EVEN FLOW has been active for a bit over two decades now, and yet Mediterraneo is only its fifth release (including two other EPs and as many full-lengths), so one would hope for quality over quantity, right?
Opening with ‘Ocean Lies’ we’re immediately swept under the waves of crashing keys that seem to dominate the mix, the band clearly feeling the energy that this sort of prog-lite metal needs to carry it over. Don’t let the “lite” confuse you, though, as there’s plenty of heft to the vocals of Marco Pastorino, who has possibly the most pristine pipes I’ve heard this year, clearly from the Ian Parry / Timo Kotipelto school. Neither reaching to the stratosphere or trying to seem gritty for the sake of it, he’s suited ideally for EVEN FLOW and its easy oscillations between KANSAS-ian AOR and the harder material on offer here, both of which can be found in ‘Ray Of Light’.
Once one finally moves past the former’s infectious chorus and frenetic (but controlled) bridge into ‘Leaves’, which triumphs due to not following the “soft intro into heavy main part” of the song tactic the band’s fond of, being duet between vocals and keys. I’m not sure who’s behind them, but it’s time the keyboardist gets their due as a full member, so omnipresent are they over the course of this EP.
While ‘Revelation Day’ is a bit scattershot, not being as memorable musically as its predecessors until the climactic coda which almost makes up for the stumble, the title track is an instant attention-grabber, melody and might converging, a thread of ache woven through a tapestry of the heart’s journey.
In the end, quality always reigns over quantity, and it does so with Mediterraneo. Thoughts arrive like butterflies…
Review By: Lord Randall
EVEN FLOW
Mediterraneo [EP]
Independent
3 / 6