Multiple music genre influences – New Age, jazz, ambient and progressive rock – are recombined under the hand of Corcioli. Instrumentation includes a traditional rock ensemble with piano and synthesizer. The music is mostly mellow prog rock.
The first track “The Man” opens quite gently with a haunting synth melody and arpeggio. It opens up into a fuller rockestra song. Track 2: Secrets shifts into an ambient track with a more dynamic rockestra texture and a sizzling lead guitar part. Track 3: Distant follows in the same general way, with a combination of rockestra and ambient genre influences combined with a flowing melody. Corcioli shifts to an up-tempo piece in Track 4: Ghosts. The electric guitar takes the lead with a joyful melody. Midway through the song there’s a break where the direction of the music evolves toward a more epic sound with a string orchestra adding fullness and gravity.
Track 5: The Imaginary beings with an ambient introduction. Percussion plays a more active role in driving the music forward. Staccato string punches create a dramatic flavor. The music rises to a great crescendo and then pulls back to a quiet finale. Track 6: The Misery has a slower and more thoughtful pace. The guitar gives a carefully articulated, winsome lead line. As the thematic material is developed it becomes more triumphant and positive. Track 7: Light Spheres has a delicate, ballad-like quality. Unusual ambient effects are integrated into the piece with a piano taking a leading role in developing the theme in contrast to the guitar-driven sections. The final Track 8: Midnight reiterates a prog rock-rockestra genre blend. The music subsides to a quiet point and then builds to an exciting, dynamically textured conclusion.
All of the tracks are 5 to 6 minutes long. This provides plenty of time for each composition to transition through various developmental sections and revisions of the thematic material. As in previous Corcioli albums, the production values and musicianship are top notch. The guitar work is gorgeous! This is a powerful collection of songs that’s delightful to listen to. People with a taste for cerebral instrumental material will enjoy this album!
~review by Elizabeth Hazel
Artist: Corcioli
Azul Music Multimidia Ltda, 2017
9 tracks, 54 minutes
$7
https://corciolli.bandcamp.com/album/ilusia
