Antica tradizione
Il cavaliere, la morte e il diavolo

Hello everyone, right and left are the same, even in the musical field, because there have been right-wing groups that created music just as beautiful as those of the left. This group created a beautiful album as much as it is unknown, and it is really difficult to find information about them. Released in 2009, it recreates the rock language of Creedence Clearwater Revival: a simple and bare musical grammar, a constant guitar rhythm, some electric sounds and flutes here and there.

The composer, Fabio, was born in Atlantis and is the lyricist of the group: the themes dear to him are a certain right-wing tendency, self-determination of peoples, philosophy, but also Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Ezra Pound and Alexander the Great.

This album gathers the tradition of right-wing music, whose exponents are (or were) "La compagnia dell'anello" and "Gli amici del vento": right-wing music, the "alternative right-wing music" movement, born in the '70s, is a genuine search for a sound aimed at the individual in their room, not the masses. It is not a mirrored opposition born from envy towards the engaged songwriters of the '70s. But it's no surprise if they didn't really sell more than 10,000 copies while other songwriters sold hundreds of thousands. This did not happen because they were worse and others better, nor because there’s a conspiracy against them.

Let me explain better: surely some groups are born as opponents of the "communists", but this does not change the beauty of the movement, nor does it change the value of this group belonging to a non-nostalgic right. They sell less than others because there is never a cool emotional explosion, there is no self-oblivion. It does not satisfy the listener with a "hit". "Alba Aurea" is a beautiful song. The reason for their commercial failure is that it is "loser" music, if you'll pardon the term. It is a monochromatic album, made of folk ballads with flute and a gentle voice narrating the deeds of the hero of the moment. It’s a bit like Ligabue, but Ligabue, for better or worse, is cool because he is sincere. Antica Tradizione, instead, vanish along with the well-being of those who listen to them.

Antica Tradizione are like Modena City Ramblers: genuinely mirrored. Take "Legione d'Augusto": it is a beautiful song, introspective, that fills the spirit, like Modena, full of symbolism. The voice is bright and clear, like Cisco. Their Folk (like Modena) is rhythmic, like Modena, and is based on simple chords and basic harmonic progressions, like Modena. "Small" detail: here, the clenched fist is not glorified. Minerva is cited, the German friends are included, the fear of the enemy, the Huns, is proposed. And it's said that "in struggle, there is life". The eagle, the city, and the empire are mentioned.

The peak of the album is "La giornata di S. Patrizio", a hymn to Bobby Sanders. The admiration for this culture rooted in the Celtic world shines through every note. It gives an impressive sense of peace and harmony. "La locanda" is a fresh and brilliant song. "L'ultimo re" is a classic sweet and melodic ballad, in full Celtic folk style. It is a compact album, with only one negative note, "Pioggia di settembre", a truly kitsch song.

The impression is that it's an album a bit too scout-like, a bit too medieval. What a pity. They are not as famous as Ligabue and will never sell as much as Modena, but they will remain a good example of Italian music.

And perhaps it’s better this way.