Short Reviews [Marco Ragni / Bjorn Riis - 2020 - "Carnival of Ghosts"]

As a taster for the new album ‘If’, which will be out in November, Marco has released the single “Carnival of Ghosts” which comes in at a tad under eight minutes in length. As can be seen from the title, on this album he is working with Airbag guitarist Bjorn Riis, and the collaboration has created something which is more dynamic and, in your face, than I would really expect from either of them. Marco’s singing is powerful and aggressive, acoustic guitar holds it all together, the electric guitar and keyboards provide substance while the rhythm section power through at times and go for an espresso at others. Then on top of that there is the sumptuous lead solos from Riis, and I only wish he was this powerful and dynamic with his own band whose last, ‘A Day At The Beach’, suffered from lack of guitars. That is not the case here, and the song is full of contrasts and style, so much so that it feels so much shorter than it is, as the listener gets brought inside from the very first picked guitar. If this is a sampler for the album, then I am sure it is going to be an absolute killer and I can’t wait to hear the full thing.