Acart

The Italian band Giant the Vine was born in 2014, on the eastern Ligurian coast, from the meeting of two guitarists, Fulvio Solari and Fabio Vrenna, and from the 4-hands arrangements of 12 songs composed by Vrenna.

At the dawn of the recording of the first album, “Music for Empty Places”, published on CD for Lizard Records and distributed by GT Music and BTF Distribution, the collaboration extends to Daniele Riotti’s drums and Marco Fabricci’s bass who, However, prefers to write and record his parts remotely, never meeting the band.

The album contains eight tracks, intensely pressing, characterized by a sinuous sound, sometimes nostalgic, open to the influence of niche artists such as Mogwai, Secret Machines and Porcupine Tree, but also heirs of giants such as Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and Gentle Giant. A mix of influences that indelibly leaves an imprint in the very name of the band: Giant, from Gentle Giant, and the Vine, a tribute to the pacifist ideal of One for the Vine by Genesis.

The ambitious and gently calibrated music, between virtuosity and biting melancholy, is well received by national and international critics, which includes “Music for Empty Places” among the 10 best progressive-rock albums of 2019, and which is echoed by the Canadian publication Italian Progressive which includes the Giants among the best post progressive bands.

In 2019, bassist Antonio Lo Piparo joins the group, but the following year’s pandemic forces Giant the Vine to a halt. With some live shows, in Italy and Canada, postponed to a later date, the band gets back to work to compose new tracks.

Thus “A Chair at the Backdoor” takes shape, instrumental like the previous one, released in May 2023 for Luminol Records and distributed by KY Publishing.

The album is characterized by a powerful and nostalgic sound whose definition contributes Ronan Chris Murphy, American producer known for collaborations with artists such as King Crimson, Ulver and Aurora.

If with the previous Music for Empty Places Giant the Vine had obtained an excellent reception from national and international critics, with A Chair at the Backdoor the quartet creates a more mature sound, ready to conquer an audience, albeit a niche one.

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