Kasabian
The Alchemist's Euphoria

The rebirth from the ashes is a myth sometimes a bit rhetorical and overused, but in the case of the Kasabian, it fits absolutely and unequivocally like a glove.

After the earthquake caused by the sacking of frontman Tom Meighan (no need to go over the events of two years ago, they've been talked about far too much), many bands would have suffered a deadly blow; not the quartet from Leicester, who decided to bring Serge Pizzorno to the forefront. After all, the Italian-origin guitarist has been the main songwriter of the group since Chris Karloff left during the making of the second album "Empire" and has lent his voice as the main singer in some of the British combo's most successful episodes.

Therefore, recruiting a new guitarist (Tim Carter, on tour with Pizzorno and co. since 2013 and now a permanent member of the line-up), the quartet rolls up their sleeves, relying completely on the creativity and compositional quality of the creations of the bearded new frontman. And it's a good move because the talented Serge manages to successfully synthesize the two souls of the band, the old one and the new one (already successfully experimented with in his solo debut “The S. L. P.”).

Thus, this new “The Alchemist’s Euphoria” (produced by Fraser T. Smith – already alongside Adele and Stormzy – and mixed by the ubiquitous Mark Spike Stent) opens in a curious way with a semi-title track halfway between psych and Latin fascinations, then explosively bursts into the bombastic “Scriptvre,” a violent sonic assault that sounds as if Kanye West and the same Kasabian of “Club Foot” are meeting halfway.

The other two singles taken from the work are the songs closest to the "old model" Kasabian, especially the beautiful “Chemicals,” which boasts a perfectly crafted melody and a modern yet not overly so production that fully enhances it (the same goes for the slow “The Wall”). “Alygatyr,” on the other hand, is more lively and raw.

The rest of the album instead pushes towards unexplored or almost unexplored paths, now confidently taking certain paths only hinted at in the past (“Rocket Fuel,” almost à la Prodigy), now treading completely unexplored paths. In this sense, the central part of the album is the most adventurous in more deeply exploring Pizzorno's influences; it is all sublimed in the spectacular “T.U.E. (The Ultraview Effect),” which in almost six minutes blends together prog, electronics, and alt dance, and paves the way for the pounding “Stargazr” that shifts into Chemical Brothers territory (the less gentrified ones of the mid-‘90s).

The acoustic and accomplished “Letting Go” closes an album that can be described as one of “rebirth,” in every sense. Perhaps now Kasabian are ready to truly and definitively grow.

Best track: “T.U.E. (The Ultraview Effect)”