Maribor – Cross (Album – St.An.Da)
Genre/Influences: Cinematographic, Experimental.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Maribor is a project originally set up by Stefano Gentile. He got the help of Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh, Hall Of Mirrors), Andrea Marutti (Amon, Hall Of Mirrors), Gianluca Favaron (Under The Snow, Zbeen), Maurizio Bianchi and Pierpaolo Zoppo (Mauthausen Orchestra). The debut album “De Immenso” was released in 2011 while two more tracks were released the same year on the “X”-cassette.
Pierpaolo Zoppo passed Away in 2012 so “Cross” has been released in his memory. Some tracks are taken from “X”. “Cross” has been announced as the final Maribor release.
Content: The album features 5 long duration tracks, which have been meticulously created. The guitar playing has something abstract, creating an explicit Cinematographic style. The tracks have been accomplished now with boiling noises and then by dreamy atmospheres. The last part of the work becomes darker, like exposing an hostile sphere accentuated by repetitive guitar sequences. But the final composition has something dreamy-like again.
+ + + : Maribor is/was a kind of collective featuring different artists. You can feel some chemistry between all musicians resulting in a poignant and evasive composition. Both last cuts have a strong visual appeal, especially the darker approach of “X – Part Two” is worthy of examination. There’s a cool kind of incoming signal/tune running through this cut, which makes it chilling. Over the whole album I like the way the guitar has been played and used, creating an atmospheric sphere. I also have to say a word about the cool digipak format of this work.
– – – : This kind of album appeals for a true visual addition like a movie, theatre, photography..
Conclusion: “Cross” clearly sounds as a collaborative work between soul mates.
Best songs: “X – Part Two”, “Us And Them”.
Rate: (6½).
Label: http://store.silentes.it / www.facebook.com/standadischi
About Maribor
Maribor was a collaborative project set up by Stefano Gentile with Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh, Hall Of Mirrors), Andrea Marutti (Amon, Hall Of Mirrors), Gianluca Favaron (Under The Snow, Zbeen), Maurizio Bianchi and Pierpaolo Zoppo (Mauthausen Orchestra). The project released its debut album, “De Immenso”, in 2011, the same year two further tracks appeared on the “X” cassette. Following the death of Pierpaolo Zoppo in 2012, the group released “Cross” on St.An.Da in 2021 in his memory, drawing partly on the “X” material and announced as the final Maribor release.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
