Italian to English Translation provided by Google
The purposes of description can also be useful to find “labels” in order to understand what kind of music a group is proposing, but ultimately you are exaggerating and speaking of prog rock, or “eclectic”, as happens often in recent years, almost verging on the ridiculous. The fact is simply that there are quite a few artists around who can make a proposal full of music or contamination of a wide variety of influences, so that identifying a specific genre… is totally impossible. Take the case of MarsupiaL. This is a U.S. band of North Carolina, founded in 2000 and composed by Ian Reardon on guitar and vocals, Forrest Smith on guitar, Brad Mehder on bass and Chris Carter on drums and voice. Yes, keyboards, nothing … But, I hope that you readers have already understood that there is no need to use keyboards to be included [as] progressive rock. In fact, prog is only one element that we can find in “Genus thylacinus”, [an] album that shows the capabilities of what [MarsupiaL] brings: energetic rock, long instrumental passages worthy of the best jam bands, intriguing vocal melodies sometimes elegantly modern at times closer to the American tradition, without disdaining incursions into progressive and jazz-rock.
Imagine … Pink Floyd, Phish, Allman Brothers Band, Dire Straits and Radiohead, alternating instrumental oneiric situations and mysterious, fluid electric guitar solos that gives vibrance, and that cross and give the change to drive songs, sung moments direct and catchy, long instrumental moments dictated by the ability of musicians improvising, melodic insights of immediate impact and even leaps of a certain aggressiveness … Imagine all this and you have an idea more or less vague proposal of MarsupiaL. Of course, if your world is made of mellotron solo, symphonic prog, new-prog, fairies and gnomes, I do not think this product might interest you. But if you like those groups able to rotate 360 degrees and always with convincing results, this disc will be a delightful discovery.
by Peppe Di Spirito
