THE BEAST

PENTESILEA ROAD: "Pentesilea Road" - Reviewed By Rocka Rolla Web Zine ! Check it out here at this link: https://rockarollazine.blogspot.com/2021/05/pentesilea-road-pentesilea-road-2021.html

Pennysile Road, in addition to the fantastic city created by Italo Calvino in his book "The Invisible Cities", is also since 2014 the project of the Italian guitarist Vito F. Mainolfi who, after digitally publishing several instrumental demos (in which he also dealt with the bass and programming), completed in 2020 his self-titled album. To give more color to his proposal, he chose to recruit a number of musicians (Ezio di Ieso on keyboards, Alfonso Mocerino on drums and Lorenzo Nocerino on vocals) and decided to have luxury guests such as Ray Alder (Fates Warning), Mark Zonder (ex Fates Warning), Michele Guaitoli (Visions Of Atlantis) and Paul Prins to provide an extra quality bonus.
Mainolfi, composer, producer and responsible for the artwork of the cover, offers us an approach that he himself frames within the range of post-progressive influences that swing between rock and metal. The compositions of this meritorious debut that have as a common thread the restlessness originated by the modern world, stand out for the virtuoso work of the solo guitar, the elaborate syncopated drum patterns, the inspired changes of rhythm, the atmospheric instrumental passages, the sound excellence and the impeccable technical execution, but on the opposite side of the scale we find that they are too uniform and lacking in claw.
Memory Corners is an extensive instrumental piece that opens the can with its unique synths, fantastic drum work by Mark Zonder and an easily identifiable melody, Stranded is a rocking and accessible half-time with a muscular riff and choppy rhythm and Genius Loci has a riding cadence, a captivating guitar drawing and a fabulous chorus of enthralling melody.
Spectral Regrowth and Give Them Space are two new instrumental cuts in which the former member of Fates Warning also appears, the first with various tempo changes and the second with an imperial drums and a powerful bass that create an authentic wall of sound on which the keyboards and guitar will parade, while Stains is a sweet track that has the testimonial participation of Michele Guaitoli supporting the voice of Nocerino.
Shades Of The Night is a balladistic contribution with piano notes that is gaining intensity after the beautiful chorus tutored by a fabulous melody (the song has an alternative track sung by the warm voice of Ray Alder) and The Psychopathology Of Everyday Things is the last instrumental cut where the keys of the pianoforte and the synthesizer are combined with different guitar motifs while from between them the main theme emerges.
Noble Art has again the presence of the singer of Fates Warning who weaves a beautiful chorus, the theme-title presents the most inspired vocal interpretation of Lorenzo Nocerino and the attractive motif of Arabic airs of A Tale Of Dissidence dismisses this extensive work.
Pennysile Road is a plastic for the staunch fans of prog in general and fans of bands such as Fates Warning or Dream Theater, although whoever writes - perhaps that's why "honey was not made for the mouth of the don't" - has found it too leisurely and unsymenative. - Rocka Rolla Web Zine

Pentesilea Road - A Band‘s Short Bio and Introduction:

“Pentesilea Road” is a post-progressive band, originally formed as a one-man solo project of the Italian guitarist Vito F. Mainolfi in 2014. Until 2019, the band published several demos, mostly instrumental, over SoundCloud and BandCamp. In July 2020 Vito F. Mainolfi recorded a full-length demo of 11 tracks and started recruiting several musicians in order to record the first self-titled album.
By the end of October 2020, the band line up was completed and enriched by guest stars Ray Alder ( Fates Warning, Engine, Redemption ) and Mark Zonder (Ex- Fates Warning, Warlord ). The recording of the first album was completed by the end of 2020 and the first single, “Shades of the Night”, was released on January the 29th, 2021. 
The first full-length album “Pentesilea Road” was released on 26.02.2021. 

About the Pentesilea Road Album:
Due to COVID-19 outbreak, the album was recorded as a long-distance collaboration:  Guitars/Bass were recorded in the Netherlands, Vocals in Italy and Spain, Keys in Italy, Drums in Italy and USA. The musical style is a contamination of a few genres, including clear influences from the Progressive, Post-Rock and Metal areas.
The band's name is a reference to Pentesilea, the diluted city described in Italo Calvino’s book “Invisible Cities”, clearly mentioned as a metaphor for the sense of displacement in the post-modern era (the album was initially advertised as “Pentesilea Road is a post-progressive journey along the roads of the Invisible Cities. A tale of dissidence; an irreverent act of protest against the modern world”). 
Although the album is not a concept, the philosophy behind the main topic is constantly recurring in the lyrics (“Stuck in a dream of a steady decline/while dancing the cosmopolitan pantomime”, “this Cybercircus/a neo-feudal constitutional architecture camouflage”, “the media mouth has all the answers for those who have no questions”).
Pentesilea Road first album has been published on 26.02.2021 on all digital platform. 
CD Digipack will be available in April 2021 and can be requested via the band’s Facebook page

Tracks and Credits:
 

PENTESILEA ROAD

1 Memory Corners (Feat. Mark Zonder)
2 Stranded
3 Genius Loci
4 Spectral Regrowth (Feat. Mark Zonder)
5 Stains (Feat. Michele Guaitoli)
6 Give them Space (Feat. Mark Zonder)
7 Shades of the Night
8 The Psychopathology of Everyday Things
9 Noble Art (feat. Ray Alder)
10 Pentesilea Road
11 A Tale of Dissidence
12 Shades of the Night (Feat. Ray Alder)

Pentesilea Road is:
Vito F. Mainolfi – Guitars, Bass, Backing Vocals, Programming & whatever else
Ezio di Ieso – Pianoforte & Keyboards
Alfonso Mocerino – Drums
Lorenzo Vincenzo Nocerino – Vox

Special Guests:
Ray Alder – Vox on Shades of the Night, Noble Art
Mark Zonder – Drums on Memory Corners, Spectral Regrowth, Give Them Space
Michele Guaitoli – Vox on Stains
Paul Prins – First solo on Give Them Space

All Music & Lyrics by Vito F. Mainolfi - Produced by Vito F. Mainolfi – Artwork Concept by Vito F.Mainolfi

Follow the band at these links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pentesilearoad
BandCamp: https://pentesilearoad.bandcamp.com/releases
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKeoz8TsveQC6MOzQPysoKA