100 piece symphonic orchestra, a rock band, classical and pop vocals as well as classic arias and heavy rock rhythms. They gathered some very well known and talented musicians, like the famous Randy Coven (Steve Vai, Mountain, Ark, Yngwie Malmsteen), John Macaluso (Yngwie Malmsteen, Vitalijk Kuprij, Alex Masi, George Lynch) and Marco Sfogli (James Labrie). And on vocals, a real tenor and a very talented pop singer. I'd say these are all ingredients for a very delicious musical experience.

It is a rock opera, so therefore a concept story. Now the lyrics are in Italian and the choir parts are even in Latin, but don't let this hold you back, as this really works well for the atmosphere of the album. But the drawback is, I haven't got the slightest clue what the album is about. Fortunately the press kit included an English translation of the lyrics. Still, despite the language problem, the music will speak for itself and it is an amazing album, no matter what language.

It is a real rock opera and concept album, thus many short songs; they range from 0:21 to 5:17, so you must listen to this as a whole. The album opens with the voice of the narrator, introducing the main character and his unexpected visitor, while the music comes in. Already the classical orchestra joins with the rock band and set the atmosphere for the story to come. In the second track, "Heroes," the tenor, Francesco Napoletano, comes in. This may take a few spins to get used to, but he sings very passionately, yet not over the top. With the backing of the excellent band, it sounds great and not like anything I heard in a lonnng time. The narrator pops in from time to time, with his dark and mysterious voice. The choir, with its Latin parts, also adds to the mysterious atmosphere.

The female part, Ivana Giugliano, is introduced in the fourth track, "Intus," where she also speaks, again this mysterious mood. Then she starts to sing, in "Finché" ... wow, what an amazing voice! She has a lot of power in her vocals, which add passion and warmth to the songs. Here we also have some cool guitar solos by Sfogli. The music is captivating and the styles change from classical, to rock, to symphonic and pop, but it all doesn't matter, as it sounds so wonderful all together.

One of my favourite parts is the following track, "Pensieri," which starts out as a symphonic rock song, but also sounds very poppy. This is continued in "Mai Più, where the tenor is back, but with a more "normal" sound this time. Finally we find a little bit of metal in Vorrei, where there is a great chemistry between Sfogli, who throws out some lush chops and riffs, Coven on bass and Macaluso on drums, backing this up with their heavy rhythm section. Throughout the entire album there is a good balance between the rock band and the classical orchestra. Although sometimes one of them gets the spotlight, none of them ever dominates really. The same goes for the vocals: Three entirely different kind of vocals work very well together and the contrast between them is what makes it a joy to listen to.

From beginning to end, the music captures you and takes you on a journey through music and dreams. Rock, pop, classic, choir, rock band, orchestra, diversity in vocals, excellent production, strong compositions, balanced songwriting ... how long do you want me to continue? I realize this music will not be everybody's cup of tea and I'm sure there will be people that have a different opinion then me, but I really enjoyed this album and was really stunned by the beauty of the music. Kudos to Giancarlo Trotta and Luca Contegiacomo for putting together this masterpiece with so many talented musicians. This disc will spend many hours in my player and I hope it will does so in your player too! Highly recommended.


Tracklisting:
Colonna Sonora / Heroes... / ...Temporis / Intus / Finch? / Pensieri / Tertia Viqillia / Mai Pi? / Desertanima / Vorrei / Come Un Falco / Uritur / Sai Cos'? / Immenso / Fortis / Senza Respiro / Outro / CS Instrumental

Musicians:
Giancarlo Trotta - piano, keyboards, Moog, FX, programming
Luca Contegiacomo - piano, keyboards, Moog, FX, programming
Francesco Napoletano - vocals (tenor)
Ivana Giugliano - vocals
Marco Sfogli - guitars
Randy Coven - bass
John Macaluso - drums
Roberto D'Aquino - bass, stick
Simone Gianlorenzi - acoustic guitar (12)
Matteo Salsano - narrator
Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra Sif. 309 -Directed by M. Giacomo Simonelli
Composition of the literary part: Prof. Pietro Ruggiero

Discography:
Heroes Temporis (2006)

Genre: Melodic Rock-AOR

Origin IT

Added: March 24th 2007
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.mavsite.com
Hits: 4958
Language: english

  

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