Dormant Ordeal - "It Rains, It Pours" (2013)

Self – produced full – length album (March 17^th 2013)

Line – up (2005):       Maciej Proficz – vocals;

                                    Maciej Nieścioruk – guitars/vocals;

                                   Kacper Działdowski – bass;

                                   Radek Kowal – drums.

Location:        Cracow (Poland).

Better song of the album:

“Man from the Water”.

Better feature of the platter:

Its brutal inventiveness combined with its ability to worry the listener.

                       

Artwork: Agnieszka Osipa

Men, I know that you care nothing about it but ultimately I have a crazy fear because I will play in my very first theatrical spectacle at May 30th… and I will be the protagonist! But, considering we are talking about the debuts, this time I review the first album of the Dormant Ordeal (what the fuck a forced connection!), started as solo project of Radek Kowal and that I advice you already and without any problems. I am exciting very much about the extreme Polish metal, that is decisively both violent and full of inventiveness. In fact, you should read in a month’s time also the review about the sixth studio album of the Antigama, death/grind band that is now historic for Poland. But it’s too soon for them, so we see what Dormant Ordeal have to offer to us.

The album starts with a very atmospheric and relaxing ambient music… “unfortunately”, “Depopulation of Io” is a simply 30 – seconds intro, because after there’s a modern death metal full of blast – beasts and continuous surprises behind the corner. The atmosphere is hysterical, so the riffing is very dynamic but the melody is almost completely absent, and sometimes it is apocalyptic. In this way, it is helped by some (and rare) effects that are very atmospheric. In fact, Dormant Ordeal can remember sometimes Meshuggah, just with more muscles and less extravagant passages, also because, among the other things, the band shoot at times a remarkable groove (like in “Your Mother – Slave”).

Effectively, restlessness is the keyword to describe the album. The vocals are another example of this feature. All right, they consists of very typical growls with the occasional support of a lower growl and a killer scream. On the other hand, the vocals are perpetually doubled, artificial detail that give more and more restlessness to the music.

Another interesting aspect comes again from the guitars, nay, the soloist guitar. Its interventions are few but always effective, so to create usually short solos, that can stops abruptly (like in the dreadful finale of “Unimagined, Unwritten, Unseen”). Every song has a solo, only “The Stepfather” and “The Sinless” don’t respect this iron rule, holding the musical discourse without solo (and “The Stepfather” is also the shorter song of the album considering its 2 minutes and 20 seconds circa of length).

But, suddenly, after 5 very furious songs, there’s a 1 - minute atmospheric interlude, that is “Dememorization”, that seems to be a memento mori with its funeral bells, remembering me that my theatrical performance will be very soon. Panic! “Come on, don’t be ridiculous and say rather that, thanks to the interlude, the 2^nd part of the album starts in a very drastic way.” Oh yeah, you’re right, man!

In fact, the last 4 songs are very different than the first ones because they are longer (from 4 to 5 minutes of length), more structured (but exaggerating never as regard the complexity) and even blacker (listen “The Animal” and, especially, “Man from the Water”), useful thing that give more atmosphere and coldness to the assault. And still, the 2^nd part shows a stronger personality than the first one. In this way, I must absolutely mention the only mid – tempo song of the platter, that is “Days That Didn’t Make It”, also if it doesn’t shines paradoxically as regards the inventiveness; and “Here Be Lions”, the only melodic episode complete with an obsessive and desperate end.

I like very much the album’s production, because it is very clean but losing nothing in crudeness. For example, the drums have a decisively “true” sound, in a similar way to the “Morbid Priest of Supreme Blasphemy” of the compatriots Kingdom.

 

In conclusion, “It Rains, It Pours” is a very recommended debut album. As next step, I advice to the band to develop, in a better way, the musical discourse of the 2^nd part of the album. I hope that some serious labels will takes finally these promising Polish guys. GOOD LUCK! That is the same thing that will need to me for my theatrical performance…

Vote: 86

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Tracklist:

1 – Depopulation of Io (intro)/ 2 – Cypress Mourning/ 3 – The Stepfather/ 4 – The Sinless/ 5 – Your Mother – Slave/ 6 – Unimagined, Unwritten, Unseen/ 7 – Dememorization (interlude)/ 8 – Days That Didn’t Make it/ 9 – The Animal/ 10 – Man from the Water/ 11 – Here Be Lions/ 12 – Depopulation of Earth

FaceBook:

https://www.facebook.com/dormant.ordeal

SoundCloud:

https://www.soundcloud.com/dormant_ordeal

Trajeto de Cabra - "Antichrist Dominum" (2013)

Demotape (Iron Bonehead Productions, January 16^th 2013)

Line – up:     Goat Plague Messiah – guitars/vocals;

                      Perverser of Unholy Disorder – bass/vocals;

                     Blood Lust Abominator of Ritual War Incantations – drums/vocals.

Location:      Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada).

Better song of the demo:

“Whores of God’s Perversions”.

Better feature of the music:

Its madness…

 

Canada, the land of obstinate experimenters like Cryptopsy or Voivod. But Canada is also the land of the rapers of every musical aestheticism like Blasphemy or Conqueror, bishops of the style known as bestial black/death metal. In fact, Trajeto de Cabra (that means, in Portuguese, “Path of the Goat”) belong to this ultra – extreme genre and they are even consisted of 3 forming members of the Necroholocaust, band well – known in this sector, though they continue to publish only splits after 10 years of militant aggression. But, attention, Trajeto de Cabra isn’t a copy-and-taste band, since they play a music very different and personal than the Necroholocaust. And the absurd thing is that somebody says that the bestial black/death metal is static in its auditory extremism, what a bullshit!

“Antichrist Dominum” represents the very first assault of this new wicked creature, consisting of 3 tracks (with included the intro), where you can listen a strange, violent but hallucinate music. The vocal work consists of “ignorant” and dark growls complete with a oppressive reverb a là Nocturnal Blood. The riffing is something sick and black metal oriented than the other acts of this sub – genre, while the first track, that is “Whores of God’s Perversions”, contains the only solo, frenetic and disturbing, of the demo. In addition, the drum work, also if full of blast – beats, doesn’t disdain at times some surprising refinements. But you must absolutely forget the slow parts, that are totally absent here.

The songs’ structure is another unusual aspect of Trajeto de Cabra’s music. In fact, the tracks are based on a crude and paranoic obsessivity, repeating either a same riff again and again or, almost ad libitum, 2 – 3 musical solutions in sequence, like in the aforementioned “Whores of God’s Perversion”. However, the music hasn’t played in a mechanical way because, for example, the drums are able to dynamize it through sudden tempo shifts also into a same passage. Besides this, the unstoppable pace of the songs is sometimes interrupted by a very effective pause, like that one in feedback of “Chaos Serpent”, that is the shorter song of the demotape considering its 2 minutes and a half circa of length, while the other ones ranges from the 4 (the titletrack) to 5 minutes (“Whores of God’s Perversions”). Another thing to mention about the songs’ structure is that the band prefers sometimes conclude them in a very abrupt way, so to create a mad atmosphere in a better manner.

For the rest, the production is dark and dirty, but at times the guitars are obscured by the vocals and their reverb, also because they have the tendency to shoot growls/semi – screams without words, as it happens often during the delirious finale  of “Whores of God’s Perversion”.

 

To sum it up, we have ahead here a very interesting and merciless band with a bunch of curious characteristics. Hence, I hope that their journey continues and that, above all, they’ll release a full – length album under this new name, also because the experience accumulated over the years is too and very sufficient to do it. For now, buy and enjoy this demotape limited to 300 copies and fuck every hesitation!

Vote: 77

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Tracklist:

1 – Whores of God’s Perversions/ 2 – Antichrist Dominum/ 3 – Chaos Serpent

Radioactive Vomit - "Witchblood" (2012)

Demo (Serpents Head Reprisal, January 11^th 2012)

Line – up:       The Inverted Hierophant and Gasmask Fornicator – vocals;

                        The Nocturnal Black Adept in Psychotic States – guitars/vocals;

                        Desolator of Impurity and Abomination – bass/vocals;

                       The Shatterer of Wooden Crucifixes – drums.

Location:         Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada).

Better song of the demo:

“Satanic Charge”.

Better feature of the music:

Its incredible noisy and megabestial intensity.

 

After the super – complex plots of the Abyssal, now it’s time to review a more simple but always memorable stuff. Also because the Radioactive Vomit play in a incredibly personal way, despite their love for the tradition of the bestial black/death metal in its primitive rawness. Besides this, I knew this madmen through my FB group called, in fact, “Bestial Black/Death metal”. When I listen to them, I like already their noise, so a review about their demo titled “Witchblood” is compulsory. Hence, before read this article, prepare the ears and then… SUFFER FOR THE JOY!

“Witchblood” consists of 6 tracks (and the intro) for 13 minutes and a half of music, that is a bestial black/death metal very similar to the Black Witchery, but it is combined with a punk attitude that gives to the demo a truly inhuman intensity. In consequence,  the songs are short, since some of them don’t reach the 2 minutes of length. And still, the Crust moments with a crazy groove have a remarkable importance in the music, and this is a very rare fact for a band of this kind. Hence, these guys know when it’s time to slowdown, so to propose some doomish passages.

Another interesting aspect comes from the songs’ structure because they are full of separations and painful restarts. Maybe, the band sometimes exaggerates a bit but, fortunately, these moments are proposed through various ways, so they aren’t mechanical, as it could seems initially.

This structure is able to make more chaotic the entire music, all the more so because the band use very willingly the feedback, and it is presents, above all, between a track and the other one. It seems that everything falls apart, impression that is emphatized through the frenetic and noisy solos, played especially during the first songs, I wonder why.

On top of that, there is a very sick vocal work. Oh yeah, there are “ignorant” growls as paroxysmal screams and vocal overcrowding. To sum it up, here there is the typical resonant bedlam of the bestial black/death metal. However, the Radioactive Vomit know how to surprise also in this sector shooting at times some acute screams, that are totally crazy and disturbing. This time, the closest band to these guys is the Danish Blaspherit, and, at this point, I remember you that I review their first and still only demo ("Fallen Oath of Black Doom") one year ago.

Well, this band has been a very surprise for me, not only because it shows again and again the excellent health of Canada, fundamental country as regards the bestial black/death metal, but also because it plays with a good personality and variety plus a bunch of intensity. In brief, the Radioactive Vomit are the classic example of personality without any particular innovation.

Vote: 82

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Tracklist:

1 – Cydonic Devastation/ 2 – PlagueStorm/ 3 – Satanic Charge/ 4 – Obsessing the Asylum/ 5 – Howls Emanating from the Abyss/ 6 - Witchblood

MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/nuclearpuke

Abyssal - "Denouement" (2012)

Self – produced full – length album (January 2^nd 2012)

Line – up (2011):      Unknown.

Location:                  United Kingdom.

Better song of the album:

“Detritivore”.

Better feature of the platter:

Its oppressive aura.

Cover artwork: Kristina Gentvainyte

Abyssal, what a strange creature! I knew this band through r-a-b-m.blogspot.com, an excellent Russian blog concerning the Anarchoblack metal et similia, but I started to listen to them just during this period, thanks to the Polish Hellthrasher Productions, that now has the Abyssal in its roster. This band is very mysterious, since, for example, its line – up is unknown. At least, it’s sure that they belong to that little legion of bands that starts usually with the bestial black/death metal a là Blasphemy to play a completely alien and hostile music, proposing at the same time an imaginary coherent with it, that can be the occultism of the Mitochondrion or the primitive aeons of the Antediluvian. As it seems, the Abyssal want to reflect the decadence of this society with their music, because, paraphrasing the German philosopher Ernst Fischer, just so the art can be truthful.

Hence, you must prepare very well before to listen to the Abyssal because their music is very sick, being a technical black/death/doom metal with incredibly long songs, all the more so because that there are even 10 minutes tracks (“When Paradigms Supplant Gods” and “Swansong of a Dying Race”). The atmosphere is incessantly oppressive and frightful, helped not only by the cold drum – machine (but, above all, is it a drum – machine?), able sometimes to shoot strange patterns, but also by the vocal work, that is completely characterized by a very low growl.

On the other hand, the riffing is various, since it range from the freezing black metal riffs with arpeggios to the stinking death metal moments turning to a surgical brutal death, especially during the slow parts. But the melodic intuitions have a good importance in the Abyssal’s music, and this time it can be very close to the depressive black metal, contrasting to the more violent and dissonant passages presents here and there into the album. 

The soloist guitar has a fundamental role for the band, since it completes and integrates the main riff in many occasions and in various ways, also if there aren’t a single solo into the entire platter. Anyway, thanks to the soloist guitar, the atmosphere becomes usually more apocalyptic and disturbing.

The songs’ structure is another very interesting aspect of the Abyssal. Be scared guys, considering their preference for the innumerable tempo shifts and the sudden musical passages. In fact, their structural approach is totally based on the istinct and temporary emotions, like in a crazy brainstorming. For this, the super – slowdowns with motionless tempos, distributed here and there into the album, are almost relaxing because so you aren’t forced to follow a complex plot like no one. Then it restarts. Without no mercy. On top of that, the ambient and atmospheric sequences that opens and/or closes the tracks are able to terrorize again and again the listeners, that asks: “What will happen later?”.

But, as it seems to me, there are some differences between the first and the second part of the album. In fact, the first 3 songs have a more “easy” structure with some previous passages that comes recover in a very fluid manner. Instead, the last 3 tracks are more black metal oriented and they have a more fragmented structure, that this time is usually based on the progressive modification – rhythmic or not - of the single passages, so to create almost some mini – songs into the song. In consequence, I prefer the first part of the album, that has more reasoned climaxes but, paradoxically, my favourite track is the fourth one, that is “Detritivore”, for two main reasons:

1)      it’s the shorter episode of the platter considering its almost 5 minutes of length;

2)      atmospherically, it is very different than the other songs, proposing sometimes more… “happy” riffs than the usual.

Besides this, “Detritivore” divides the 2 parts of “Denouement”, also because they have a similar length (21 minutes circa).

Well, after a mega – review like this, what more I can say? Mumble mumble… oh yeah… all right, “Denouement” is a original and fresh work like few other ones, but the vocal work is decisively static and inexpressive, also because it doesn’t adapt to the development of music; then, the songs’ structure is sometimes approximate, leaving behind brilliant intuitions (and also incredibly full of groove) that aren’t developed very well (at least, this happens during the second part of the album). At this point, I would be curious to listen their second album titled “Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius”…

Vote: 79

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Tracklist:

1 – The Moss Upon Our Ruins/ 2 – Celestial Dictatorship/ 3 – Deus Vult/ 4 – Detritivore/ 5 – When Paradigms Supplant Gods/ 6 – Swansong of a Dying Race

BandCamp:

http://abyssal-home.bandcamp.com/

Kingdom - "Morbid Priest of Supreme Blasphemy" (2013)

Full – length album (Hellthrasher Productions, March 25^th 2013)

Line – up:     Lwn – vocals/guitars;

                     Sbch – vocals (guest);

                     Left – bass;

                     Sliwa  – drums;

                     Warzyk – intro in “Slaves of Ruins”.

Location:      Płock (Poland).

Better song of the album:

“Syn Ognia”.

Better feature of the platter:

Its inventiveness combined with a great bestiality.

Cover artwork: Batlomiej Kurzok

After the Hell United and the ambitious Masachist, the extreme Poland returns, and in a fantastic way, on these pages. In fact, I say already that the second album of the Kingdom (their first one, “Unholy Graveyard” was released 5 years ago) is a heavy blow on the gums full of inventiveness and intensity, all the more so because it is long only 29 minutes per 10 songs (two of them are even in Polish). Besides this, fun fact, “Morbid Priest of Supreme Blasphemy” has released exactly the day after my 24^th birthday, that’s why it’s so fuckin’ cool hehe (fuck, I am sometimes very egocentric…)!

The band possess’ some remarkable points of interest, and first of them is the vocal work, that is really strange for an old – school metal act like Kingdom. The vocals are characterized principally by very wicked whispers, making the entire assault darker than the usual. In this way, the band is similar to the Goatoimpurity, Chilean bishops of the bestial black/death metal a là Blasphemy. In addiction, the Kingdom vomits more traditional screams and growls, also doubled, not forgetting some ultra – guttural vocals that gives to the music a more perverse atmosphere. So, the vocal work is very fanciful and rich of different solutions.

The second point of interest comes from the great variety of situations faced by the Kingdom, considering their ability to gives a strong personality to every song. For example, the classic death metal of the band is, at times, contaminated with black metal solutions (“Beast of the Sea” and “Syn Ognia”, where the riffs are more freezing), thrash passages (“Summoned from Dead”) and even crust moments (“Supreme Blasphemy”). In these two last cases the music has always a good dose of breackneck groovy, and so the ass starts to dance without will. In return, the band crush very willingly, and sometimes with a intensity to spit the ultra – blasting death/grind of “Tombs of Dead” (one minute of pure madness!), that is the perfect opposite for “Morbid Priest”, the doomish track of the album, considering also its long and obsessive conclusion where every vocal intervention has been completely banned.

On top of that, also the soloist guitar, usually through little but effective doses, help the music to be more various. In fact, it range from the minimalist and apocalyptic notes of “Morbid Priest” to the schizophrenic solos of “Beast of the Sea” and “Syn Ognia”, but I need absolutely to quote the two surprising and Arab solos of “Nameless King”, another slow song but more incisive than “Morbid Priest”.

Effectively, this last episode is the only unconciving track of the platter, having a poor conclusion complete with a soloist guitar that has been used in a bad way plus the vocals that aren’t present for even 2 minutes, a less strategic choice. It’s shame because the conclusion is very well introduced by an atmospheric sequence dominated by the tribal drums tom – toms. Luckily, the album ends with “Tombs of Dead”, that combines the bestial fury with a more structured and reasoned approach.

I like very much the album production, that is clean and raw at the same time with the bass in a good evidence and the real and “ignorant” sound of the drums.

To summarize “Morbid Priest of Supreme Blasphemy”, it is really recommended for all those who wants an old – school and dark death metal assault with a bunch of inventiveness and different influences plus an excellent balance between the fast and slow parts. So, the Kingdom keep very high the flag of the Polish extreme metal, that is decisively rich of ugly faces and skills to crush the ass proposing often a music full of qualities. Besides this, the band has also coverized, according to its own style, “Supposed to Rot” of the incorruptible Nihilist.

Rating: 87

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Tracklist:

1 – Slaves of Ruins/ 2 – Krwawiaca Rana/ 3 – Beast of the Sea/ 4 – Morbid Priest/ 5 – Supreme Blasphemy/ 6 – Supposed to Rot (Nihilist cover)/ 7 – Summoned from Dead/ 8 – Nameless King/ 9 – Tombs of Dead/ 10 – Syn Ognia

Official site:

http://www.kingdom.glt.pl/

Insanity - "Live Rehearsal Demo" (1985)

Carissime e carissimi,
oggi è stata pubblicata su Empire of Death la mia recensione inerente "Live Rehearsal Demo" degli Insanity, gruppo pioniere di un certo modo di intendere il metal estremo. Quindi, eccovi qui il link:

http://www.empireofdeath.com/public/template4/dettaglio_recensione_demopast.asp

Di seguito, invece, trovate la recensione in Timpani allo Spiedo - style, come è stata scritta in origine:

Demo autoprodotto (1985)

Formazione (1985): Joe DeZuniga – voce;

                                Dave Gorsuch – chitarre;

                                Keith Ellison – basso;

                                Bud Mills – batteria.

Località:                  San Francisco, California (USA).

Miglior canzone del demo:

“Fire Death Fate”.

Punto di forza dell’opera:

la sua immonda velocità unita a una tecnica non comune (almeno a quei tempi).

 

In un periodo nel quale il primo metal (ultra) – estremo si caratterizzava spesso per essere un’accozzaglia di rumore e insensatezze varie (si citino per esempio i tedeschi Poison di “Sons of Evil”, dalla produzione inascoltabile e dalle urla veramente folli e squarciagola; oppure i californiani Black Dethe, che per quanto primitivi proponevano canzoni esageratamente lunghe, ripetitive e senza neanche qualche assolo), gli Insanity facevano (e fanno ancora) una bellissima figura, sotto ogni punto di vista. Anche perché elevarono il thrash metal a un nuovo livello di brutalità da far invidia perfino ai Morbid Saint, nonostante il genere fosse nato ufficialmente solo 2 anni prima. Thrash? Ma allora perché ne sto parlando qui?

Beh, effettivamente questo gruppo, proveniente dalla libertaria San Francisco (come i soprammenzionati Black Dethe), in questo rehearsal demo, registrato praticamente in un garage con l’ausilio di un walkman (DAJEEE!), suonano un thrash metal purissimo, anche per quanto riguarda la voce. Solo che qui tutto è paurosamente estremizzato, la velocità d’esecuzione è così assurda da cogliere ogni volta impreparati, anche se siamo ancora lontani da un vero e proprio attacco in blast – beats. Fortunatamente, è presente qualche rallentamento, che sia un tempo medio groovy (“Ultimate Death”) oppure qualcosa di più inventivo (ma sempre impregnato di sano groove torcicollo, come in “Fire Death Fate”).

Fra l’altro, le chitarre non sono soltanto veloci ma anche incredibilmente rapide nella costruzione dei riffs, che sono più tecnici del solito. Altra particolarità, viene data una notevole importanza agli assoli, che sono frequenti, fulminei e spesso brevi. L’unico brano che si differenzia da questa baraonda di solismi cacofonici è “Ultimate Blood”, visto che contiene un solo assolo.

Poi, c’è la voce. Gli Insanity non scherzano neanche in questo comparto, vomitando un grugnito intensissimo quasi urlato con tanto di riverbero che fa tanta atmosfera, differenziandosi anche qui dagli altri gruppi di death primordiale, che spesso preferivano un ruggito più cupo. Le metriche sono perfette e di impostazione thrash, spezzettate e senza pietà.

Come è senza pietà la struttura dei pezzi, che soffocano l’ascoltatore seguendo un andamento quasi totalmente privo di stacchi e/o pause, seppur, come già scritto, ci siano un paio di cambi di tempo capaci di dinamicizzare alla grande l’intero assalto. Le cui soluzioni musicali si susseguono in maniera diretta e abbastanza sequenziale, mentre dà un bell’aiuto il minutaggio dei brani, che possono durare poco più di 2 minuti.

Per il resto, è incredibilmente buona la produzione, almeno se rapportata a quella tipica di un rehearsal demo, che nella maggior parte dei casi offre una qualità decisamente più scadente (ma non per questo meno affascinante, beninteso). Però, certo, il demo è meglio sentirlo attraverso le cuffie, più che altro perchè alcuni riffs non si capiscono poi così bene senza di esse, e questo problema lo si percepisce specialmente in “Blood for Blood”.

Tirando le somme, il primo parto degli Insanity è un ottimo esempio di ultra – thrash metal travestito da death primordiale, solo decisamente più curato e tecnico rispetto alla media dei demo del genere che già infestavano il mondo nella mitica metà degli anni ’80. E da lì in poi, il gruppo, purtroppo sempre poco conosciuto, ha continuato la sua strada, conoscendo negli anni qualche brutto inconveniente (come la morte di Joe DeZuniga nel 1987 o quella di Bud Mills nel 2007), per poi sciogliersi negli anni ’90, e ritornare selvaggiamente a torturare le nostre orecchie durante l’inizio del nuovo millennio, riuscendo così a pubblicare il proprio secondo album nel 2008.

Voto: 80

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Scaletta:

1 – Fire Death Fate/ 2 – Ultimate Death/ Blood for Blood

BandCamp:

http://insanitymusic.bandcamp.com/

ReverbNation:

http://www.reverbnation.com/oldschoolinsanity

FaceBook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/INSANITY/57208433713

Abysmal Grief - "Feretri" (2013)

Album (Terror from Hell Records, 14 Febbraio 2013)

Formazione (1995):  Labes C. Necrothytus – voce/tastiere;

                                  Regen Graves – chitarre/batteria;

                                  Lord Alastair – basso.

Località:                   Genova, Liguria.

Miglior canzone dell’album:

“The Gaze of the Owl”.

Punto di forza dell’opera:

Le tastiere.

 

Copertina: foto presa dall'horror italiano

"La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte"

Terzo album per gli Abysmal Grief, veterani della scena doom metal italiana dai perenni problemi con i batteristi, che già sono difficili da trovare, mannaggia a loro! Ma finalmente, questo è il secondo gruppo di questo genere che compare da queste parti, dopo gli psichedelici e strumentali SpaccaMombu. Cacchio, ho combattuto moltissimo per avere un po’ di doom puro su Timpani, genere per il quale non impazzisco proprio per niente ma che qualche volta fa piacere ascoltare. Anche perché gli Abysmal Grief trasmettono un’atmosfera veramente misteriosa e minacciosa, quindi molto diversa da quella, seppur sempre cupissima, degli SpaccaMombu, oltreché piena di punti d’interesse.

Il primo dei quali è la voce, che risulta essere ben contestualizzata con l’intera musica. Infatti, si tratta di una voce pulita dai toni estatici e ritualistici, alla quale si contrappone talvolta un urlo “scatarrato” molto vicino agli stilemi black metal e, in misura minore, di un grugnito bello ignorante. In certe occasioni si fa uso dell’effettistica, come l’eco, mentre in “The Gaze of the Owl” sono sovraincise in contemporanea più voci, creando così un effetto spaventoso. Inoltre, in “Hidden in the Graveyard” è presente, nel finale, una voce femminile narrante che mi piacerebbe molto sapere a chi appartiene.

Il secondo punto d’interesse è dato dalle tastiere, che danno un tocco decadente, a volte beffardo, ben riconoscibile. Questo strumento è particolarmente importante, non solo perché è utile dal punto di vista atmosferico, ma anche perché spesso è il principale motore melodico della musica, e fra l’altro in “Hidden in the Graveyard” si fa autrice di una buonissima prestazione solista.

Inoltre, sono da menzionare assolutamente i lunghissimi assoli di chitarra, che sono presenti in quasi tutti i brani (e qui faccio notare che “Crepusculum” non è altro che un intermezzo ambientale e tastieroso di 3 minuti e mezzo da brividi). La cosa figa è che i solo non sono prolissi, essendo vari e soprattutto inventivi, dato che talvolta possiedono un flavour rockeggiante, ravvivando così un po’ tutto l’insieme.

La struttura dei pezzi è bella ossessiva (e grazie al ciufolo) e semplice, e si basa sull’accumulo, progressivo o meno, di linee melodiche/chitarre/tastiere lungo la parte finale di (quasi) ogni brano, che inevitabilmente “finisce” sempre in dissolvenza, come se si trattasse di un rito infinito celebrato dai morti. Lo schema è insomma un pochino prevedibile, anche perché:

1)      il riffing forse è un po’ troppo monocorde;

2)      la voce, alla lunga, si comporta in maniera meccanica, vuoi perché le linee vocali di ogni canzone s’assomigliano molto, e poi perché le urla black si fanno vive sempre alla fine di più o meno ogni strofa. E questo senza togliere niente a certe notazioni folli e molto intense date dalla voce.

Per il resto, è ottima la produzione: sozza, cattiva e sincera come dev’essere con in più tutti gli strumenti al loro posto, e da citare assolutamente il minutaggio dei pezzi, che non scendono mai sotto i 6 minuti (tranne “Crepusculum”) e mai sopra gli 11 (“Her Scythe”).

In parole povere, abbiamo a che fare con un doom occulto e tastieroso dalla batteria tonante e dalle soluzioni abbastanza creative. Però, allo stesso tempo, la musica, che talvolta raggiunge picchi funeral (“Lords of the Funeral” ed “Her Scythe”), risulta paradossalmente povera di idee per quanto riguarda certi comparti (quello vocale e il riffing specialmente). Peccato, perché m’aspettavo un po’ di più, perlomeno l’atmosfera è presente a pacchi ed è bella efficace.

Voto: 76

Flavio “Claustrofobia” Adducci

Scaletta:

1 – Lords of the Funeral/ 2 – Hidden in the Graveyard/ 3 – Sinister Gleams/ 4 – Crepusculum/ 5 – The Gaze of the Owl/ 6 – Her Scythe

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