Astronomia by Arrizza

 

Astronomia

By

Arrizza

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

It seems that Arrizza and I have several things in common, two of them a love for all things to do with Space and Space travel, and the amazing talents of the late but great Isao Tomita. Here on this latest release entitled Astronomia, he explores both of those narratives sublimely and produces a truly memorable album in the process.

The opening foray of music on Occultation is a wonderful pleasurable experience, and is a mixture of electronica mixed with a global vibe that caressed my ears; I felt it was akin to having both Jean Michel Jarre and Incendio playing in my room at the same time, an experience very much appreciated indeed.

The second track was another one of those coalitions of commonality between the artist and me, a piece of music inspired by both of our favourite star systems in Orion. Constellation is a huge piece beautifully performed, a powerful repetitive back synth vibe can be found here, but one that drives the craft smoothly, and doesn’t overwhelm the integrity of the overall piece, this is a fast upbeat electronic musical landscape of music at its very best.

Astronomia by Arrizza is an in-depth and vast body of 11 tracks for the listener to enjoy, if your heart has been embraced by the stars, then this one’s for you, and contains such masterful works as Around the World (Globetrotter), an all-encompassing opus of tone and timbre, and Escape Velocity, where the beat is undeniable, and headphones a must.

A personal gem for me would be Space Surfing, from the beginning it truly took me back to the 80’s, where drum machines were king, and synths ruled the landscape, but there was also a beautiful smoothness to this piece that really took the listener on a journey too, with its ever onward progression and powerful sense of forward movement, also we must add a big tip of the hat to rock guitarist Brian Schurr for his outstanding performance on this creation.

There can be no doubt that this is an album of a sublime quality, and tracks like First Light were simply breath taking to behold, the opening of this song reminded me hugely of a certain piece that came from a decade earlier in its essence, and included Mark Barnwell shining like a crazy diamond on guitar, and those quite emotional to hear again synth whistles of Tomita, all safely ensconced in one of the most amazing tracks from the album.

Astronomia by Arrizza is a musical space voyage of memorable proportions, created by the man in the captain’s chair himself, Arrizza; these 11 compositions each have their own tale and narrative for the listener to enjoy, either on their own, or as a collective creation, one thing is for sure, the artist has manifested something here that has been born from the love of eternal space, and his passion for electronica, and it shows, with a wonderful manifestation that he should be incredibly proud of.