Innovative Italian prog-rockers again look to the past for inspiration for a future classic
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Chapter One --- Hostsonaten --- 2012 (AMS)
A complex undertaking indeed, and a brave one, but then, Italian symphonic progressive rockers Hostsonaten are known for these grand sweeping concepts, their last four albums being based on the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. This time out they're tackling, as you can see, the classic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Of course, that's a long poem, so they're doing it over two albums, of which this is the first.
Hostnsonaten are generally known for more instrumental works: their last four albums, as mentioned, interpreted in new ways Vivaldi's most famous work, and indeed their first two albums were mostly instrumental, with some vocal parts. Weirdly, both these albums featured tracks entitled “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, with part 1 on the debut self-titled and part 2 on the followup, “Mirrorgames”, so its genesis can be said to have been on those two albums, albeit less well fleshed out, but this is the full thing, split into five parts.
But who are Hostsonaten? Well, their name comes from an old movie and means “autumn symphony” in Norwegian. However, Hostsonaten are Italian; in fact, the band is a kind of a project for the bass player from prog rock group Finisterre, one Fabio Zuffanti, and like his English contemporary, Alan Parsons, he recruits bandmembers and surrounds himself with the cream of Italian prog rock to record these albums under the name of Hostsonaten. Fusing classical, progressive rock, folk, jazz and many other genres and subgenres, Hostsonaten are a little hard to quantify, but their music speaks for itself.
Although there are five tracks there are only four parts, as the opening track is called “Prologue” and begins, as perhaps you might expect if you know the poem, with the sounds of bells and the surf washing against the side of a ship. Then heavy keys and drums cut in and powerful choral vocals add to the mix as the scene is set musically. Very progressive rock opening, with insistent keyswork which then drops away abruptly to soft acoustic guitar and flute, the latter taking the lead in the melody, while the sounds of waves sussurates in the background, then tinkly little piano flourishes join cello and violin before bass cut in and the melody begins to fill out a little more. At seven minutes exactly, this is in fact the shortest track on the album, so you have some sort of an idea what to expect from the rest.
Electric guitar joins in and the shape of the melody begins to change a little, getting rockier and a bit more dramatic, the sounds of surf now drowned out by the rising guitar, the thumping drums and the soaring keyboards. About two minutes from the end the guitars and percussion kick into high gear and the tempo goes right up, everything getting very frenetic and rowdy as I expect the idea of the Mariner's ship going off course and getting caught in the ice is conveyed. If you don't know the poem, I'll encapsulate for you, very briefly. Anyone who knows the work is free to skip on to the next paragraph.
Coleridge's most famous poem tells the tale of an old sailor, the “Ancient Mariner” in the title, who is never named, and who takes passage on a ship which gets blown off course into the icy Antarctic. When an albatross appears and begins following the ship, the Mariner, believing the bird to be a sign of bad luck, shoots it down. In revenge (presumably by God) the ship, although breaking free of the ice, is driven again off its course and finds itself entangled in windless doldrums, becalmed and unable to move. Things become a bit more surreal then, as Death approaches and begins taking the sailors, killing them one by one, but his mate, Life-in-Death, claims the Mariner and decides to allow him to live, to see his friends die. Now of course this is more than likely an anthropomorphisation of the cruel death of thirst and hunger, but it's scary in the poem. Anyway, eventually the Mariner is saved as the winds begin to blow and he finds his way back to his home country, where he relates his story at a wedding. It doesn't sound much, but you really should read it. What I've just written is a totally oversimplified and basic sketch ofthe storyline. Here's a link
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in case you want to check it out for yourself.
And so, part one begins, with Allesandro Corvaglia, sounding uncannily like Peter Gabriel, on vocals as the poem is begun. Against a backdrop of flute and acoustic guitar, with some breakout guitar and synth parts, part one runs for just under twelve and a half minutes, with a great violin solo and some excellent guitar work too, soprano sax from Edmondo Romano adding a burst of panic into the proceedings. It seems that Zuffanti has gone for the literal approach with regard to lyrics, in other words reciting the entire poem against the music, which is an interesting idea, and a courageous one. Some lovely piano and flute, the former played by Luca Scherani, the latter by Joanne Roan, take the midsection until the vocal comes back in, and the music becomes slower, sort of triumphal with thick synthesiser and midpaced drums, choral vocals. Some discordant piano then, some shuddering vocals before the acoustic guitar comes back and it all slows down in a pastoral melody, ending in a sonar-like sound, the same that began the prologue, but somehow this time foretelling doom and woe for the heinous thing the mariner has done by shooting the albatross.
That sound continues into part two, fading away under gentle acoustic, as the sailors blame the Mariner for killing the bird, as fog closes in around them, but when the fog begins to clear and the winds begin to blow again, they forgive him and agree it was the right thing to do. A soft quiet vocal describes the gathering of the fog as the sailors wait for a sign. A rippling piano joins the melody, then gets a little discordant before heavy guitar rocks everything up, the piano turning jazzy and adding funky organ. However, no sooner have they entered the unknown sea than the winds fall silent and drop completely, and their ship being a sailed one cannot move without the aid of the winds. Becalmed and unable to move, they see, or fancy they see, strange creatures coming out of the still sea and crawling towards them. The sun, beating mercilessly upon their heads at night without any wind to mitigate it, is only matched in its misery by the coldness of the nights with no sound of waves or wind, and the horrors, imagined or real, that lurk in the darkness.
To mirror the becalmed ship, the music turns lighter, more pastoral yet with an edge of hopelessness, led by light guitar and piano, the guitar getting harder and louder in progression, organ joining in with choral vocals and measured percussion. The track ends with a climax as the sailors, angered at the bad luck the Mariner has brought them by his actions, hang the corpse of the bird around his neck like a millstone.
Part three then opens on powerful guitar and drums; the longest track of the five, it runs for just short of seventeen minutes, and relates the events that take place as the ship sits trapped in the windless cove. Gentle flute and ethereal piano float like the winds that will not appear to move the ship, suddenly supplanted by wild organ and raging guitar as on vocals goes into something of a histrionic, as a ship is sighted in the distance.
But if the sailors think this is their salvation they could not be more wrong, for the ship is captained by Death and his mate, Life-in-Death. A thick bassline leads the melody which slows to a more ominous pace as the sailors realise that something is very wrong on this skeletal ship that approaches them. Some ethinic sounding violin and cello adds to the mood, then everything stops for a second before a big guitar and organ solo pumps everything back up, ramping the tempo again. Fiddle joins in and then the pace slackens again, perhaps to mirror the dread of the crew as they see that Death and his mate are casting dice for their very souls. Death winning all but that of the Mariner, causes the sailors to drop down dead, but Life-in-Death forces the Mariner to remain alive while he watches his friends die. A great guitar solo ends this, the third part of the story, and indeed brings to a close the third part of the poem.
When we next meet the Mariner, he is back on land, telling his story, but only for a moment, as the scene shifts back to his lonely vigil, as he, alone, survives and is forced to look into the dead eyes of his crewmates for seven awful days and nights. Like a lonely sentinel --- which in ways the Ancient Mariner is --- a single bagpipe starts part four, with sounds of surf and a chiming guitar backing it. Then soft yet brittle piano carries the melody alone as Simona Angiloni takes the vocal role of the wedding-guest (although it's meant to be a man in the poem: poetic licence?) with mournful violin counterpointing the piano. Then folky acoustic guitar joins the violin as we return to the Mariner alone on his ship.
In a waltzy sort of rhythm, the narration continues, and it seems clear now that Signora Angiloni is going to take the role of the Mariner too, which is even more confusing, considering his voice has been sung by a male up to now, and he is, after all, a man. But no matter. Her voice is certainly angelic and easy on the ears, and perhaps we're meant to be hearing the softer, more repentant side of the Ancient Mariner. The guitar gets a little harder and bass joins in, as the Mariner contemplates his situation and watches the living things in the sea, no longer seeing them as evil or ugly, but as beautiful creations of God. The bagpipes return as Angiloni's voice gets a little more ragged and intense as the Mariner wonders what is going to happen to him, why he cannot die?
Tinkly piano is all that's left then as the final section of part four begins, and the Mariner's redemption is at hand. Heavy organ and choral vocals drive the ending, pounding but measured and precise drumming as Allesandro Corvaglia comes back in, duetting with Simona, as the albatross suddenly falls from the Mariner's neck and sinks into the sea, taking with it his sin, his guilt and the awful evidence of the crime that caused the deaths of two hundred sailors.
And with a final flourish on guitar and choral vocals, falling away to one last booming, echoing synth note, that's where we leave the hapless Ancient Mariner, stranded on a boat full of dead men in an unknown land, facing his demons and unsure what his fate is to be. Zuffanti has promised there will be a second chapter, presumably finishing the story --- there are three more parts to go --- but we're going to have to wait until next year for the conclusion of this epic musical poem.
TRACKLISTING
1. Prologue
2. Part I
3. Part II
4. Part III
5. Part IV
Seldom have I seen a project on this scale. Yes, people have interpreted literary works before --- only recently I reviewed Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman's retelling of the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles --- but I can't ever recall anyone transcribing the work, word for word, into their lyrics. It's also done with such care, and reverence for the source material, and with such expertise that if it's the first time you've heard the poem it could be something you will forever hear when you read it, as those who came to the work via Iron Maiden's version will always hear that low bass and creaking timbers, with the sonorous voice intoning the stanzas.
A true collision of arts, the best of both worlds, not the only way to get into Coleridge certainly, but a very enjoyable and rewarding one, and the artiste should be commended and congratulated on succeeding beyond perhaps even his wildest dreams in managing not only to bring to life a story over two hundred years old, but to make it sound relevant and current.