Marshall
Pages From The Past: Tome I

Long hair, lots of black, lots of studs, lots of metal. But is this metal style just a fashion limited to appearances? An excuse to rebel and make noise? Music for everyone, endorsed by a few, metal youth are simply connoisseurs. Long hair: rebellion against injustices. Metal: chains ripped from walls. If we must call it a fashion, it is a fashion of ideals, of cultural messages, of protest, sometimes extremist. Capable of having its own identity, metal transforms, imprinting its mark even on classical music, even on philosophy, and why not, on history.

Diogenes: the man in search of himself (Human Quest -Music: Masulli; Lyrics: Signore); the Battle of Thermopylae: fighting to the end (Thermopylae -Signore); the dark sounds of mythical Ireland: the fear of death and revenge (The Call of the Banshee -Music: Dardano; Lyrics: Masulli/Dardano); the hegemony of modern empires: boundless power and its massacres (Mission: Empire -Music: Masulli; Lyrics: Signore/Masulli).

These are just some of the leitmotifs that make the Marshall pieces unique in their genre and for which it would be a shame to miss their new album “Pages from the Past: Tome I”. It would be a pity not to experience the almost cinematic effect produced by an acoustic guitar played with a violin bow, of a Greek fifty-oar ship retreating after a valiant battle (Pentekonter -instrumental-Dardano). And what about the almost folkloric idea of adding, to an already well-set instrumental ensemble, the theatrical touch of polyphonic voices… a spine-chilling soprano (Marilena Pace)!! In short, a well-organized, imaginative project with flashes of pure genius (Pentekonter is worth the price of the entire album). A metal that alienates itself, indeed surpasses the Neapolitan hard school. The production quality is also good.