Metamorfosi
Inferno

Another crucial chapter of our progressive rock must be dedicated to the Roman band Metamorfosi, an interesting four-member group, revolving especially around the figure of the excellent keyboardist Enrico Olivieri, accompanied by singer and flutist Jimmy Spitaleri, the intriguing bassist and guitarist Roberto Turbitosi, and drummer Gianluca Herygers.

Inferno is their second album and was released in 1973 by the record label Vedette.

It’s a very interesting modern reinterpretation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, with the inclusion of typical characters from today’s society in the context of Dante’s inferno with its circles. Thus, we find the usurer, the drug dealer, the racist, the exploiter, the politicians, all subject to severe sanctions, denouncing the evils of society, of which Spitaleri’s voice is evocatively expressive, sometimes poetic and sometimes impartial, almost embodied in those infernal meanders.
The work on mellotron and keyboards is nothing short of fantastic, with escapes and incursions worthy of the best Italian keyboardists of the time, and never self-serving. It is curious to listen in the brief instrumental “Fossa Dei Giganti” a mellotron reprise of the theme from the American and Russian national anthems.
The rhythm section is very effective in packaging everything, resulting compact and solemn, especially in some bass passages.

The first two tracks “Introduzione” and “Selva Oscura” immediately highlight the band’s sound, and begin to transport us epically into that infernal whirlwind: we pass through “La Porta Dell’Inferno” (“Lasciate ogni speranza o voi ch'entrate, anime dannate, al caldo e al gelo soffrirete!”) and thanks to “Caronte” ("Caronte demonio, occhi di fuoco nel buio") we reach, through the circles, to the "Spacciatore Di Droga" (“le illusioni che tu davi non avrai”), to the “Terremoto” that precedes the arrival in the “Limbo”, to the “Lussuriosi” (“perversi ed invertiti, amanti proibiti, voi non ritornerete indietro mai!”), to the “Avari” (“Non ho mai pregato io, il mio denaro era il mio Dio”), to the “Violenti” (“Rosso scorre il sangue tra i sentieri dove è fragile la vita”), to the “Malebolge” (“Volti bianchi, sguardi assenti, occhi segnati dall'odio”), where we meet the “Sfruttatori” (“Con le mani da padrone hai sfruttato la mia gente, ma in un lago di sudore ora affondi lentamente”) and the “Razzisti” (“Uomini mascherati, setta di dannati, infissi a queste croci adesso voi bruciate!”), then to cross the “Fossa Dei Giganti” and see “Lucifero (Politicanti)” appear (“Signori presidenti, con la vostra politica avete tessuto ogni inganno e tradito l'ideale dell'uomo”). The “Conclusione” ("...e fu così che noi tornammo a riveder le stelle”) is short and lysergic.

Overall, the prog of Metamorfosi is very original, little influenced by the Anglo-Saxon wave except for some Emersonian visions noticeable in some keyboard moments, somewhat following the path of Le Orme, and somewhat following the path of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. The only flaw of this record is that the attempt at originality can sometimes fall into naiveties, a common thing to many Italian progressive bands, but with a few listens you will learn to appreciate them.

After this "Inferno," the group will disband to reform only in 1995, around the figures of Olivieri and Spitaleri, and after various live appearances, they will reach, in 2004, the creation of "Paradiso," the second chapter concerning the Divine Comedy.