Plini
Handmade Cities

Discovered years ago with the EP "Sweet Nothings", an instrumental album with progressive hues reminiscent of Opeth, Guthrie Govan, and the entire world of contemporary guitarism as a whole, Plini arrives in 2016 with his "first" trial after building his reputation through the internet and a series of truly successful singles (and collections), in addition to the aforementioned EP, presenting a changing and well-structured Progressive Rock/Metal album, employing the collaboration of great internationally renowned musicians, such as Troy Wright on drums, who solidify a Prog base never trivial in terms of rhythm and melodic/harmonic flow.

Experimenting with peculiar rhythms (the intro of the opener "Electric Sunrise" is all in 13), unusual "major" harmonies here and there that remind us, I don't know, of a Steve Vai from his best times, and a lead guitar at the mercy of slides, fleeting arpeggios, tapping, and an "important" vibrato, Plini succeeds where many of his contemporaries have failed, that is, offering us well-crafted songs and not just the usual exercises in style where the acrobatic technique is an end in itself, also cleverly using references to Djent without exceeding in the usual monotonous mannerism of the worst kind, leaving room for minimal but effective Ambient interludes and a really tasty keyboard background.

Let's combine all of it with echoes of Jazz/Fusion in the stuttering legato phrasing, and an impressive rhythmic section in its mixing of all this bounty, we find ourselves in front of a truly successful album, which expresses above all a brightness and I would even dare to say a joy that immediately shines through upon listening.

One above all, the final track "Cascade" represents the perfect balance between "nourishment and taste", to quote a famous advertisement, a piece in my opinion that stands out for balancing all these elements described so far.

The cover art is also beautiful, surreal, comic, and imaginative like the music contained in this album.

Plini will undoubtedly be able to repeat himself brilliantly with subsequent works, a detail not to be overlooked, and which gives us an artist, more than a guitarist, worthy of his reputation and capable of continuing to amaze us over time.