La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore-La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore

Self-Release/Independent
2015

Listen up class. Before we begin today's lesson on the delectable mystery that is La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore (which F.Y.I is more than a mouthful!) a quick word of thanks is in order.  I've got my friend Glenn from Minotauro Records to thank for this independently-released album. So yeah, thank you Glenn! This one is most certainly "interesting" my friend! But I'll get to that part in a second. As our faithful readers (yes, I'm talking to you there!) you may or may not recall that I interviewed this band's founder back in late October. Here's the link to that piece. Obviously I had hoped to review this self-titled release shortly thereafter, but honestly I'm TERRIBLE about making deadlines. I could give you all kinds of logical legitimate reasons why this is, but let's just skip to the chase and talk about this band and this album.
First things first then. The band is the brainchild of Alfredo Martinelli and (per my notes) the phrase La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore translates into "Steam-Powered Workshop of Time". If you check out the previously-posted interview you can get a better feel as to the history of this group and the story-line behind this album. Here's the think though. On first listen I thought this was some kind of Spanish rock band! Apparently I wasn't the only person to think that so I don't feel as stupid as I normally would! The truth is this is an Italian band with lyrics that are native to the group's home-country. The reason I thought this might be a Spanish band (as my friend Glenn sent me this with no notes or anything! You rock Glenn!!) was that it has a bit of a Spanish groove going for it in places. Especially with the classical guitar. Otherwise here are some of my notes for this album (which I had actually jotted down after first hearing the CD and before I had set up the interview with the group's founder!). You'll notice how far ranging they are as I just wrote down the first things that came to mind. And really that is exactly why I'm sharing all of it with you. Sometimes spontaneous responses offer the best overview of such unique releases as this one. Simply put this Italian metal band cannot be pigeonholed!

"Symphonic occult metal?" 

"The Italian band Goblin meets a Spanish rock version of Rush!"

"There seems to be a lot of tribal percussion going on with this song and those are some very sick bass riffs. That's a win-win situation!"

 "This kind of reminds me of European progressive metal meets gutsy garage rock!"  

"This band uses a lot of classical guitar. Even so it gets slightly heavier as it goes on with this track...slightly being the key word. And is that sax I hear?"

"What's this? Now this number has all kinds of wicked magic going on! It's deep and thick, but with killer guitar work and sick key/synth work! Righteous!!"
  
"Piano passages and heavy guitar rock are one thing, but dig that bass again! If it had legs it would walk all over you!"
  
"Why don't more progressive metal band's utilize rock guitar like this?'.

"All at once this album has an atmospheric vibe going for it while it easily maintains it's metallic hold on the listener. It's rich and textured and yet it's built with steel!"

As stated those were my initial notes as I listen to the album for the first time. More or less when it comes to the band La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore we are talking about a progressive rock/metal outfit that is even more adventurous than usual when it comes to song arrangements! That's kind of the foundation (adventurous progressive metal) upon which this Italian band starts everything. From there things get slightly "twisted". While I could try to go track by track with this one (therefore pulling in all of the little whimsical elements that make up each and every distinct cut) it would prove to be a huge undertaking! Let's just say that this band is eclectic and leave it at that! Mind you it's not in a Mr. Bungle or Primus kind of way. At it's core this is still a very much a (progressive) metal album. As such progressive metal fans in general should appreciate the flight pattern that this band charts. La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore simply shakes things up a bit as it lays down well thought out prog metal. And that's cool in my book. I'll admit that it isn't easy to describe this band. Far from it. That kind of comes with the territory though when you try to talk about the really creative metal bands out there.  As such you can probably get a better feel for what I'm talking about by visiting the group's YouTube page. There you'll find a teaser video for this release which I highly recommend.

Interview with Alfredo Martinelli of Italy's La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Alfredo Martinelli of Italy's La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore. I want to thank my friend Glenn from Mintotauro Records for not only making this possible, but for turning me onto this epic progressive rock/heavy metal band in the first place! Be sure to keep an eye out for my review of this band's innovative self-titled release and you can find La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore online by heading here. Enjoy! 

Andy-Hey there, Alfredo.  Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your band “La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore.”  I don’t speak Italian, and I’ve tried to come up with a translation of your band’s name into English.  What I come up with is “The Time-to-Steam Workshop”.  Given your bands progressive leanings, I imagine your band’s name is a nod to your country’s vast contribution to the prog-rock scene.  Can you tell us a little bit about how you came up with the name, and what it signifies?

Alfredo-I came up with the name for the band. In between developing musical ideas and organizing the band’s activity I suggested two band names: the second one was "La Bottega del Tempo a Vapore". Even if it's not a commercial/marketing rule-based name, it has the capacity to make people ask and think about it. Our musical approach is not common; we are something different from the norm, and we want to spread it out a bit. Moreover, we employee numerous different conceptual approaches that we think you’d find interesting. The Workshop (La Bottega) is something like "art and work", based on the concept of the Italian Reneissance, populated by Italy's  old masters, and a time when everyone was a significant part of the entire work. The present and future time (Il tempo) is a constant in our album. It's an important concept of life that flows. The Steam (Il vapore) is that natural element, deep as much as we can see it. It is able to generate strong forces, able to move trains, industrial machines, and, in the same time, to slip into each and every fissure.

Andy-On to the album.  “Il Guerriero errante,” or “The Wandering Warrior.”  Can you shed some light on the story that’s told for us? 

Alfredo-"Il Guerriero errante " tells the story of a samnitic warrior, who receives the responsibility to escort a Lady, engaged to the King, to the King's residence. The journey is characterized by adventures, ambushes and many events. Warrior and Lady bonded immediately, they are united by a strong sentiment and at last they fall in love. The King finds out about the secret relationship between the Lady and the warrior, instructs a Janara (samnitic witch) to avenge him with the damnation of the two lovers. There will be romance, adventures… but for all the details, you just have to listen to our CD.

Andy-As I mentioned earlier, Italy has made a vast contribution to the progressive rock scene.  Can you tell us how Italian prog rock has influenced you as a musician?  What are some other genres of music that have influenced you?

Alfredo-We are influenced by tons of genres and kind of music, as every prog band should be. Our influences could be summarized with Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Porcupine Three, Opeth, Pink Floyd, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Osanna, Epica, and so on. So genres like Prog Rock / Metal as a base, but also Epic, Orchestral, Folk, Psychedelic, Fusion and more.

Andy-Tell us about the band.  How did you form?  How long have you known each other? How did you meet? How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?

Alfredo-I was looking for musicians to help transform stories into music, so that's where it all began. During the meetings we talked about the contents of various chapters and then we wrote the music and lyrics. A little bit later we added all the other members of the band. Most members already worked together in other projects, so we were all friends. Our artistic peculiarity is that our sounds, rhythms and arrangements are articulated and essential elements, with unusual lyrics.

Andy-Tell us a little bit about your experiences in the studio.  What were some of the challenges in recording such an intricate album?

Alfredo-The final recordings were so intense and needed concentration, which is why the final result of our work is characterized by honesty and consistency. At the same time, it wasn't easy to organize everything and contain costs. We considered our financial resources and managed everything firsthand. Edoardo Napoli from EPN studios of Genova oversaw the final mix and mastering, and he did a very good job, considering a great problem for us: work remotely. The power of Internet!

Andy-And finally one last set of questions. What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?  Do all members of the band contribute to the song-writing process?

Alfredo-As regards the process of writing songs, there's not a fixed rule: inspiration is like a beautiful woman, who never announces her arrival. Certainly mys story inspired our music arrangements, but lyrics and vocal arrangements were made after the musical parts; these are peculiarities of our work. In our band all the members participate in the creation of arrangements. Alessandro did a great job for the production of this album.