Senza Nome formed in 2003 in Mario, Italy, and released this debut album five years later. This is an album of excellent symphonic rock in the classic Italian style! Fans of early PFM and Banco will find a lot to love here, as long as they don’t mind the derivation.

Despite their retrospective tendencies, Senza Nome does bring a breath of fresh air into the genre through modern instrumentation and production, but this isn’t ‘neo-prog.’ The music has some very compositionally complex passages that don’t rely on the pretensions and emotional high tides to captivate a listener. Stylistically diverse and uncompromisingly dynamic, their music is just as intricate as those classic Italian bands that inspired them, but in all fairness, this album is not as cohesive or as thoroughly engaging as Per Un Amico or Darwin!

The album begins with a three part suite, Illusioni di ‘un anma lontana, which is gentle and unassuming at first, but soon jumps into a folksy symphonic outburst that invokes memories of PFM. This is appreciated, because in most cases a band that tries to copy such a formula butchers a well-intended approach with lousy execution, but with Senza Nome there is a fluidity backed-up by raw talent that demonstrates their love for this genre is genuine, and that they have the instrumental and compositional prowess to pull it off. The second part of this suite is keyboard dominated, reminding me of Banco’s Nocenzi brothers. Fans of compositionally dissonant textures will appreciate the layers of the music being peeled away as they deconstruct the melodies they so carefully created. In this regard, some comparisons in composition could be made to H to He or Pawn Hearts-era VDGG, but only in terms of compositional ethic, as they sound nothing like VDGG.

The vocals are sincere and delicate, but Emanuele De Marzi reminds me more of Christian Descamps of Ange singing in Italian than any of the vocalists in the classic Italian symphonic scene. De Marzi is very theatrical and often tends towards the romantic, and for this reason the vocals may not appeal to everyone. The third part of the opening suite sounds like it could have been at home on Ange’s Emile Jacoty, but Senza Nome is noticeably more complex than Ange, even if they don’t reach the emotional heights.

The rest of the album is as diverse and dynamic as the opener. Passi is a much quieter piece overall, with some expressive guitar work. Tumore is an odd track out on this album, opening like a neo-prog song, but returning to the classic Italian formula. Non Sono Mai Esistito is a very straightforward rhythmically latin-based song that I wouldn’t classify as progressive. Ulisse is a softer and prettier song that surprises us with a harmonica; a diverse track and the most emotionally charged of the album. Si La Do is mostly a jazz-rock affair that brings comparisons of Area, right down to the cliché Demetrio Stratos-like yodeling at the end. Sopra a un Pensiero is an instrumental closer, bringing the album to an end on a rather peaceful note.

All in all, this is an impressive debut album from a band that dares to reach impossible heights and actually succeeds in doing so. I hope they dare to continue pushing boundaries in the future and come into their own on later releases by not relying so heavily on the styles of the Italian pioneers. They certainly have the talent to become more innovative, but I have a feeling this album will be appreciated for what it is, a truly genuine retrospective celebration of classic Italian symphonic rock. They obviously put a great deal of work into the album, and their enthusiasm does not go unnoticed. Highly recommended for any symphonic rock enthusiast.