PR4NA – Prana (2012)
*
PR4NA was formed in Rome by Italian singer Riccardo Nardocci (Karnya) and guitarist Francesco Prati.
Both musicians have played in countless bands for the last fifteen years and joined forces for this project comprising the material they’ve wrote but does not suit the style of their main bands.
Karnya is a prog metal oriented act but both musicians are inclined to more classic melodic sounds as well and needed a vehicle to develop this musical side, then Pr4na was born.
Looking at the cover artwork you might think of a metal band, but their style is modern melodic hard rock with strong progressive injections.
“Eyes in my Mind” opens in a very melodic way with a sound reminiscent of nineties acts, with a bluesy feel in the middle part. Nardocci has a good voice (some accent) but who stands over the other musicians (which are really competent) is guitar player Francesco Prati. His playing is a mix of Richie Kotzen and John Petrucci, and the guy certainly can play.
Next track “Flooding Heart” shows more clearly Pr4na’s proggie origins with vintage keyboards in the background, but the chorus is really melodic.
Tracks like “Desert Sand”, “With Me” and “Words and Silence” (one of the best of this recording featuring a meaty guitar solo) continue mixing melodic hard with prog.
On other of the highlights, “Crazy Image”, Pr4na demonstrate that they’re really good, versatile songwriters as this a dynamically arranged uptempo tune blending melodic hard rock and melodic prog with heavy guitars and strong synths.
There are a triad of songs definitely melodic hard rock. One of the more interesting is “Ray of Sunshine”, again with unusual arrangements and where we can hear the best vocals of the entire recording, sweet guitars (including acoustics) and airy drumming.
“The Right Thing” has a nineties Euro MHR vibe and a catchy chorus, and “My Love” almost brings some AOR sounds to mix over a deep bass line and surrounding keys. Closer “Feeling” is an acoustic piece, a beautiful one where we can appreciate Nardocci’s nice vocal timbre.
Seems members of this interesting project are right now focused in Karnya’s upcoming abum, and Pr4na was put on hold for the moment.
This recording was made by themselves with the help of friends from the Italian rock circuit and remains unreleased, and although there’s a couple of moments where the mix is a bit shaky, these songs are really strong and skillfully performed.
Pr4na members should seriously consider to give this band a push because their style and sound have a wide range of potential listeners.
01 – Eyes in my Mind
02 – Flooding Heart
03 – Desert Sand
04 – With Me
05 – Words and Silence
06 – Ray of Sunshine
07 – The Right Thing
08 – Never Fail
09 – My Love
10 – Crazy Image
11 – Feeling
Riccardo Nardocci – Lead & Background Vocals, Keyboards
Francesco Prati – Guitars, Keyboards
Enrico Sandri – Bass, Drums
Dario DiPasquale: Drums
Not for Sale
