Skywhale
The World At Minds End

"Hemispheres"

Where the current mind does not reach. In that vast and unconquerable zone where the constructs imposed by our present crumble like uncertain houses of cards, nullifying the numbness of the senses and will, induced by daily media injections, and leveling the sadistic prisons built by abominable and deformed dogmas, framed in those degenerate "mille tradizioni" that Stefano Galifi emphatically denounced from the wide halls of his museum dedicated to Zarathustra. It is at this precise yet abstract point that the horizon of an incorruptible space is delineated where (just to openly disturb the figure of Friedrich Nietzsche) the Apollonian and the Dionysian find a utopian harmony, materializing a reality free from compromises and impositions, where every place is fertile ground for the blossoming of the most sincere and genuine expressions of the surprising human soul.

In 1977, a year before Neil Peart and his companions could evoke the wise Cygnus and enjoy the balance he generated, the armistice between the two hemispheres was obtained by an unknown band from Bristol, author of a unique yet splendid document of vivid jazz progressive, testifying to the thrilling journeys of the septet to the borders of the mind, where the contrasts between the austerity of intelligence and the impulsivity of passions resolve into a superb balance, impeccably transposed into music, except for rather opaque audio quality, derived from the scarce resources available at the time of recording and only partially remedied with the recent remastering of the album in November 2006.

The ideal collaboration between the visionary Apollo and the instinctive Dionysus is faithfully reproduced by the impressive affinity that flows between the members of Skywhale, led by the multi-instrumentalist Steve Robshaw; the latter engaged in performing with the guitar masterful exchanges with the tenor saxophone of Stan Thewils ("Hydralic Fever") and the soprano sax, as well as the flute, of Paul Todd ("Two Budda Garage"), then, when necessary, switching to the violin and overshadowing the vibrant echoes produced by the cavernous bass of Dougall Airmole ("Boggles"), as if it were the projection of the mythical chariot of Phoebus during its appearance in the sky, heralding the imminent rise of the sun and the gradual spreading of its warm rays.

On the rhythmic side, drummer Mick Avery, as if in the grip of an ecstatic crisis inflicted upon him by the guardian deity of the frenzy, rages wildly on his instrument, dictating an overwhelming and relentless pace ("Epicure"), temporarily mellowed only by the keyboard of Gwyo Zepix (real name Howard Scarr) which, alongside the acoustic guitar, opens a breach into a dimension of ancient and enchanting appearance, later explored by the tireless percussion of John Schofield and the flutes of the lively wind duo ("Eternal Optimist"), mainly and fantastically also the author of the airy melodic labyrinths built in the track from which this work takes its name ("The World at Minds End").

Examining closely the formidable structure of this sound balance, whose scales are so impeccably aligned that they reflect each other, originating an extraordinary equality between technical skill and creative energy, one wonders whether it was not the susceptible god of arts and music, perhaps too proud to further cooperate with the uninhibited Bacchus, who destroyed such a finely and effectively assorted formation, hurling its fragments into the dark and abysmal chasm of Tartarus. Therefore, listening to this work would be equivalent to openly challenging the unquestionable will of an absolute being; a god who, dwelling within us, cannot prevent us from pursuing the goals we set for ourselves, but rather can only bow to our quest for an immutable peace and harmony, achievable, according to Cygnus' enlightened opinion, only "with heart and mind united in a perfect sphere".