Album review: Melting Clock - Altrove (2024)

Melting Clock’s 2019 debut DESTINAZIONI involved recording sessions lasting almost a year but the universal high ratings from reviewers was proof that the band’s penchant for aiming for perfection was fully rewarded. I believe Black Widow Records’ Massimo Gasperini had been hoping for a follow-up early in 2021 but it took five years before the release of their second album ALTROVE, where every minute spent on writing, arranging and recording was well-invested.

I’d heard early versions of a few of the songs at gigs dating back to 2022, including opening track VERNICE (PAINT) which provides a satisfying sonic link to the first album. Conjuring images of Genoa’s frequently politically graffiti-marked caruggi and an oblique reference to the sea, the song carries the Eastern flavour present in VETRO from DESTINAZIONI. It also incorporates Stefano Amadei’s bouzouki and makes use of the Phrygian mode which lends it an oppressive air, appropriate for the narrow alleys and sometimes hateful messages but also somewhere hidden gems can be found. It’s immediately apparent that considerable care has been taken with the orchestration of the piece. Unlike its predecessor there are no guest musicians here but I still had to check the liner notes to find who was playing violin! According to keyboard player Sandro Amadei the violin parts were written for Hanako Tsushima who was unfortunately unable to make the recording, so the authentic string sound was reproduced on a keyboard using Audio Modeling virtual instruments.
Title track ALTROVE (ELSEWHERE) was another of the album’s formative compositions and is set out in two parts, the former with a classical guitar introduction from Simone Caffè and a short expressive piano intermezzo leading into the instrumental second part. The sea motif is revisited in the wistful lyrics superbly delivered by Emanuela Vedana, a metaphor for longing for somewhere distant the protagonist feels would be better than their current situation. When I speak to Alessandro Bosca he’s always willing to explain his quest for the ultimate hi-fi quality bass tone and it’s on part 1 where the listener can hear the results with his flanged upright electric bass playing. Part 2 is suffused with Melting Clock DNA, an intelligent, balanced instrumental ensemble workout with a brief Caffè solo on electric guitar.
The strength of ALTROVE comes from a broader writing pool providing material for the unit to mould into Melting Clock music. DESTINAZIONI displayed a variety of styles mostly penned by two writers and lyrical input from Vedana whereas ALTROVE is a product of all the ideas the members have in common, resulting in a more definable group sound. IL MONDO AL SUO RISVEGLIO (THE WORLD AS HE WAKES UP) is a Bosca composition and though intensely personal, having been written about his son’s first year and the affect of this young life on the entire family, it fits neatly within the over-arching feel of the album. The lyrics are abstract and poetic and Vedana has to employ her full vocal range to deliver them. I was told that it was the hardest vocal part they’d written which required a number of takes in the studio but I think the results demonstrate just how good a singer she is. The instrumental mid-part has a well-planned arrangement with clever variation from heavy- to clean guitar over subdued organ chords and then dirty, crunching guitar and the piece ends with a section in 13/8 time, revealing another hugely important but modest part of the Melting Clock jigsaw, drummer Francesco Fiorito
The choice of instrumental voices and the jazz phrasing give CITTÀ SPENTA (BLACKED-OUT CITY) a Parisienne feel but it seems to follow on seamlessly from IL MONDO… Bosco’s abstract lyrics are based two topics, the Covid-19 pandemic and the death of a close family member but it’s the arrangement which holds everything together, the essential layers underneath Vedana’s vocal melody. I’ve made comparisons between Vedana and Annie Haslam of Renaissance before, the range and purity of the voice, and despite the group denying they’ve heard much Renaissance material, this track in particular reminds me of the similarity between the two vocalists. The final part of the track involved some serious development; referred to as ‘the waltz’ even though it’s actually in 6/8 time, this is another example of a great piece of orchestration.
TRAMONTI DI CENERE (ASHEN SUNSETS) is my favourite track. It concerns the indifference with which people in positions of power treat the climate crisis and was the last song written for the album with much of the arrangement finalised in the days just before recording. Some of the harmony vocals were even written right at the end of their time in the studio. This race to get the piece finished may have led to the feeling that the end product perhaps wasn’t as good as it could have been but what was intended as something at variance with the other tracks using different sounds such as a bright electric piano, heavier parts and more sedate passages, turned out to be absolutely stunning modern prog with a structure closest to that of DESTINAZIONI’s title track. Sandro Amadei’s backing vocals and call and response vocals were a key feature of DESTINAZIONI but while they are much less prevalent on ALTROVE, they are used to great effect on TRAMONTI… I think that’s it’s the first time I’ve heard the band end a song with a fade out!
Coming close behind TRAMONTI… in the competition for best track on the album is ENDURANCE, the longest piece on the album in the form of a prog multi-part classic based on the factual story of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose ship was found at the bottom of the Weddell Sea in 2022. The Endurance was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats. The song has epic development, beginning with a clever ambient introduction of wind effect and the sound of footsteps compacting the snow underfoot, joined by atmospheric piano. TRAMONTI’s development involved shifts back and forth between moods while ENDURANCE has a more traditional narrative-style development. Parts I and II NAUFRAGIO NEL GHIACCIO (SHIPWRECK ON THE ICE) and PERCORSI SUL PACK (TRAILS ON THE PACK) strongly remind me of another Black Widow affiliated band, Il Tempio delle Clessidre, where both the song form and Vedana’s vocals sound like Elisa Montaldo. The music reflects the tension in the story and Sandro Amadei is presented with his first lead vocal; part V LA GEORGIA DEL SUD (SOUTH GEORGIA) provides a short calm interlude before the climactic denouement where Caffè unleashes an excellent David Gilmour-inspired solo.

Overall, the playing and compositions are more confident than on the first album and the studio time was used efficiently. ALTROVE may have less diversity of style but it builds on the blocks laid down in 2019 to better define the Melting Clock sound where each member makes a distinct difference. Twin guitars are an essential component, clean and distorted, and the bouzouki adds something exotic to the palette; the rhythm section clicks together perfectly where Fiorito plays interesting and difficult parts without any fuss; Vedana surely has the best voice in prog. In my opinion the greatest difference between the two albums is a shift from roughly equal input from Caffè and Sandro Amadei on DESTINAZIONI to a more keyboard-led ALTROVE, in part because of the unavailability of guest musicians which required written lines for flute, cello and violin to be played on keyboards. The ‘layering’ of instruments has once again been expertly handled by producer Andrea Torretta who deserves a special mention for his sterling work.

It’s been said that the final cover of DESTINAZIONI wasn’t the first choice of all members of the band but they made a democratic decision based on majority rule; there was no such difficulty with Odilia Liuzzi’s artwork for ALTROVE which completes and compliments a fantastic piece of music - and where the inside booklet photo and CD print link to the sea!
The difficult second album? I don't think so. Another easy 5 stars.


Black Widow Records BWR CD 269-2