I must admit, there is a point in “Thy Last Flower,” the first track on the new Eternalkeys release, Eternalkeys 2, that made me laugh the first time I heard it. It was a laugh of unexpected joy, a feel-good moment in the music that made me recognize that composer Mimmo D’Ippolito wasn’t just offering up a New Age piano album.  The downside to this story is that just when he had me hooked with an interesting twist, the disc turned out to weight heavily on the side of overly bold and bombastic constructs that push for a sort of neo-symphonic feel but instead land with sort of a thud. “Thy Last Flower,” which succeeds with both its New Age side and the perfectly played metal-edged rephrasing that comes after, moves into “Ancient Doll,” and the contrast is, to get right down to it, disappointing. “Ancient Doll” thunders along with self-impressed bravado and no subtlety. Sometimes it feels like D’Ippolito doesn’t know when enough is enough. “Angel Soon” should be a perfect example of what he can do on piano. It begins as a soft and expressive New Age piece with light touches of synth in the background, and it’s lovely. Just when it could and should end quietly and on a fine, reflective note, D’Ippolito kicks it into a Yanni-type swell, overloads the background, and finishes with a hammer what should have completed with a sigh. On the other side of the coin comes “Forgotten Objects.” The first 90 seconds of this piece seem to be born from a different thought than the rest–and the rest, everything that comes after those 90 seconds, is pretty good, catchy electronica. The worst offense here is the closing track, “Strange Flight.” Here, the electronic beat that stumbles its way through the song apparently wants nothing to do with the music behind it. It’s conflicted and confusing and, to be honest, comes off amateurish. Eternalkeys 2 would be a complete miss for me if it wasn’t for the first track.

As always when I don’t care for something, I suggest listeners check out samples, which are available at Eternalkeys’ ReverbNation page.