Hump Day Hot Ticket: Overtures “Go(l)d”

Band photo

Although it's been a few weeks since the last time I wrote about a band previously featured here, there is a lot of great music coming out from these bands, and they are generous enough to share their music with me and to allow me to write about it. And anytime I can share good music with someone, that is an opportunity I will always take!

One of the many talented bands from Italy that I discovered last year, Overtures has a sound that would appeal to fans of Kamelot, Dream Theater, or Seventh Wonder.

In the band's latest video, the theme seems to be centered on acceptance and “fitting in” at any cost. We see three different scenes as the video progresses; each one very different, but all of them sharing this theme.

The first scene is of a woman standing at her mirror, alternating between constantly checking her cell phone and obsessively preening in front of the mirror as she puts on an abundance of makeup, fixes her hair, and takes selfies. We see a little bottle of pills among the makeup and hair products, with a label on them that looks like a Facebook thumbs-up, clearly symbolizing the girl's addiction to social media and the attention she receives. Yet through all of this, she is visibly unhappy: as she reaches into the last “dose” in her pill bottle, she goes into a panic as she searches desperately for another Like; another hit of approval. Tears streak the perfectly-applied makeup down her face as the stands there despondent, staring off into space. She succumbs to her addiction, pops the last pill, and slides to the floor in defeat.

The second scene shows three children at a desk, each of them drawing pictures of a house. Two of the children draw very run-of-the-mill, typical childish depictions of a house, while the third child presents an elaborate, artistic reproduction of a lovely mansion. His picture is rejected, crumpled into a ball, while the other two children's pictures are praised, as they stand in front of the class proudly holding up their pictures and showing off their sameness.

The third scene, and one which is shown more subtly (yet is clearly the darkest) is of a priest at the pulpit, while a woman stands before him with money in her mouth, as if taking communion, symbolizing the desperation to enter the kingdom of heaven by giving away one's self-worth. At the end of the video, we see a crumpled-up bill in her wallet, leaving us to wonder if she has found her worth after all.

For more information on Overtures, visit their official website.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Overtures “Artifacts”

Band photo

When discussing European power metal, there are always those particular countries that are mentioned in the conversation: Germany (where many believe power metal originated; with bands such as The Scorpions, Accept, and Helloween), Finland (where bands like Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica helped to make power metal the country's biggest export), and Sweden (the home of power metal's undisputed guitar god, Yngwie Malmsteen).

However, plenty of other European countries are producing their own brand of top-notch bands, such as Italy's Overtures; a band infusing the power metal theatrics of Kamelot and the progressive intricacy of Dream Theater. The music has all the flair of power and the complexity of prog, but there is an added heaviness to give the music that extra kick.

In their latest video for the track “Artifacts” (from their album of the same name), regret seems to be the concept behind the video's storyline. We begin with the opening shot of a coffee cup, with a man looking down at a family photo in his hands, while empty picture frames hang on the wall behind him as the band plays in a dimly-lit room. As the story progresses, we see the main character frolicking around with various women, and then the same shot we see in the beginning is now of a woman, looking at the same pictures with tears. Assumedly this is the main character's wife or love interest. The pictureless frames continue to remain the central symbol throughout, as the couple's turbulent relationship unfolds on camera and both are left separately staring at the empty frames while the photo of their broken family stares out at the viewer.

Artifacts is now available via Sleaszy Rider Records or the band's official website.

Special thanks to Nicoletta Rossellini.