Review | Pentesilea Road – Sonnets From The Drowsiness

Independent / Dutch Music Works / Bandcamp

Italy’s Pentesilea Road, the brainchild of Vito Mainolfi, returns with their sophomore effort, ‘Sonnets From The Drowsiness’. And let me tell you, this one’s a journey. If you remember their self-titled debut from 2021, you’ll recall a tapestry of voices and a line-up that felt like a revolving door at rush hour. This time Mainolfi trimmed the fat and sharpened the blade. Vocalist Michele Guaitoli (Visions of Atlantis, Temperance, ERA) and keyboard maestro Ezio Di Ieso remain, joined now by Giovanni Montesano on bass and Alfonso Mocerino behind the kit. The biggest shift is Guaitoli’s voice guiding us through this progressive labyrinth. One hand on the mic, giving this prog rock release its unique and recognisable face, distracting from sound shifts and maintaining its own resonance.

WALKING THE LINES

Guest spots are still sprinkled in for flavour with Paul Prins dropping in with some tasty guitar solos on ,,Mare Nostrum” and ,,The Other Corner”, while Mario D’Amario’s accordion on ,,Aria” adds a touch of Mediterranean melancholy. But make no mistake: this is Pentesilea Road’s show, an endurance in prog. With no less than eighteen tracks and over one hundred minutes of running time, this is not an album, that’s a full fletched prog odyssey. Strap in.

Pentesilea Road straddles the line between progressive rock and metal, never quite settling their debts with either. The band walks the lines of progressive rock and neo-prog while injecting the grandeur of pomp rock in its daunting choruses. The alt-rock tone of the band is dominant but never pressing from the depth of their sonic paintings. It conveys wonderful flings of past prog bands while keeping the heaviness of progressive metal embedded in its roots. This balance is guarded, and the execution of the instrumentation is precise. The resonance of the tracks is tremendous, cinematic and colourful, with Guaitoli’s voice as the mesmerizing binding factor.

DROPPING HOOKS AND NESTING LICKS

Opener ,,Ode to The Reflective Mind” kicks things off with a slab of instrumental prog metal grandeur. Vanden Plas comes to mind in its construct, but the classic prog elements are powerfully engrained in the core. There’s a dash of Evergrey’s melancholic drama present, with Guaitoli’s vocals powerful rooting it metal. ,,Inside Out” keeps the metal fires burning, heavy on the keys and rich in melodic muscle. It channels deep and touches the gut with its wonderful guitar solo, dropping hooks and nesting licks.

But just when you think you’ve got the band’s direction completely figured out, ,,Pulse” throws a curveball with its hard rocking groove, NWOBHM toned twin guitars, and a radio-friendly shine that makes it an odd choice for a lead single. It strays from the band’s core ingredients, but the offset is also what marks its creative wonder. It’s the most accessible cut, but still no song you devour instantly. A lot going on in its cinematics, and the progressive elements are enhancing the melodic output. The album’s true heart beats elsewhere. If ,,Pulse” leaves you cold, keep digging as there’s a lot to discover.

A SONIC WONDER

,,Solitary Walk” steers us back into prog territory, channelling the ghost of Queensrÿche, while elsewhere you’ll catch echoes of Everon, heavier Pendragon, Sieges Even and Fates Warning. This blend is balancing out the wonderful sonic tapestry that is deeply rooted in classic prog, referring to the likes of Pendragon and even old school Marillion. Its vocal execution at times grips back to Pallas’ Alan Reed, while bearing strong reminiscence to … while the music (and its typical breaks) at times grips back to Fates Warning’s `Parallels’ era. ,,Underground” checks the boxes of all the above, with its impressive discharge.

Plunging into the vast depths of the progressive rock oceans, ,,The Geometry of Nothing” is a musical painting full of shifting emotions and eluding drama. A sonic wonder channelling Vito’s intricate creativity. It channels emotion, much like Kristoffer Gildenlöw’s solo efforts; deep and rich in texture, conveying the resonance of the soul.

The instrumental ,,Mare Nostrum” flexes the band’s technical muscles, letting the keys and guitars dance around each other in a melodic duel. The solo in the song’s opening is downright wonderful, breaking into a harsh energetic riff-burst soon to be followed by intense jazzy ‘fidgeting’. Tempo changes doubled the song increases tension with sizzling keyboards and guitar intermezzos atop. Pentesilea Road knows when to show off, but they never lose sight of the song. As said: solos here are about storytelling, not just shredding. ,,Worlds Apart” is a breaking point following the tension discharges on the instrumental. The song meanders forward and suddenly break into a great riff that pulls it into some instantly nesting hooks with impressive vocal melodies atop.

FROM NARRATIVE STORYTELLING INTO SYMPHONIC METAL

,,The Other Corner” blends the Vanden Plas signature construct with neo-progressive elements and spacey keyboard and synth affects, to tone back again on ,,Shine” with its sentimental drift and meandering arrangements, supporting Michele’s vocal explorations. He takes the song from narrative storytelling into symphonic metal, without letting go of the insane melodic discharge.

,,Grave New World”, with its over dramatic vocals, pumps into ,,September’s Ghosts”, the bombastic, cinematic highlight that feels like a natural album closer. It feeds creativity, reminiscent to the sonic diversity of Blind Man’s Daughter. More melodic, gripping deeper, and with less discord.  It is grand, sweeping, and emotionally charged. An endless compilation of songs follows. Five more tracks, in fact.

The energy dips, then surges again with the intricate jazzy ,,Echo of Silence” and the weeping and strumming piano charged slow mover ,,Remember, Now”. Seamlessly cascading into the piano opening of the monumental hooked ,,A Relentless Elegy of Laziness” and the ethereal ,,The River Bend”, before winding down with the sprawling, slightly overcooked closer ,,The Physiopathology Of Every Day Dream”. Another track that highlights the creative textures and sonic abilities of the band. Lush atmospheres with wonderful instrumentation and sound fragments make it a cinematic experience, transgressing musical territories, enrolling like musical storytelling. Pithed guitar licks and throbbing bass lines paint the picture, resonating with the listener immediately. Encapsulating everything magical in prog rock, the song slowly devours its slow burning mystic and starts to power up on its metallic engines. Dream Theater reminiscent breaks and hooks (,,6:00”) are laden atop the typical melodies.

PENTESILEA ROAD – THE CONCLUSION

If that is not enough, the physical version of the album features an exclusive bonus track in the likes of ,,The Geometry of Nothing” with Savatage’s powerhouse vocalist Zak Stevens guesting.

At nearly 100 minutes, the album is a marathon, not a sprint!

‘Sonnets From the Drowsiness’ is a prog feast; ambitious, melodic, and crafted with care. Yes, it is a long winding prog road you find yourself on. Perhaps a bit too long, but the album offers so much wonderful moments that every moment of the day you can refer to one of the tracks aligning with your mood perfectly. The diversity and wideness are tremendous and executed with grace. Pentesilea Road have carved out their own niche, and it’s well worth the ride. Give this album a spin, more than once.

Release date: 23 May 2025