Zio – “Elibomevil” | Progressive Rock Central.com

I remember reviewing Zio’s Flower Torania, back in 2020. That was one fine album. However, now the band has returned with an enormous double live album Elibomevil, which was released on August 24^th of this year. It is a massive and amazing showcase for Zio.

Elibomevil was recorded on the band’s 2023, “True Waves” tour. How many double live albums do you remember listening to from your past? Some of my favorites include: Supertramp’s Paris album; The Band’s The Last Waltz, The Allman Brothers Band’s At Fillmore East, Yes: Yessongs, and Rush’s Exit…Stage Left; just to name a few. So, this album has many great predecessors, to reach for and emulate.

Zio is the brainchild of former Karnataka drummer Jimmy Pallagrosi. The band made their live debut at the Crescendo Festival in France in 2018, unveiling a line-up that included Olivier Castan, on keyboards; Marc Fascia, on guitar; and Liz Hayes, on bass; alongside guest vocalists Hayley Griffiths, (Karnataka/The Hayley Griffiths Band); and former Enid vocalist Joe Payne. Together they released the band’s debut award-winning album Flower Torania, a concept album inspired by video games, fantasy and 80’s sci-fi films.

Flower Torania won a host of incredible reviews and was Notes Reviews, “No.1 Album of 2020”. The band’s energetic and powerful 2023 tour saw them perform not only from the Flower Torania album, but also their brand-new album True Waves. Elibomevil features a plethora of talented vocalists including Eric Gillette (Neal Morse Band); John Mitchell (Arena/Lonely Robot/Frost*); Hayley Griffiths; Magda on vocals; Miranda and Gabriel Agudo on vocals (Incontinuum Band /Steve Rothery Band.); Corvax on vocals; Alex Lofoco, on bass; and Heather Findlay, (Mostly Autumn) on vocals”.

Every aspect of Elibomevil, will make this a classic double live album, to share space next to those epic albums I mentioned in the introduction. What a concise and elegant package of 24 progressive rock songs which will provide reminders of the glorious and epic past of progressive rock, while at the same time, set a new standard for live albums of the future.

Every song is perfectly performed and recorded, as if you are in the front row, near the stage; watching the band and guest vocalists perform their best for their fans. The clarity of the sound is un-matched in the modern era, with the help of today’s technology, which prevents some of the interference noises of live albums of the past. Every song is delivered with precision and care. There are so many highlights. For me, some of the best tracks on the album include: The wonderful opening with narration, “Play”. Then they deep dive into some heavy Hammond-like keyboards, glazed with gold by the grinding electric guitars of “Untenable”; which sounds like a classic Marillion/Arena sounding track. What a great start!

“Straight Up from Underneath”, is wonderfully balanced with the glorious female voices, mentioned above. “Wings Inside” is a great showcase for Hayley Griffith’s vocals and those wonderful keyboards. “Gold and Power” has some absolutely stellar synthesizers, which I wish would have lasted even longer. “Amused”, with its deep piano and Hayley’s full, and emotional vocal delivery, is definitely a highlight. The drum solo, that is “Suburbs Attack”, will bring back many memories of 1970’s drum solos you may have heard in your youth. Few bands include drum solos on live albums anymore, so this was a wonderful surprise. “Inner City: Shorroma- Part II”, is wonderful, with its emotional instrumental reminder of some classic Pink Floyd licks, I’m sure you will remember.

The highlights of CD 2, include: “Ma Petite Histoire”, with its beautiful keyboards and soft guitar, and Heather Findlay’s heavenly voice. “Flower Torania”, with its Kate Bush – like opening from “Army Dreamers”, is also a wonderful reminder of warm and golden relics of prog’s glorious past. “Erwin’s Opera”, is another one of my favorite tracks off the Flower Torania album. It sounds wonderful and even more emotionally charged live. “Above the Wheels”, with its opening sights and sounds, that reminded me of a rain forest, along with perfect percussion sounds that were perfect played live. “Ride Along”, with its wonderful keyboard accompaniment of Hayley’s beautiful voice, is a definite highlight. “Jupiter” is one of the heavier tracks of the set and it sounds great, full of powerful guitar and keyboards. “Close”, with its warm piano playing and Hayley singing, is another superb highlight. The flute playing on “I Hear Them Whistling” is a welcomed surprise.

Overall, Elibomevil, is an amazing compilation of Zio’s best music on two well recorded, mixed and produced CDs. You absolutely cannot go wrong with this fantastic live compilation of music. The only downside…after listening to these CDs, you will probably wish you had attended some of Zio’s shows, during the “True Waves” tour. Well, there is always next time. Or hopefully there will be a DVD or Blu-ray released, so that fans can see the performances as well as listen to the music. Please give this double set a listen. There is more music than you could possibly listen to in one sitting, but it is wonderful to come back to later. I will be doing just that, well into the future.