Semiramis -

Semiramis was an Italian symphonic/art-rock band that released the 1973 Trident album Dedicato a Frazz. The members of the band were 17–18 years old at the time of the album’s release.

Members: Maurizio Zarrillo (keyboards), Marcello Reddavide (bass), Memmo Pulvano (drums, 1970-73), Maurizio Macos [Maurizio Macioce] (vocals, 1970-72), Michele Zarrillo (guitar, vocals, 1972-74), Paolo Faenza (drums, percussion, vibraphone, 1973-74), Giampiero Artegiani (keyboards, acoustic guitar, 1973-74), Toni Massarutto (bass, ?-1974), Giulio Ferrarin (keyboards, ?-1974)

Background

Semiramis formed in 1970 in Rome when three teenage cousins—keyboardist Maurizio Zarrillo, bassist Marcello Reddavide, and drummer Memmo Pulvano—began rehearsing cover material by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Le Orme. They named the band after the Babylonian queen Semiramis, inspired by an encyclopedia entry.

Their earliest vocalist was Maurizio Macos (Macioce), but their direction shifted in 1972 with the arrival of Maurizio’s younger brother Michele Zarrillo, a 15-year-old guitarist and composer previously active in I Piccoli Lord. Michele introduced original material, assumed lead vocals, and quickly became the band’s creative center.

Pulvano left that same year to focus on work and was replaced by his friend Paolo Faenza, who brought in second keyboardist Giampiero Artegiani. This expanded the lineup to five members, enabling more complex arrangements built on twin keyboards and contrapuntal guitar.

Semiramis performed a 24-minute suite at the Villa Pamphili festival in 1972, where Michele’s solo impressed even seasoned musicians in attendance. They entered Trident Studios in September 1973 to record Dedicato a Frazz, a concept album based on Michele’s compositions and Reddavide’s lyrics, completed just before the band dissolved.

Dedicato a Frazz

Semiramis released their singular album, Dedicato a Frazz, in 1973 on Trident.

The album presents a turbulent, tightly structured suite of dramatic mini-epics, composed and led by teenage guitarist–vocalist Michele Zarrillo. Most tracks run under six minutes but contain an extraordinary density of material. Transitions between themes are abrupt and ceaseless, often shifting every 30 seconds. Though formally structured, the music eschews repetition in favor of flux: folk arpeggios collapse into hard-riff sequences, which give way to synth barrages, followed by ambient or theatrical interludes, sometimes returning, sometimes not. The concept centers on the clown Frazz, a dreamer confronted by existential realities, each song illustrating surreal episodes from his story.

Zarrillo plays electric and acoustic guitar with abrupt tonal shifts, alternating strident fuzz leads with nimble chordal overlays. His vocals—expressive, unstable, and forceful—often match the instrumental volatility. Keyboardist Maurizio Zarrillo alternates grand piano, Eminent organ, harpsichord, and sistrum, supplying harmonic breadth and fanfare-like flourishes. Guitarist Giampiero Artegiani (12-string Ovation, Di Giorgio classical guitar, synth) adds texture and linear interplay across acoustic and electric passages. Bassist/lyricist Marcello Reddavide emphasizes fast, picked runs and ascending arpeggios, also adding bells and effects. Drummer Paolo Faenza multitasks on variable percussion and vibraphone, the latter present during key transitions as a tonal counterweight to the denser electric parts.

Across seven compact movements, the album avoids thematic redundancy by staging each piece as a unique environment. “La bottega del rigattiere” opens with warped waltz-like motifs, vibraphone figures, and echoing guitar phrasing, before launching into layered riff passages and organ surges. “Luna Park” juxtaposes a frenetic guitar theme with slower organ-backed vocal sections. “Uno zoo di vetro” builds from quiet guitar–vibraphone interplay into a loud, distorted riff and an eerie ambient outro.

“Per una strada affollata” starts with anxious electronics, then alternates between acoustic sections and urgent synth–guitar stabs. “Dietro una porta di carta” develops around a suspended piano–vocal motif before erupting into accelerated ensemble sections. “Frazz” moves between lyrical passages and abrupt instrumental peaks, while closer “Clown” alternates anthemic vocals and whimsical shifts with a dramatic closing sequence.

A1. “La bottega del rigattiere” [The Junk Dealer’s Shop] (6:03) — opens the concept with a sequence of shifting tableaux and surreal imagery
A2. “Luna Park” [Amusement Park] (4:31) — contrasts breakneck instrumental runs with wistful, theatrical refrains
A3. “Uno zoo di vetro” [A Glass Zoo] (5:59) — closes side one with a stark postlude of bells, effects, and dark harmony

B1. “Per una strada affollata” [Down a Crowded Street] (5:03) — oscillates between acoustic calm and frenzied full-band sequences
B2. “Dietro una porta di carta” [Behind a Paper Door] (5:44) — slow-building introspection gives way to rising tension
B3. “Frazz” (5:11) — introduces the clown protagonist in alternating moods
B4. “Clown” (4:34) — final epilogue of solitude, juxtaposing melancholy with brief eruptions

Recording took place over twelve days at an unspecified studio, engineered by Luciano Marioni. Robert Cunningham produced the sessions.

The sleeve features a three-panel gatefold with cover and internal artwork by Gordon Faggetter. The external front depicts Frazz—painted green, expression fixed in theatrical confusion—while the interior gatefold presents an elaborate collage of symbolic fragments: a puppet merchant, a winged horse, a cracked mirror, and the titular clown suspended in abstract scenery. Visuals parallel the album’s abrupt theatricality and conceptual surrealism.

Though barely exposed at the time, Dedicato a Frazz has since achieved canonical status within the Italian progressive canon. Later CD reissues restored the original gatefold design and artwork in mini-LP formats.

Postlude

After the release of Dedicato a Frazz, Semiramis continued live activity through 1974 with a revised lineup that featured Toni Massarutto on bass and Giulio Ferrarin on keyboards. This second phase proved short-lived, and the group dissolved by the end of the year. Michele Zarrillo soon joined a later lineup of Il Rovescio della Medaglia before shifting focus to a solo career, debuting in the early 1980s as a melodic pop artist.

Giampiero Artegiani and Paolo Faenza co-founded the commercial pop band Carillon (1979–81), after which Artegiani embarked on a solo path and became an established songwriter and producer. Original drummer Memmo Pulvano remained active in local ensembles devoted to 1960s and 1970s repertoire.

Plans for a Semiramis reunion emerged in 2013, spearheaded by Artegiani and Faenza. A full concert took place in Rome in September 2014 with Maurizio Zarrillo also participating, joined by Vito Ardito (vocals), Antonio Trapani (guitar), Ivo Mileto (bass), and Daniele Sorrenti (keyboards, flute), later briefly replaced by Rino Amato. The revival ended in 2017 with the death of Maurizio Zarrillo, followed by Artegiani’s passing in 2019. That same year, Black Widow issued a CD/DVD set of the reunion lineup recorded live in Genoa.

In 2021, Faenza relaunched Semiramis with Sorrenti and Mileto and three new members: Emanuele Barco (electric guitar), Giovanni Barco (vocals), and Marco Palma (acoustic guitar). This ensemble released a new studio album in 2024 titled La fine non esiste.

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