Premiata Forneria Marconi
Dracula

..."inside us, good and evil are inseparable, two lips of the same wound"...

Human beings have always been the subject of studies that highlight a multiplicity of personalities. Since the dawn of time, man has been eternally suspended between good and evil, in a timeless struggle where no winner or loser is foreseen. Everything seen from different angles generates projections and different understandings depending on the way of feeling and perceiving of those who receive a message. This is how Dracula appears, as frightening as he is extremely human. Perhaps it is not the character himself that is frightening, but the very nature that generates our being.

In this work by PFM, the question arises precisely about this... in the end, what is frightening? The man who desperately seeks love even at the cost of others' lives or the God who curses and forces eternal terror while being a creator and generator of love? In both cases, good and evil appear as the lips of the same wound which is not allowed to heal. From the CD, a Dracula-man emerges too close to our daily life, enough to say that we ourselves are called to interpret him. A Dracula, in love and desperate enough not to accept the death of his companion, thus cursing God and facing the consequences, waiting for a death that delays bringing him that relief and reunion, so longed for, with his beloved. A monstrous life in which there is an awareness of the monster that corrodes him, yet so very human. This, in essence, is what the lyrics and contents written by Vincenzo Incenzo, already an author with other Italian songwriters, talk about.

The album is, in fact, an ambitious project that aims to bring a rock-progressive musical about the subject of man to the stage, following a fashion of the moment (think of Notre Dame). What you will be able to hear from the album, however, is only the purely rock-progressive component and not the complete work of the orchestrations planned. But how does this album sound? Dealing with the "vampiric" topic, one might suppose a violent album where sounds tend towards the dark and macabre. On the contrary, the album appears very intimate, lyrical, and decidedly progressive. In essence, PFM dusts off the old prog stylistic elements and distances itself light years from the previous and, in my opinion, disappointing Serendipity. The result is an album overwhelmingly played as only PFM can, soft, lyrical, orchestral, progressive, and pop at the same time without ever declining. The music enters the mind with incredible speed, and you find yourself humming it continuously despite the intricate scores. Premoli, Djivas, Mussida, and Di Cioccio take center stage, dusting off the "tools of the trade" as true "master artisans." The vocal parts entrusted to Mussida-Di Cioccio are meticulously refined without ever falling into the excessive "lyricism" typical of prog. In the last track (track 10), Dolcenera appears, refining the singing with a superb voice (and who would have expected that!!!). Choirs and orchestrations highlight an excellent ensemble work, with the Bulgarian symphonic orchestra composed of over 60 elements responding to the orchestral scores. A musical where it's not the voice and choirs that dominate, but the music itself.

What to say, finally? That this album is the best project that PFM has produced in recent years. The whirlwind turn towards "its own origins" of '70s heritage is what I frankly expected from this formation that manages to blend modernity with their past. Dracula sounds like a PFM album in its best form, a fascinating and pleasant album despite the prog virtuosity. An album that describes our daily life in search of ourselves, but above all, in search of what man most desires: love and being loved. In my opinion, a masterpiece for PFM. At least one listen is mandatory.