Obscure Italians really know how to prog

I haven’t exactly discovered a lot of obscure, unknown artists throughout the years. True, there’s been some here, some there, but nothing I’ve ever discovered on my own has been truly unknown. Even this remarkable progressive rock album out of Italy was not obtained by me. Mellow_guy, the genius behind this blog, has made a living seeking out obscure music that sometimes doesn’t even have a listing on rateyourmusic.com and a mere few hundred listeners on last.fm, has begun opening me up to some undiscovered gems that lie out there. And what a gem this one is. It’s amazing that a tight, powerful, atmospheric album such as this has not been discovered by even the most hardcore of prog rock fans. What separates the unknown from the known will always be a mystery, but of course all that ultimately matters is how good the music is.

Anyone who enjoys progressive rock should enjoy this album. It comes from some of the darkest, moodiest places of prog rock and features excellent instrumentation and a foreboding atmosphere, and the instrumentation ranges from haunting ambient passages to acoustic breakdowns to crushing near-metal riffs. It’s like the twisted bastard child of Porcupine Tree decided to mate with Agalloch, yet it ends up sounding like neither of them. It pays homage to its forebears while putting its own unique spin on the genre. These guys have talent, too. The bass is plucky and powerful and the guitar solos take on an old-school virtuosity that is rarely heard anymore. Just listen to him rip out those riffs in “Who Has Got the Last Laugh Now?”! Virtuoso isn’t all that he can do either…listen to that subtle yet powerful guitar strumming throughout the title track, or the beautiful opening melody to “Who Painted the Sky?”. Although the band still sounds like they’re getting their footing at times, for the most part they play with tight musicianship and complement each other well. Odd bits of other instruments enhance the atmosphere – the sparse piano interlude “Heppet et Noru Dest” is positively haunting. “Who Painted the Sky?”, in addition to having an Agalloch-esque name, takes some influence from their sound as well and borders on folk metal for the last 3 minutes. There’s a great depth to this music – their influences are recognizable without being obvious, and in fact much of the music possesses a subtlety that most of the genre lacks, and the music only continues to reveal more layers with each listen. It’s impossible to absorb this album on first listen and it took me 3 or 4 to fully appreciate it.

I only have a couple of minor complaints about this album. One is that the production definitely sounds like it comes from a band that nobody has ever heard of. It makes it a bit hard to concentrate on the music sometimes, and static even rears its head from time to time, although I’m not sure if this is intentional or not. The other is that the singer’s voice could use some work. He sounds unsure of himself and it comes off a little shaky and thin. It’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed with some more confidence and better production, though. It’s also hardly a major drawback as most of the album is instrumental. I also don’t understand the point of “Postman”. Perhaps the point of the song is the German dialogue spoken throughout much of the song (possibly sampled?), but since I don’t understand German, any meaning of the song is lost on me.

In conclusion, eating.seats has crafted a remarkable and sadly overlooked gem of progressive rock that would appeal to any fan of the genre. A unique, fresh sound, virtuoso guitar playing, haunting atmospherics, and excellent songwriting skills make this a captivating and wholly intriguing listen that shouldn’t be missed, but unfortunately will be by almost everybody. This comes with my stamp of approval, and I’ll make sure to be on the lookout for any future releases from this band. They could go in some interesting directions – even if nobody ever knows it.

Recommended songs: Secrets About September, Kelso, Who Has Got the Last Laugh Now?
Score: 4.5/5

Download their album for free at their official website: http://www.eatingseats.com/sas/

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