Back in 2011 guitarist Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Civilization One, Shadowspell) working on fulfilling his desire to create a Hard Rock band. After a year of writing songs, and making demos with his friends Luca Cartasegna (ex-Secret Sphere) on drums, Ricky Messeri on guitar and JJ Andreone (Odd Dimension, A Perfect Day) on bass, they realised that they were creating something worthwhile and all they need was to find the right singer. After trying out some different options, JJ suggested his long-time friend Tiziano Spigno (now in Lucky Bastardz) and they all agreed he was the man for them. From here it was just a matter of composing and recording the debut album. Given that the line-up fully came together in 2012, it is something of a surprise to realise that it took until now to get a deal, with the album being released at the end of April, as this is quite something.
Italy seems to be able to churn out band after band who fit the AOR style of music, but these guys are producing trans-Atlantic melodic hard rock with influences from both sides of the pond, coming at it with a very slightly blues approach which gives this real depth. This is a band, bit a project, and boy does it show. Although Tiziano is obviously a star, with an almost Coverdale approach to singing, it is the quality of the songs and the performance of the whole group that make this such a joy to listen to. It never comes across as a self-produced and self-recorded debut from an unknown group at all. Years ago, I had the misfortune to see One Republic at a corporate event in the States (I remember playing air hockey and trying to ignore them), so it is interesting to see that the very last song on this album is their take on “Counting Stars”, and I know that I much prefer this one! Tiziano can hit falsetto when he needs to, and although this is the most commercial number on the album it works well in the context of the whole.
I really enjoyed this debut, and can only hope that with the support of a label it won’t be five years until the next one.
