Metamorfosi
Inferno

Yes, I'm back, BeatBoy is back! BeatBoy disappears and reappears, and once again, I don't know if my return will be permanent. Last time I left you with Dario Argento's "Mother of Tears," this time I'm here to tell you that...

Not many are aware that in 1973, a Roman Progressive Rock Group made a Rock adaptation of Dante's "Inferno"; this group is called Metamorfosi, centered around the two musicians Davide "Jimmy" Spitalieri (Composer, Voice, and Flute) and Enrico Olivieri (Composer and Keyboards). The Band, even with their previous Album "... e Fu Il Sesto Giorno," adopted biblical themes putting the human being at the center of the universe. To stay on the topic, Metamorfosi in the same year composed and recorded "Inferno" inspired by the imaginary journey of Dante Alighieri.

Their offering is not only very original but also very complex, especially in the musical arrangement seasoned with keyboards equal (a keyboard similar to the more famous and expensive Hammond), moog, harpsichord, and then again with a powerful bass that characterizes the various episodes of the journey in the realm of hell, making it claustrophobic and unsettling as it should be, and finally, we find a free yet precise drum. The Opera is also imbued with gothic, terrifying, yet sweet and dreamy atmospheres like in "I Lussuriosi," which describes the arrival of Paolo and Francesca in Hell. But what makes this Opera and the Group unique in originality is that, besides the damned souls Dante encounters throughout the cantos of his Inferno, the sinners of our time, such as drug dealers, racists, and politicians, also suffer "in the heat and cold."

The Opera, to be best grasped, should be listened to while observing the engravings of the French Gustave Doré, which in my humble opinion, mixed with the music of Metamorfosi, create a perfect blend that will almost make us feel as if we are there with Dante and Virgil. The Inferno of Metamorfosi begins with the verses:

"On the ruins of ancient cities
grow flowers without color.
Sad trees reach for the sky,
branches corroded by time."

and closes with Dante's famous verse:

".... and so it was that we returned
to behold the stars once more."

In 2004, after 31 years, Metamorfosi continues the musical journey in Dante's afterlife with "Paradiso," and soon will complete it with "Purgatorio." Don't ask me why they didn't follow the Inferno-Purgatorio-Paradiso order, because I'm wondering that myself.

The fact is that Metamorfosi has consecrated themselves in the Olympus of Italian Prog thanks to this Rock tribute to the great Dante Alighieri.

Now I leave, but as I already mentioned in the first lines of my return, I don't know if I'll stay... if I have to go, rest assured that BeatBoy will return!

A hug to all the old friends of Deb and also to the new ones!