Mario Lino Stancati – Cross The Desert (Album – Unexplained Sounds Group)
Genre/Influences: Experimental, cinematographic, ritual.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Mario Lino Stancati is an Italian artist involved with different projects. He’s an actor, director, playwright, poet, musician and composer. We here welcome the musician and composer who for the very first time joined hands together with Unexplained Sounds Group. No doubt about it, the idea behind this album is inspired or in touch with some other artistic expression of the man.
Content: The work takes off with the visual-like “Plenus Part I”, which for its cadence makes me think of the slaves following the rhythm of the drum on a ship. We next dive into an abyssal experience, progressively moving deeper into cinematic experiences, and psychedelic passages. The work progressively turns into darker spheres, sometimes becoming pretty haunting and even ritual-like. The final part of the work reveals a few more explicit experimental elements like field recordings.
+ + + : This album has a lot to offer and this diversity makes sure you will find some tracks to your taste. I have a preference for the heavier ghost-like cuts like “Gola D’Aria” featuring Maria Todaro, but also the more ritual driven “E Non Saper Nuotare” and the overwhelming debut track “Plenus Part I”. Another noticeable cut is “O Quam Tristis Et Afflicta” featuring Wilfried Hanrath, which reminds me to early 80s experiments.
– – – : The work sounds sometimes a bit like a compilation; there’re multiple influences and styles crossing each other so in the end it feels a bit rambling-like.
Conclusion: This album is the perfect work for a wider artistic exposure; I mainly think of a fusion between music and visual arts.
Best songs: “Gola D’Aria”, “E Non Saper Nuotare”, “Plenus Part I”, “O Quam Tristis Et Afflicta”.
Rate: (7).
Artist: www.facebook.com/mariolino.stancati
Label: www.facebook.com/unexplainedsoundsgroup
About Mario Lino Stancati
Mario Lino Stancati is an experimental/electronic musician, composer, vocal performer, playwright and actor based in Mesagne, Italy. He released his solo debut “Voxigena” in 2016 on Gatti Rossi Che Cadono, followed in 2017 by collaborative releases with Troublan, Wilfried Hanrath and Walter Fini. “Cross The Desert”, reviewed here, marked his first release for Unexplained Sounds Group; he returned to the label with the albums “Revision” and “Vairagya”, both issued in 2022.
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