FEATURED CD - Deus Ex Machina : De Republica

[Duncan Glenday]

Per ProgArchives:

Do you have "brave" ears? Do you like your progressive rock to be challenging? Have you ever wished that the efforts of artists like Zappa, Gentle Giant and Echolyn were just a tad less staid and predictable? Do you often find yourself enjoying "difficult" music that sends your mate, family, and/or pet howling from the room? Does the idea of an Italian prog band who dramatically deliver their vocals in Latin, and play uncompromisingly eclectic, avant-garde music which draws heavily upon jazz fusion elements intrigue you?

If you've answered "yes" to the above, then have I got a band and album for you! Italian sextet Deus Ex Machina, with their wildly original 1995 release DE REPUBLICA, are a bit like the starship Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk: they boldly go where few men (or bands) have gone before -- then annex the territory! Listening to this CD is to undertake a journey to exotic new places, with many exciting side trips and diversions along the way. Sometimes the trip can get a bit intimidating, even scary; but just try to relax, take it all in, and be comforted in the knowledge that you are in the hands of a highly accomplished and capable crew.

(Indeed, the artistry and musicianship displayed on DE REPUBLICA is uniformly superb, but there is one somewhat sour note: a few of the thirteen songs on the album end with jarringly fast fade-outs -- much as they all tend to do when my wife enters the room....)

Mere adjectives and musical antecedents are woefully inadequate to impart a sense of what is contained here, so I'll turn to the visual arts to try to "draw" my parallel: The music of DE REPUBLICA is the aural equivalent of a pastiche of paintings by Bosch, Picasso and Dali, with a hearty dose of Jackson Pollock thrown in for good measure.

Just as the sometimes disquieting, experimental works of those artists are not suited to all tastes, so is Deus Ex Machina's music decidedly not for the "faint of heart." Don't say I didn't warn you! If you're still interested, check out the sample MP3 available here, then seek out this album. You may well come up with many words to describe DE REPUBLICA, but I very much doubt if "boring" or "bland" will be among them!

Caveat emptor! Highly recommended -- but only for the highly adventurous!

http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=256

[Rand Kelly]

I got mine at Progfest '95 and signed by all the guys in the band.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Love this! My favorite of theirs! I could never understand their logos, though! The vocalist, Alberto Piras, is fantastic!

[battema]

Epic and awesome. I think this was my first entry to Italian progressive rock.

[jeffo621]

One of the best releases from the 90s. I never picked this one up until the band made them available for free after it had been out of print for a few years.

The reason?

While at NF 2001, I was debating about which of their CDs to pick up, and Alberto Piras and Claudio Trotta were insisting that I buy the live album (Diachronie Metronomiche, I think it is called) instead. Unfortunately I didn't have enough cash to get both of them, and then I ran out of CD buying money. Within a few months, I couldn't find it anywhere.

[bob_32_116]

I wouldn't normally have bothered playing the clips, based on the above description, but tried the first because I have nothing better to do right now. It's a lot more melodic than the description suggests.

[Steve F.]

I actually got into a fight with my wife because I wanted to go to California solely to see them play at Progfest and she wasn't that keen on my doing that.

Luckily, a year later (?) they played the East Coast and I saw them on September 7, 1996 at my first-ever show at Orion. They played until nearly 3 am.

The current line up of the band is now exactly as it was on this album, btw, as the keyboard player returned.

[Steve F.]

I wouldn't normally have bothered playing the clips, based on the above description, but tried the first because I have nothing better to do right now. It's a lot more melodic than the description suggests.

Whoever wrote that on Prog Archives is a 'symph weenie'. IMO.

[jeffo621]

The current line up of the band is now exactly as it was on this album, btw, as the keyboard player returned.

I had heard they were back together. Is there an idea when a new release will happen?

Interesting that the original keyboard player is back. I really dug Fabrizio Pugilisi, but I seem to recall that his jazz career took off really well and it became a full time gig for him

[battema]

I actually got into a fight with my wife because I wanted to go to California solely to see them play at Progfest and she wasn't that keen on my doing that.

Luckily, a year later (?) they played the East Coast and I saw them on September 7, 1996 at my first-ever show at Orion. They played until nearly 3 am.

The current line up of the band is now exactly as it was on this album, btw, as the keyboard player returned.

Oh really? That's very interesting. I always liked his synth approach

[Animal]

I'm sure I'll get flack for saying this, but I can't get too excited about these guys apart from the fabulous vocals.
Which release best showcases Alberto?

[jeffo621]

Oh really? That's very interesting. I always liked his synth approach

That's because you're a symph weenie. BRING BACK THE JAZZY STUFF!!!!

[Steve F.]

I had heard they were back together. Is there an idea when a new release will happen?

These (very, very nice) guys are a caricature of every stereotype you've ever heard about Italians.

They operate within their own time zone.

Soon come, mon.

[battema]

That's because you're a symph weenie. BRING BACK THE JAZZY STUFF!!!!

GO CAPES OR GO HOME

[bob_32_116]

Love this! My favorite of theirs! I could never understand their logos, though! The vocalist, Alberto Piras, is fantastic!

Well that logo above immediately looked to me like a stylised representation of two people doing... err... two people having... errr... well let me put it this way, two people being intimate.

What those things are that look like umbrellas with a spear through them, I can't begin to guess.Unless it's symbolising penetration... maybe I just have a dirty mind.

[bob_32_116]

Whoever wrote that on Prog Archives is a 'symph weenie'. IMO.

I wouldn't have used the term "symph weenie", but yeah, the description is misleading. I was expecting something like a mixture of Magma, Tool, Karnivool and Frank Zappa, but it's nothing like that - unless it changes drastically later on.

[chalkpie]

I should like this more than I do. I love me some Italian prog, but I always seem to reach for Area instead of this band when I'm in the mood for this style of music. I haven't jumped ship, nor will I, but the DeM beast hasn't never bitten me, clamped down, and ripped my flesh off. Amazing vocalist, yet I need small doses.

[No Pride]

I'm sure I'll get flack for saying this, but I can't get too excited about these guys apart from the fabulous vocals.

And I'm the opposite. I used to have this disc and got rid of it. I really liked the band and the music they were making but couldn't handle the vocals. I'm not saying he's a bad singer by any means; let's just say that his style isn't my cup of tea and leave it at that. I tried to get past that but couldn't. It might've been different if there were long instrumental sections, but the band never goes off on their own for long, or at least that's how I thought I remembered it. Oh well, different strokes!

[infandous]

This band was the reason I found out about Nearfest back in early 2001. I had bought this album, loved it to death, then bought everything else they had. I found their website, which was extremely basic (one page, almost no info, etc.), but had a contact email address. So, for no real reason other than admiration, I sent an email saying how much I enjoyed their music and what a shame it was I probably would never hear them perform, being in the USA and all. A day or two later, I got a reply from Rob LaDuca telling me they would be playing in Bethlehem PA at Nearfest that very summer. Imagine my surprise that there was a prog festival in eastern PA, less than 4 hours from my house! At the time, there weren't really any prog sites like this one or Progarchives, and I had no idea such festivals existed.

Anyway, great album and still my favorite by them. I love the wacky music, the intense, operatic vocals, and the lyrics all written in Latin (though I think the last song is in Italian, if I remember correctly). I actually pulled this out a few months ago, after not hearing it for probably 10 years, and it was just as good as I remembered. Going to have to pull out the rest, and see about possibly getting the ones I'm missing (just the last two they put out.....I have everything else).

[Paulrus]

The current line up of the band is now exactly as it was on this album, btw, as the keyboard player returned.

Hearing that DeM are still with us just made my day.

De Republica is an intense little beast, and was quite the introduction for many of us back in the mid 90s. I just remember thinking "Holy crap -- between the Swedes and the Italians progressive rock is kicking some serious ass!"

And yeah, Alberto's vocals can be an acquired taste, but I wouldn't want anyone else fronting them. Besides, after you meet the guy and realize he's this really friendly dude (as are they all) it gives his presentation a lot more charm.

On a related note, at the time I had people saying, "Oh, he's just channeling Demetrio Stratos from Area. If you like DeM you should check them out." I tried -- talk about an acquired taste!

[mellotron storm]

That first clip of the song Exordium is not really what this band normally sounds like. It's a beautiful track though.
If I had to put these guys under a sub-genre I think i'd put them under Avant and no i'm not a symph weenie(or am I?).

[dpt3]

"Exordium" is one of my favorite songs ever, but, yeah, not too typical of the DeM sound.

Fantastic band, and fantastic album, though I also never managed to acquire it until it was made as a free download.

Would love a proper re-release.

[nosebone]

Great band, great album, but my favorite was their last release Imparis.

[Steve F.]

Fantastic band, and fantastic album, though I also never managed to acquire it until it was made as a free download.

Would love a proper re-release.

Won't happen.

[Sputnik]

I was a little underwhelmed by DeM's first two albums, so I was wary about getting this. But based on the good reviews when it came out, I took a chance and was so glad I did. For me this album accomplished a lot of what they were striving for on the first two, but not quite getting there, imo. I love the vocals, and here I find them far more "in control" than on the first two, a trend that would continue with their subsequent albums. Keys are also more prominent and used to better effect.

There is a ton to digest here, and for me I'm not sure they top Exordium on the rest of the album. But there is a lot of diverse stuff. My only problem with the album is that it feels like there are a lot of starts and stops. Songs end too abruptly or in strange places, particularly those that are parts of suites. This one is way due for a fresh spin, though. So I'll queue it up.

I think my favorite album by DeM is Cinique. I felt the writing on that one was really strong, and they were wild without losing the plot like I feel they sometimes do.

Bill