Petrol
Dal Fondo

How can one best review a band like Petrol that shows an abundance of grit, avant-garde sensibility, and innovation, thanks to the clever use of the keyboard, often tested as a guitar, and a great spirit of integration into a world where we are fed an irritating amount of musical garbage, which, alas, we are forced to listen to before erasing from our minds.

I'll start by mentioning the group formation, bringing together important artists with past musical experiences that were positive and acclaimed by the public. We have the group's frontman, Franz Goria on vocals and guitar, who has played in Fluxus, Dan Solo on bass, former bassist of Marlene Kuntz, Ale Bavo on keyboards and producer of the record label Casasonica and Ex_sushi, and finally Valerio Alessio on drums. During the summer of 2007, a new guitarist, Nino Azzarà from Mambassa, joined this formation and still remains in the band, having played at the Independents before bands of the caliber of Tool and NIN.
Let me now emphasize this new guitarist to get to know him a little. Nino Azzarà is appreciated by Petrol for his guitar genius, and he has been noted for his abilities and hard sounds, as demonstrated in another group where he is the frontman, Betty Page. Nino is a real showman, besides being talented, he somewhat recalls Steve Vai in his fast riffs and appearance, but perhaps this is too bold a personal opinion.

Let's move on to a general view of the tracks recorded in the album "dal fondo" to encourage you, young and old, listeners who love rock. First and foremost, I find the opening track "cera" has some sonic flaws as the sound is not very fortified, but even here we can recognize the fundamental calling card of the band, namely Franz Goria's voice, which some have described as De André resurrected with a guitar. It is a sad piece, inherently very provocative, and provocation is the main theme of the album. It seems that Petrol or whoever writes the lyrics doesn't sleep peacefully, but if you love rock, you know well that it's not happy music, or rather happiness exists if and only if one can accept the bitterness of life. Now, I turn to "ogni silenzio" where I find jazz sounds mixed with rock, resulting in a beautiful symphonic rock pleasant to listen to, even for the less seasoned, with intense and emotion-laden atmospheres, mostly sad, but in solidarity with the band's themes, which evidently is focused on a sort of self-irony of the real capable of eluding the complicated reality in which we operate. "L'ultima notizia è la stessa di sempre" where the sound impact is incisive and at times fragmented into hard, psychedelic rock, I would even dare to say a bit grunge.

"Il nostro battito del cuore" is a somewhat drawn-out piece in my opinion; definitely the most commercial of the band that can surely attract the audience, and this is to be appreciated even if I find it at times very incisive and repetitive; but as usual, Petrol proves to be great poets for the intense and exhortative lyrics, this time positive on how to navigate through the complicated life.
I move on to the 6th track, and I must say it surprised me because, aside from the striking lyrics, the sounds are well-calibrated and skillful.. they are all set to be heard with extreme sense of justice, there is romance in the words, keyboards always imitating a guitar, hence very melodic, and there's a beautiful sonic exploit at the end of the track. A great piece, really! It will be quite an impact live!
The 7th track "coro inutile" is almost an imitation of the 6th one: I appreciate the style but less so the emulation of heard pieces, and the 8th track "Tradiscimi" is innovative because it presents electronic parts at the beginning, from which one can also discern the faded and hard stoner style… of space rock reached by the keyboard: a real surprise.

The 9th track "senza alcuna ragione" presents dark and gloomy musical atmospheres, it's almost doom but it is nice to listen to for the depth of the piece, charged with electricity that at times is sublime. Then I land on "due lune," a track with no vocals, but where a progressive rock reigns, once again technical and meticulous, with galloping sounds defined by the guitar and the keyboard also rendered "six-string like" with sounds that wish to be heard even in moments of greater intensity and sadness. Scrolling with the listening, I search "nel buio," the album's closing track and the band's mainstay, where hard rock finally comes through and ruthlessly flows with fast and scratchy guitar riffs, excellent syncopated and fitting drumming, and sublime bass lines that jar your poor ears accustomed to softer album sounds. I'm also struck by the beautiful and provocative lyrics for minds desperately trying to find a place in a light that, according to Petrol, doesn't exist within us or only does so at times, and I agree with this philosophical image of ourselves that emphasizes how little we still know about ourselves and how music can help us bear this heavy burden.

Review written by Mikela, esteemed listener and fan of Petrol.. keep delighting me with your sound, thank you.