"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year. The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog. And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.
Deus Ex Machina – Cinque (2002)
Produced by Deus Ex Machina
Alessandro Bonetti – violin
Maurino Collina – guitar
Alberto Piras – vocals
Alessandro Porre Porreca – bass
Luigi Riccia Ricciardiello – keyboards
Claudio Trotta – Drums
Track listing:
01. Convolutus (7:18)
02. Rhinoceros (Afropuglise) (8:19)
03. Uomo del Futuro Passato (Roccaccione.....) (8:42)
04. Olim Sol Rogavit Terram I (Maurino Piras) (5:04)
05. Il Pensiero Che Porta Alle Cose Importanti (7:28)
06. Luce (Pensando a Claudia) (6:19)
07. De Ordinis Ratione (Nuovo) (6:55)
08. Olim Sol Rogavit Terram II (Cadaverone..... (20:22)
Released in 2002 "Cinque" was the fifth album by Italian band Deus Ex Machina. Originally formed in 1985 in Bologna Italy Deus Ex Machina became the darlings for the early 90's Prog community.
“Convolutus” the first song on the album and has an early 90’s Grunge Feel to it. It’s quite interesting mixing a prog aesthetic with a genre that in some respects was about simplicity. The track times it does at times veer very close to Dave Mathews Band territory and did make me cringe in places. Nice guitar and violins though.
“Rhinoceros (Afropuglise)” follows on. An upbeat and groovy track it features some really nice percussion. Kind of like a Funk groove or a James Brown track when the band is locked in really tight. The solo’s are quite crazy especially the Keyboards.
The Hendrix like “Uomo del Futuro Passato (Roccaccione.....)” follows on. The song begins out as a slow guitar jam but picks up the pace. Again the grunge sound is here and this time it’s a cross between Stone Temple Pilots and Frank Zappa. As the song progresses it gets jazzier and has some cool grooves and at times even sounds like Primus. Another strong track though I’m not a fan of Alberto Piras’s Vocals.
“Olim Sol Rogavit Terram I (Maurino Piras)” is next and is a stripped back track featuring just Vocals and Guitar. It didn’t get anything from this track. I guess it was nice enough but nothing more or less.
“Il Pensiero Che Porta Alle Cose Importanti” returns to the sound of the rest of the album. It’s a jazzy track that is similar is style to “Uomo del Futuro Passato (Roccaccione.....)” in it STP/Zappa sound. That said it is far less successful. The track tries to be everything to everyone and loses focus .
The pace slows again on “Luce (Pensando a Claudia)”. The Violins have a nice Bluegrass sound to them and the playing is impressive. There is some interesting interplay between the Violin and Guitars but ultimately the song really doesn’t go anywhere.
“De Ordinis Ratione (Nuovo)” is next. The violins are back and are used much more effectively. This song is more of a jam. The song moves, changes and has lots of different parts and solos but as a whole there seems to be little direction.
The album closer “Olim Sol Rogavit Terram II” is an 8 minute track with rehearsal/Studio Outtakes tacked onto the end. The 11 minutes tacked on the end would be something that fans might enjoy but I didn’t get through it. The actual song is really odd and seems like bit’s and pieces put together. The vocals seem to have no relevance to the music that is being played. The violins make a bulk of the instrumentation. Could have been interesting but unfortunately it’s not.
Deus Ex Machina seem to be very competent musicians but the song structures are just not there. Bar a few tracks (Rhinoceros (Afropuglise) & Uomo del Futuro Passato (Roccaccione.....)) this album didn’t do anything for me.
3/10
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