THE PRICE: A Second Chance To Rise (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Unless you are specialists in transalpine rock in all its forms, Marco Baruso's name is unlikely to ring a bell. On the other hand, bands such as Heavy Metal Kids and Cayne in which he played, or especially Coldplay, Lacuna Coil or Thirty Seconds To Mars for which he worked behind the consoles, will necessarily remind you something. With The Price, the Italian producer-musician embarks on a solo project but not alone since he has surrounded himself with an impressive number of artists.

Despite its title, "A Second Chance To Rise" is the first opus of this one-man band that takes its title from a dark story of a pact with the devil. The twelve tracks composing this album therefore breathe only very little joie de vivre and have in common a darkness which, if it varies in its tones and intonations, is nonetheless recurrent. Between 'Tears Roll Down' which opens the hostilities on its melodic rock and catchy chorus and 'Strange World' which closes them gently, the shadows unfold in several forms. Some titles clearly look towards grunge under its different approaches, whether traditional ('A MG Of Stone') or more Nickelback style ('My Escape','Take Back Our Life'). Other pieces take frankly metallic paths, also in rather neo forms ('Enemy'), by becoming downright aggressive and powerful ('Lilith') or sharp and crushing everything in their path ('E.C.P.').

Despite the overall quality of the whole, this is perhaps where the weakness of this "A Second Chance To Rise" lies, which ends up losing some of the coherence that its global darkness could claim to give it. To a "Free From Yesterday" to which Roberto Tiranti (Labyrinth) gives colours worthy of Glenn Hughes, "Stormy Weather" or "On The Edge Of Madness" will respond with deep despair. As for "Under My Skin", carried by the double vocals of Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Sunstorm...) and Marco Sivo (Planethard), it pours a hard combining power and melody before the final calm offered by "Strange World". The whole thing benefits from often catchy choruses and gleaming ('Free From Yesterday') or moving ('On The Edge Of Darkness') solos, but the listener ends up getting a little lost.

It would be a pity, however, to miss this opus which proves how rich and quality the Italian scene is. It should also be noted that the weakness of the accent that often handicapped our transalpine brothers is now nothing more than a distant and bad memory, as each singer excels in his performance. Lovers of rock in the broadest sense of the term should not miss the opportunity to discover this collection of quality tracks. - Official website

THE PRICE

A SECOND CHANCE TO RISE

AUTRE LABEL

ROCK