Marc Rizzo
The Ultimate Devotion

LA RECENSIONE

After the masterpiece "Colossal Myopia", our Marc Rizzo reaffirms his desire to release a solo album every year. With this "The Ultimate Devotion", he also confirms his skill in incorporating various metal genres into his songs, but he doesn't reach the levels of his first solo album. Where "Colossal Myopia" surprised with originality and charisma in almost all its songs, this one feels a bit more predictable, and that seems quite normal to me, I really don't think one can expect a masterpiece every year!

The opener "Skankin To The Shred" is very close to hard rock, but, although it is a very valid song, Marc has shown us better, and in fact, the songs we expect are about to arrive. Quickly moving past the beautiful, sweet, and Latin-flavored "Sinceramente" and "Angelina's Song", we reach the beautiful (and very long) "The Riddle Of Steel" in which, considering that it seems quite pointless to try to describe Marc's performances, I emphasize the excellent work of the other band members, especially drummer G.Money. "Ascension", does not particularly surprise, but it is still a good track, while "Mamasita" is another of those beautiful acoustic flamenco songs, which by now have become somewhat of Marc's hallmark. As usual, after a calm song comes the punch, and the title track "The Ultimate Devotion" is simply incredible, I think it's the most successful of the entire work and it's a song you should listen to at all costs! "Trentinara" continues this line with its thrash/progressive style and is the last of the instrumental songs of the album. Indeed, this time there are also 2 songs sung by Marc himself, two very fast thrash rides that also bring attention to the drummer and bassist.

In conclusion, "The Ultimate Devotion" is just slightly below "Colossal Myopia". And now, before the end of 2008, the third solo work of this Marc Rizzo, who has recently surprised us greatly, will arrive.