Eclisse - Dinamica 1

Year of Release: 1996
Label: independent
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 38:09:00

Allow me to begin this review by stating the rules of the game. As you have probably noticed, Dinamica 1 is a demo, not an official album. In other words, Eclisse gets a relatively more lenient attitude and full attention on the band's material, with factors such as production and mix not taken into consideration. That, of course, is due to the fact that demos aren't quite exactly up to par with the sound standards that one expects from official albums, and Dinamica 1 is no exception.

Rules of the game thus stated, this is the third Italian band that I've reviewed in a lapse of twenty-four hours, so I thought I would have gotten the swing of it by now. Except Eclisse isn't characteristically Italian when it comes to its musical style, tending towards a more American view of progressive metal and slipping into Dream Theater / Fates Warning territory a bit too much at times. That common flaw in progressive metal circles, however, is not so inherent to Eclisse's music that the band would be unable to shake the comparisons off and achieve its own unique sound; something that I hope will happen.

Apart from the elevator music blandness of "La Carezza Del Mare," Eclisse manages to show its potential throughout the course of Dinamica 1, but it is unfortunately a yet-unrealized potential. The band manages to build a heavy sense of urgency in "Dio Dello Specchio," feature a gorgeous baroque keyboard intro to "Lontano Dalla Paura," and work with gentility and jazzy tinges in "Ad Un Passo Dal Paradiso," which would all be even better if the band had chosen to leave out a couple of less-than-exciting passages that show up here and there during the course of the demo.

Eclisse could be a band with future; there is no doubt about that. In order to be able to grasp that future, however, its members have to learn how to cut the filler from the good ideas, and replace that filler with even more good ideas. The "hidden" techno reprisal of "Vorrei Vivere," for instance, is one of the latter, and an example of the creativity that the Italian band can choose to exploit in its upcoming album. It takes a bit of courage to leave behind one's influences and a bit of wisdom to leave out blandness, but if Eclisse manages to do both, things could only point out for the best.

Similar bands: Fates Warning

Tracklisting:
Dio Dello Specchio (4:21) / Mostri Di Fango (6:38) / Lontana Dalla Paura (5:13) / La Carezza Del Mare (3:11) / Lacrime Nel Cielo (4:21) / Ad Un Paso Dal Paradiso (5:31) / Vorrei Vivere (8:54)

Musicians:
Adamo Troiani - vocals
Gianluca Rastelli - guitars
Berardo Rastelli - guitars
Giancarlo Abrigata - keyboards
Antonio Bernardini - bass
Pietro Adamoli - drums

Discography:
Dinamica 1 (demo) (1996)

Genre: Progressive-Power Metal

Origin IT

Added: August 25th 2002
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: www.eclisse.org
Hits: 2604
Language: english