“Arcanum Secre is a soft invitation into the much diversified musical and cinematic universe of Eternalkeys”
1 Letters and Pages 3:11
2 Second War 2:28
3 Parallelives 4:33
4 Memories Gone 3:09
5 Dragon's Gate 2:41
6 Future City 3:02
7 Farewell to Childhood 2:22
8 Monumental Sign 2:28
9 Glacial Wind 2:58
10 Train Bridge 3:31
(DDL 30:48) (V.F.)
(Mostly cinematic EM)
Dressed in its 10 compositions clocking an average of 3 minutes each, ARCANUM SECRET is a soft invitation into the much diversified musical universe of Eternalkeys, a musical project from the Italian composer and musician Mimmo D'Ippolito. A universe where the music, as ethereal as filmic, caresses our ears, a little like a certain Vangelis, and where the rhythms are creasing them with structures closer of Jarre and Shpongle while the orchestral arrangements are pure moments of anxiety, a little as Goblin. But don't get me wrong! I’m not saying that Eternalkeys is a new Vangelis or a Jean-Michel Jarre, although he is very musical and theatrical, but I discovered an artist who seems very talented in the art of composition with a musical signature which depicts marvellously the sense of his titles.
And that begins with Letters and Pages and its dark piano which unfolds the pages of a melancholic story. If we like the sweetness of the piano, Memories Gone spreads its fragile notes, like the eyes its tears on the cheeks. It's very beautiful and very, but very, melancholic. I have the vague feeling that it speaks to me. Farewell to Childhood is yet another sweetness where, throughout a window misted by rain, we remember easily a piece of our childhood. Always weaved of black, Second War offers a very dramatic cinematic approach with superb orchestrations which hatch a mood a bit frightening. It's somewhat as if Hitchcock would go to the war. There are a lot of ambiences behind the violence of the mnemonic bows. Eternalkeys has the sense of drama and anxiety, it's undeniable. On Dragon's Gate he weaves a Babylonian world with wrapping synth strata which structure a medieval ambience that a harpsichord fed of an intrusive baroque melody, while Monumental Sign presents a more contemporary dramatic orchestral structure. After an ambiospherical intro, which reminds me of Tomita, Parallelives reveals a beautiful electronic ballad with a supple rhythm where the percussions and the effects of rhythms borrow the corridors of JMJarre. The synth develops nice harmonies easily to whistle behind some hoarse organic mumbles. Always in the register of the electronic synth-pop set ablaze by Jarre, we find Intended City, and its skeleton technoïd, Glacial Wind and Train Bridge which, on the other hand, are a bit closer to psy-techno à la Shpongle.
There is of everything on this ARCANUM SECRET. From synth-pop to dark movie music, while passing by mourner ballads, Eternalkeys presents his card. An artistic, a musical card which shows an irrefutable talent from the Italian composer who has the sense of drama as much as melancholy. I quite liked it, although some tracks are slightly too short. The orchestral atmospheres would be even more penetrating with minutes furthermore in the meter. But it's beautiful and that listens too very well. Mimmo D'Ippolito is a promising artist who seems promoted to classical movie music, where from the link with Vangelis. But I said it; he is not a new Vangelis... at least not yet. But there is a distant resemblance. Nice and charming!
Sylvain Lupari (September 9th, 2013) ***¼**
Available at Eternalkeys Bandcamp
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