Fittingly described as "an unmitigated success which not only re-establishes the Italian quartet as a musical force to be reckoned with, but is also certain to be acclaimed as one of the best progressive rock releases of 2008", 4TH is Italian prog legends D.F.A.'s first studio release in almost a decade. Building upon their already-stellar reputation, this fine effort sees the band expanding their musical horizons even further.
The impressive quantity of musical substance on this album speaks for itself; it is abundant. The band's masterful compositional skills, finely-honed telepathic interplay, and sensitive, cascading dynamics are clearly on display and in top form.
Those fans who savored the band's first two albums will welcome 4th as a worthy successor. In a number of ways it's actually superior: there is more subtlety, restraint and nuance in the instrumental performance. This enables the epic, predominantly instrumental compositions to unfold naturally and organically, as if created on the spur of the moment.
After such a long hiatus from the studio, this is a fittingly superlative effort from the European prog giants.
