“AnimAcusticA” is the second live album by Il Bacio della Medusa, a progressive rock band from Perugia, Umbria, considered one of the Italian prog leading bands of the recent decades. After the stylistic change impressed in the eclectic “Seme*”, their last studio album released in 2018, one year later they decided to try an acoustic experiment: a successful move, as showed by this new release.
“AnimAcusticA” was recorded live on Saturday 19 October 2019; the event, organized by Trasimeno Prog, was set in a ‘historical’ context such as that of the Palazzo della Corgna in Castiglione del Lago (PG), whose paintings and walls date back to the 16th century. There is no doubt that this setting has benefited the performance of a band who use, especially on a lyrical level, to draw inspiration from historical events and legends dating back various centuries ago: something that makes Il Bacio della Medusa unique in the entire Italian prog-rock scene.
First of all, “AnimAcusticA” amazes for its flawless crystal clear sound, so pristine that it can easily be mistaken for a studio album. The quality of the arrangements is also positively surprising; for one evening, they forced the band to transform into an ‘all-round’ sextet, capable of combining various musical genres with incredible ease, including ’70s folk, jazz-rock, classical and symphonic music, songwriting. Even in their acoustic version, the original songs lose none of their strength and pathos, which is even more apparent in the case of the ‘modern’ tracks taken from the most recent album “Seme*”. In the end, the band also offer the unreleased “Testamento di un Poeta” (A Poet’s Testament), to enrich the album tracklist. It’s a studio recording, a sort of poignant bossa nova in which the ‘Poet’ sings his farewell to life and to the woman he loves.
In the end, “AnimAcusticA” proves to be a successful experiment, confirming once again the skills of a unique band that will undoubtedly be able to give new emotions with their next, awaited studio album.
Papersleeve CD edition.
Tracklist:
1.Preludio: Il Trapasso
2.Confessione d’un Amante
3.Il Vino (Breve delirio del vino)
4.La Sonda
5.5 e 1/4… Fuori dalla Finestra il Tempo è Dispari
6.Animatronica Platonica
7.Sudamerica
8.Uthopia… il Non Luogo
9.Scorticamento di Marsia
10.Cantico del Poeta Errante
11.De Luxuria, et De Ludo, et De Taberna
12.Testamento d’un Poeta