La Coscienza di Zeno is known as one of the greatest Italian progressive rock (rock progresivo italiano) bands of its generation.
The group was formed in 2007. In May 2011, they released their first album, the self-titled La Coscienza di Zeno. The recording received accolades by the public and music critics, and was listed as one of the best debuts of the year.
The lineup on the debut album included Alessio Calandriello on vocals; Davide Serpico on electric and acoustic guitars; Andrea Lotti on piano, keyboards, acoustic guitar; Stefano Agnini on piano, keyboards; Gabriele Colombi on bass; and Andrea Orlando on drums and percussion.
Between 2011 and 2012, La Coscienza di Zeno recorded two songs that appeared on Musea Records’ concept albums, the first dedicated to Boccaccio’s Decameron, and the second to the writer H. P. Lovecraft.
In March 2012, the band performs a series of concerts in Italy, sharing experiences with several bands, including La Locanda delle Fate, Maxophone, Garybaldi.
Sensitività (Sensitivity), an album produced by Fading Records, was released in 2013. Again, it had a great positive response from the public, so much so that by the beginning of 2014, they had to print a second edition.
At the turn of 2013 and 2014 the group participates in numerous festivals in the progressive field, such as the “Prog-résiste” Convention in Belgium, “Veruno 2daysofprog+1” and La Fiera International Music Festival, sharing the stage with bands such as Three Friends, Osanna, Alphataurus, Gianni Leone, Haken, and Lazuli.
In the spring of 2014 the first self-titled album was reissued, with a renewed format plus bonus tracks.
In January 2015 the band released La notte anche di giorno (AltrOck/Fading Records).
During February 2016, La Coscienza di Zeno played in Holland at T Blok in Niewerkerk. As a consequence, the band released the live album 2/26/2016, Live – Il giro del cappio, released in 2017. Later in 2017, the group participated in the Progressivamente Free Festival in Rome.
In 2018, the band’s fifth album, Una Vita Migliore (A Better Life), was released on AMS Records.
La Coscienza di Zeno’s recordings, inspired by the sounds of the 1970 masters such as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso are masterfully crafted. The band uses dual keyboards and plenty of majestic Mellotron. Moreover, Alessio Calandriello is one of the best vocalists in the Italian scene.
The lineup in 2022 included Luca Scherani on keyboards; Stefano Agnini on keyboards; Gabriele Guidi Colombi on bass; Gianluca Origone on guitars; Alessio Calandriello on vocals; and Andrea Orlando on drums.
Discography:
La Coscienza di Zeno (2011)
Sensitività (Fading Records, 2013)
La notte anche di giorno (Fading Records, 2015)
Una Vita Migliore (AMS Records, 2018)
Dal Vivo 28.02.2016 (AMS Records, 2018)
This is one of my favorite Italian groups that keeps getting better with each new recording, like the best parts of pfm, le orme and Banco rolled into one with their own unique identity. Nice overview!