Aleph
In Tenebra

There's no way around it, I just can't bring myself to like this album, it's stronger than me. Bought as soon as it came out two years ago, this debut by the Bergamo band Aleph, "In Tenebra", never completely convinced me. The music of this band is a blend of progressive, death, and thrash metal, with some moments of doom (few, to be honest), and numerous dark wave insertions (clearly noticeable in the keyboard parts). Put like that, it really seems like quite a mishmash of genres, and indeed, it's not far from it. The album is very well produced; the band showcases truly exceptional technique, which leads to very interesting and well-crafted progressive and fusion breaks... But they are verbose and tiring, as demanding as a pork sandwich at four in the morning, with the only difference being that you don't get the same satisfaction from it.

The opener "The Fallen" (later redone by the band with Italian lyrics) starts with a beautiful, evocative piano setting the atmosphere and then slowly, unavoidably proceeds towards an orchestral crescendo, primarily dominated by dark keyboards (a constant throughout the album) and a singing style that, honestly, convinces me little, leaning more towards spoken recitation. Following undulating death flourishes take us to the second part of the song, essentially similar in structure to the first, culminating in a subdued ending. The track itself wouldn’t be terrible, but it’s marred by the singer's approach, another flaw of the entire album.

Indeed, the second track, "Unfaithful", suffers from the same problem: excessive theatricality and pomp in the singing and arrangements, too many and abrupt tempo changes, and too much technique thrown in, sometimes somewhat at random.

The only truly noteworthy moment of the album is the long "Depths", a primarily progressive track, graced with influences of Pain Of Salvation (the first I could recognize) and permeated by a good dose of melancholy that’s not out of place at all.

The rest unfortunately leaves me quite indifferent: the excessive eagerness to overdo it and create an innovative product ultimately damaged this album. If it had been more cohesive, directed towards a single point, with the various forces in play better managed, and with a better vocal approach, it would have been a great album. But as it stands, it smells a lot like a missed opportunity.