A Flower Kollapsed
Orsago

With its three thousand plus inhabitants, Orsago is a Venetian municipality like many others. A small urban cluster that repeats itself in a camouflaged manner throughout Northern Italy. At Christmas, a fir tree is placed in front of the Church of San Benedetto, and everyone passing by exchanges greetings, and like many other towns, it is caught between the history of its past and the desire to be modern. But "Orsago" is also the debut album by A Flower Kollapsed, released after a split with Afraid! and another with Esicastic. And here the Church of San Benedetto no longer has anything to do with it, or not directly, because who knows how many times Riccardo, Matteo, Phill, and Andrea have entered and exited there (but maybe they're not parish people) or even just passed by. And this, in the end, is part of them, choosing to play like Converge in Veneto, rather than doing Metallica covers in pubs.

In 2007 they released their first album, "Orsago" to be precise, produced by the well-known Giulio Favero (Teatro degli Orrori SHOULD mean something to you). It kicks off with "Nigga", starting with a bogged down yet clean riff, and crashes against the schizophrenic voice: the result is a one minute and twenty-eight seconds track of pure Screamo. Personally, I don't really believe in grandiose or convoluted definitions, as "Screamo" might be, because it's not just about that. When you read "screamo," think of the sound structures of Converge, and that lacerated pressure, the deviance of the Blood Brothers (sadly unattainable) or the enviable momentum of our local Death of Anna Karina. A not so precise cut and sew, in short. So what is it about? The drumming is fast but without losing fluidity, forget the expressionless compressors of black metal or certain hardcore, sharp guitars but barely effected, a raucous, piercing, and annoying vocal; noise escapades and post-hardcore sensitivity. Better yet, the same '80s hc attitude of reaching out to the kids. Because that's ultimately what we're talking about, a genre that since the beginning of the nineties hasn't yet finished casting its long shadow over numerous bands worldwide, post-hardcore. What is screamo if not a hysterical and expressionist declination of post-hardcore? One of those sub, subgenres that ends up being the perceptual mirror of a handful of people closed off in their own musical ostracism. Luckily, however, and this is why I’m talking about them, with A Flower Kollapsed we don't stop at a simple game of quotes and references; because what they do ultimately possesses its own nature and turns out to be an album with a strong personality. There's room for experimentation, without it seeming forced or contrived, as in "Marble"; where they allow themselves to do as they wish. We thus have a stoogesque interlude (remember Fun House) where a stumbling bass keeps time with a free jazz sax. Then comes the effective epidermal riff at the opening of "A Tower Kollapsed", which ends with a succession of detonations, slowdowns, and accelerations. The funambulism of the drums, between broken rhythms and furious crashes, takes center stage.

The clattering guitar of "Turtle Rocks Fucker" drags us behind the singing, where it seems you can hear the ticking of the last moments of a decision: sweaty and terrifying. "About Beans And Drafts", besides being the longest track on the album, is also the one that presents greater originality, with that psychedelic and dark, almost Sabbath-like tail. The last track, with its forty-eight seconds, closes the initial discourse started with "Nigga". Unfortunately, the album is short, but what there is, is of value and quality. The packing also deserves a look, a beautiful and "modern" digital abstractism. As a whole, there is a need and potential not to remain confined to a niche genre without adhering to stereotypes, all favored by technical expertise that allows them to express themselves without difficulty. The Flower seem to want to say, ok this is the music we like and as you can see we know how to do it, but we want to go beyond.

A powerful and personal work, riding the hurricane without being sucked in, just as the aforementioned Death of Anna Karina had already managed to do. "Orsago", a work in some ways still raw, and this explains the rating, but played and recorded with professionalism, is the promising premise to the confirmation "Brown Recluse," the second album dated 2008.