DESCRIPTION:
I'm VERY active promoting Twinspirits, who are happy to have this up!

Band: Twinspirits
Home: Padua, Italy
Style: Progressive Metal/Hard Rock
Similar Bands: Dream Theater, Redemption, Ayreon, Soul Secret, Cosmics
Lyrical Themes: Sociology, Freedom, Strength and Weakness, Relationships
Years Active: 2004-date

CD Discography:
"The Music That Will Heal the World" 2007
"The Forbidden City" 2009
"Legacy" 2011

Track listing:
1. Senseless 8:10
2. Pay For Their Art 4:18
3. Blind Soul 4:45
4. Slave to This World 4:41
5. Don't Kill Your Dreams 4:05
6. Over and Over Again 5:34
"The Endless Sleep":
7. The Endless Sleep 1:52
8. What Am I Supposed To Do 7:31
9. Legacy 6:20
10. I'm Leaving This World 6:09
11. Tell Me the Truth 7:38

On "Legacy", Twinspirits is:
Göran Nyström: vocals
Tommy Ermolli: guitars
Dario Ciccioni: drums
Alberto Rigoni: bass
Daniele Liverani: keyboards
Also appearing: Robin Olson: orchestration on "The Endless Sleep"

BAND INFO:
Easy-listening prog metal has been a goal of many bands in the 2000s and 2010s, but Twinspirits takes this concept one step further to educational prog metal. Everything about this music seems designed to be an experienced musician's ideal vehicle to initiate listeners to the genre and its diverse potential for expression. Non-threatening, unpretentious and highly memorable, Twinspirits enticed me slowly but has now gained my ardent following.

The vocals can never go unmentioned in any discussion of this band's music since 2009. Göran Nyström joined Twinspirits after album one, and his mighty, musically sensitive voice has joined the few singers (Ray Alder among them) that consistently improves my technique when I attempt his parts. Though completely unknown before then, Göran has clearly been trained and knows his capabilities, from Bruce Dickinson's higher register to dark lower registers, Broadway musical-esque passages ("Don't Kill Your Dreams" could have come from the climax of a musical) and significant talent at metallic hardball. Leader and keyboardist Daniele Liverani's selection, based on Göran's "musical" way of singing, was well thought out and is the perfect match for the music on offer.

The whole band has a peculiar synergy despite their differing backgrounds and styles: Daniele has a particular eerie, baroque keyboard style that is put to great effect through its relegation towards the back on "Legacy"; Alberto Rigoni's bass is very agile, keeps time well and is willing to experiment with other genres, as can be seen on his solo efforts; drummer Dario Ciccioni specializes in straight rock beats interchanged with tight, spinning fills that have proliferated as Twinspirits has matured. The guitars, however, cannot be ignored either: although written mainly by Daniele, Tommy Ermolli's specialty hard rock riffs morph in chordal, rhythmic and modal structure throughout a song and play a major role in the original blend of Twinspirits' influences. Blues-rock harmonic leads often recall the 70s and bands from this era that rarely influence prog metal bands: the solo that closes out track 5 could have been played by Led Zeppelin! All three albums have contained a significant portion of these genres, enough that they are classifiable under such a subgenre; still, as more experiments and ideas are integrated into Twinspirits, Daniele's "no rules...of any kind" philosophy only becomes more truthful with age.

"Legacy" is clearly the coming-of-age album for the band, as their initial optimistic zest for composing music displayed on their 2007 debut has calmed down into a more realistic view of the world. Initially, their music was well-suited for perfect days and contained a distinct raw, somewhat innocent and curious element; here, the complexity of composition has increased significantly, the riffs are much heavier and reverberate longer with the dynamic, open yet heavy production. From the midlife crisis of "Senseless", the anti-piracy "Pay For Their Art" and sociological explorations of our dependence on relationships - explored at length in all Twinspirits albums to date - "Legacy" is easily the band's most serious lyrical effort. The philosophical afterlife adventure of the 29-minute epic "The Endless Sleep" is tinged with trepidation: the beyond has its own challenges and difficulties despite its initial allure, and they still remain the same as in the world we inhabit now. Uncertainty about the future and searching for meaning in life are universal themes for whatever universe we live in. Ballad closer "Tell Me the Truth" shows the raw emotion of the main character that died to live a life that he isn't even satisfied with.

The realities of life, and even of being musicians, are shadowing these young players and have shaped their explorations towards the deepest questions, solidifying their status as the teachers of the progressive metal world. You might want to go back to school!