D.F.A. — Duty Free Area (review)

D.F.A. — Duty Free Area album cover Album · 1999 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Sean Trane
Second album from this unchanged quartet and released on the same Mellow Records label, its title could be what the band meant when they chose their enigmatic name. Musically speaking, this album is quite different than its GG-influenced predecessor; here we're dealing with a much jazzier feel, often ogling towards space rock, sometimes towards symphonic as well. One of the things that will surprise you (outside the relatively cheap artwork) is Minella's much softer guitar, abandoning the hard rock feel of the debut album. Quickly announcing its colour, the opening Escher pulls a very Ozric-ian soundscape, courtesy of Bonomi, but De Grandis' drumming is the star of the show. This track is such an enjoyment that its 8-min+ doesn't overstay its welcome, in spite of its repetitiveness. The following Caleidoscopio is rather different, a slow-starting affair gaining momentum and once on top, the feeling is of a space/Gong-esque ELP (plus guitar) and symphonic overtones are there, with guitarist Minella pulling some Hackettian lines. Clearly since their start DFA has been under the wings of its bigger brother Deus Ex Machina and here singer Alberto Piras has a go at the third track called GG-inspired Esperanto (the hopeful universal language that never came to be), here sung in Italian alone. Unfortunately for DFA, Piras' personality is simply over-powering, and we're having this track transformed into a DEM track.

The two instrumentals Ascendente Scorpione and Ragno) are both in the space-rock mould, sometimes between Ozric and Gong, the former being similar to the opening track, while the latter is more in line with Caleidoscopio with its symphonic intro. The closing Malia gets another guest singer in Georgia Gallo, but it's the weakest track on the otherwise excellent album.

DFA's second album is just as worthy as their first, despite the surprising different musical direction - let's face it, we're not used to have Italian groups diddling with space-rock. With just two albums under their belt, DFA has the particularity of being Italy's brightest 90's band, IMHO, of course.
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