Dizionario Devoto Oli

Veteran producer Mike Vernon, known for his work with John Mayall and other British blues stars of the 1960s on Decca Records' Deram label and his own Blue Horizon imprint, came out of retirement to handle this, the second album by 19-year-old guitarist and singer Oli Brown, and it's easy to tell why. Brown is very much in the tradition of the people Vernon used to work with, which is to say that he is steeped in that distinctly British version of the blues, a style that has a heavy complement of rock & roll in it. Enough teenagers have turned out competent blues guitar records to make Brown's authority, even at so young an age, believable. Fans always talk about the feeling necessary to play the blues, but the mechanics of it require a technical dexterity that can be commanded by players with young, supple fingers.

Following an eight-year absence, the Italian rock/progressive group Deus Ex Machina bursts back onto the international scene with Devoto. Blazing into contemporary focus with Devoto, Deus Ex Machina is poised to transcend the accomplishments of its past. Devoto retains Deus Ex Machina’s distinctive blend of fiery, complexly designed music, passionate bel canto vocals, virtuosic instrumental performances and analogue-heavy textures. Here as before, DEM’s music combines both the energy and beauty of early Mahavishnu Orchestra and Larks' Tongues in Aspic-era King Crimson; classic 70s hard rock influences from AC/DC, Deep Purple and, most unmistakably, Led Zeppelin; hints of RIO-tinged avant-progressive; and the unmistakable Mediterranean vibe of fellow 'Rock Progressivo Italiano' combos like PFM…