Progressive-rock and jazz-rock often share a common bond, yet many artists either tilt the scale towards technical gymnastics or focus on strong song-form and fine-tune the balance of justice with judicious soloing spots. “Unsafe Places” marks the first album by Italian guitarist and songwriter Emanuele Bodo, who gathered a line-up of highly skilled musicians to help him with his musical vision.

The musicians uphold a well-defined, group-centric line of attack, consisting of foot-stomping fuzoid rockers, often tempered by Bodo’s sonorous phrasings. His zinging crunch chords and soaring single note leads are contrasted by keyboardist Davide Cristofoli’s fluidly streaming lines. Moreover, the band integrates catchy themes into these impacting works. Thankfully, the group attains an equilibrium, where dynamics are acutely employed among the swirling interludes and off-kilter time signatures that instill a sense of adventure into the grand mix.

A portion of their sound is designed with brief nods to the days of progressive-rock yore, with a manifesto that transmits a hip group-centric disposition, tinged with modernist tendencies. Overall, the material reigns supreme, and it’s easy to discern that this is not an album that was recklessly slapped together. Emanuele Bodo’s self-titled recording debut is a persuasive one, indeed. Get if from here.