Time Machine
Act II: Galileo

Personal debut on DeBaser (please be gentle...!), motivated by the astonishment of not seeing a review of this tricolor prog metal masterpiece.

We are in 1995, the recent release of Images and Words (Dream Theater, is there any need to specify??) has revolutionized the field of prog by combining it with metal, thus continuing the path traced by the seminal Rush and, in their own way, also by Queensryche and Fates Warning, even though these offered technical, melodic metal with a hint of prog: in short, it is with Dream Theater that the prog matrix (with its instrumental embroidery, the long duration of tracks, the prominent role of keyboards, and the taste for melody and variety of styles and tempos even within the same track) bursts into the metal field.

In Italy, a land fertile for progressive, bands spring up like mushrooms that insert themselves into this new trend, some personalizing it, others simply emulating the genre masters: Time Machine undoubtedly falls into the first group, being a band already active before the release of the aforementioned cornerstone of prog metal (I. & W.) and perhaps drawing more inspiration from Queensryche and Fates Warning, and therefore from the American metal of the '80s.

"Act II: Galileo" is their first proper album, having previously released a beautiful cult mini album ("Project: Time Scanning"), and it is a concept album (a very popular format at the time) centered around the figure of Galileo Galilei (yes, him, the scientist-philosopher who gives his name to countless squares and streets in Italy!!) which begins quite suggestively with the communication, in a sinister voice, of the sentencing of Our Man by the Inquisition Tribunal.

The album flows across 19 tracks including short instrumentals and tracks of various lengths (the longest is 7:57 min.), all magnificently capable of recreating the atmosphere of the time (we're in 1633), thanks to the skillful use of keyboards, played by the bassist and leader of the group, Lorenzo Dehò, and sound effects worthy of a historical film (sounds of footsteps, keys opening a cell, fire burning, etc.) and especially thanks to the beautiful voice of Folco Orlandini, with a delicacy truly suitable for this opera of historical journey.

I deem a track-by-track unnecessary for the album in question, being a very cohesive and highly valuable concept from start to finish, featuring piano turns that will stamp themselves in your head at the first listen, as well as guitar riffs, with a truly unique sound (credit also to the production) thus contributing to making the work in question extremely original, along with the graphics and the very paper on which the booklet is made, making it look like an ancient scroll from that era! Thanks to Lucretia Records, our own label which the following year released another masterpiece which I can compare to this album, but only for the capacity to recreate atmospheres of a past historical era, namely "Holy Land" by Angra (and I experienced the same feeling a few years later with the Leonardo project by the mastermind of Magellan, Trent Gardner).

Time Machine then produced other fine albums, but none could match the beauty of this one, maybe only "Evil" comes close to it (the first chapter of a trilogy centered on Eymerich, the inquisitor protagonist of Evangelisti's books, followed by the second - Reviviscence - and for which we have been eagerly awaiting the third and final chapter for some time now...).

In conclusion, "Act II: Galileo" represents a true masterpiece of prog-tinged metal, rich with atmospheres sometimes delicate, sometimes tense, depending on the needs of the concept which, just to help you frame it, I could define as a mix between The Wall by Pink Floyd, Holy Land by Angra (indeed), and the early Queensryche, but take these comparisons with a grain of salt, especially the first one, they are purely indicative!

Congratulations to Dehò and his companions, as Italians we can be proud of such a work.

Greetings, DeReaders,

Federock.

(Perhaps I overdid it with the parentheses... oh well, it's the first one, I will improve!)