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Campo Di Marte - Concerto Zero

Artist: Campo Di Marte
Title: Concerto Zero
Label: Btf.it
Length(s): 32+42 minutes
Year(s) of release: 2003
Month of review: [02/2005]

Line up

Alfredo Barducci - organ, flute, french horn on disc 1
Alexandr Matin Sass - piano, organ, keyboards on disc 2
Carlo Felice Marcovecchio - drums, vocals on disc 1
Paul Richard Ursillo - bass, vocals on disc 1
Maurilio Rossi - bass on disc 2
Mauro Sarti - drums, flute, vocals
Enrico Rosa - guitars, vocals
Eva Rosa - recorders, wind synth on disc 2

Tracks

Disc 1 - Live 1972:
1) Prologo Parte 2 7.55
2) Alba 12.31
3) Epilogo 5.42
4) Prologo Parte 1 5.27

Disc 2 - Live 2003:
1) Primo Tempo/Settimo Tempo 10.02
2) Back In Time 3.26
3) Bluesy Rocky 6.07
4) Italian Irish 5.02
5) Secondo Tempo 4.06
6) Terzo Tempo/Quarto Tempo 8.13
7) Rock Barock 2.44
8) Outro July The 12th 2003 3.51

Summary

Consisting of two live albums from different times, one from a testpressing from 1972 and one recently recorded, the first is a reflection of the material of Campo Di Marte's sole album from 1973. The material on the 2003 album seems to be new. The album is very well-packaged (largish gatefold cover with two booklets).

The music

Kicking off with disc one, which is in fact a rare recording made as a test pressing made for UAR in 1972, right before the actual album. The sound quality is pretty muffled, sounding really far away. The music is progressive rock from the seventies, no doubt about it. I hear echoes of Nektar, while the vocals remind more of ELP, with the typical emotionality of Italian prog bands, although a bit less so than some of their compatriots. ELP continues to be the main source of inspiration it seems, but with some good tension building in which the music largely dies down. Hence plenty of dynamics. Alba continues on the same footing, with some flute this time and an easy going gait. It is really too bad about the sound quality since many details get lost here, and this not the type of music that can absorb that easily. Halfway the bass and guitar take the lead for a Yes like excursion, although the furious guitar solo is more Nektar again. Epilogo is instrumentally a rather subtle track with some vocalizations running through. Plenty of organ here for the melodic aspects. Prologo Parte 1 closes down the disc in similar style, with a hint of Peer Gynt.

Recently the band got together again. Besides Rosa, the only other old member present is drummer Sarti. The line-up also features Rosa's wife Eva and musicians he has met in various places such as the Estonian musician Sass.

Primo Tempo/Settimo Tempo opens the second dics, and yes the sound quality is much better here. It makes me confident I can hear all the necessary details. This first track is a riff based one in which guitar, drums and organ open forcefully. Then the music slows down and the guitar takes over fully, building the pace up again. The music is still old school symphonic rock, and the overall sound seems much darker. This has everything to do with the heavy guitar sound, which has something of the old Black Sabbath. The vocals are typically Italian though, although I would not be surprised to be find this on the Black Widow label instead. Vocally there are also echoes of Greg Lake, although he does not sing in Italian of course.

So we run into the jazzrock type guitar of Back In Time, with its sensitive keyboards in the back. This is introspection for you, and nicely melodic and sweet too, quite a contrast. Then the flute sets in for a bit more sweetness. The music becomes a bit more up-beat later on, and more folky too. I recognize elements of other folksongs, but all comes out rather warbled. Bluesy Rocky is a title that sounds none too promising. The guitar rears its head again here. The menace of the opener is back on this one, the guitar carrying quite a bit of bite. Some jazzy piano is thrown in, and indeed it turns out the song rather lives up to its name.

What do they make of Italian Irish then? The opening is acoustic guitar mainly, a bit plaintive in feel, later a flute sets in, followed by a piano. A bit too freewheeling.

Secondo Tempo hopefully brings us back to the prog. It does not do so really. Again we have the acoustic guitar strumming, with the flute and more melodic accompaniment. All a bit too sugary and laid back for my tastes. Terzo Tempo/Quarto Tempo is a bit longer and those bring back the prog in things. The guitars do sound a bit far away here, and its all guitar here. Pretty rowdy too. Then they are replaced by some nice melodic piano, playing a really nice theme. The guitar gets added back on making for a nice contrast. This song is much better, some of the orchestral bombast, drama and power that I tend to look for in Italian prog such as Banco. The flute adds another lyrical element. The vocals are okay, but nothing to write home about (like the vocalist of Banco for instance). But that's okay. The final part of the track is church organesque, reminding a bit of Focus.

Rock Barock is a rather short riff rock tune, with the melodic element having quite a bit of temperament. The guitar playing is rather fast here, and indeed has elements of baroque. Outro July The 12th 2003 is a private recording and introduces the band members, with a bit of instrumental progrock thrown in between.

Conclusion

In view of the sound quality view the first disc as an extra on top of the second. Musically the band moves in ELP territory with plenty of dynamics, and a dose of Nektar. The second disc is better in sound quality. However, besides some rather dark sounding riff based prog, it contains a bit too many tunes of the flowery, sugary kind to get my recommendation. The really proggy songs are very good however (like track one and six on disc 2).

© Jurriaan Hage