Il Segno Del Comando
Der Golem

After releasing their eponymous and splendid debut album, a tribute to the atmospheres of the darker Italian prog rock of the '70s and to a certain Italian horror culture of the period, Il Segno del Comando by Diego Banchero changes lineup, now composed 4/5 by members of Malombra, and releases "Der Golem". It’s pointless to deny that, as a great enthusiast of fantastic literature, this album, along with the subsequent "Il volto verde", had a particular fascination for me due to its explicit references to the works of the great Austrian writer Gustav Meyrink. In particular, “Der Golem” is a concept dedicated to the first (and best) "Meyrinkian" novel.

Meyrink's book skillfully exploits the Jewish legend of the Golem (a clay giant artificially shaped by man through magic) and is steeped in the culture of Kabbalah doctrine. The story is set in the Jewish ghetto of Prague where, every 33 years, the ghost of the Golem appears, terrorizing the population. Meyrink evokes an incubus atmosphere in which Prague is masterfully described with its heritage of magical culture and its unhealthy ghetto full of sordid figures. Prague is considered by Meyrink as a sort of "threshold", a crack that opens between the real world and the beyond. The inhabitants of Prague are seen as puppets, automatons subjected to an overarching force that determines all their actions. The narrative style proceeds by "images" and manages to transport the reader into a delirious whirlwind of dreams. The alternation of dreaminess and wakefulness gives the story an unreal and nightmarish atmosphere: it tells the tale of a man (whose name is never mentioned) who exchanges hats with the gemstone cutter Athanasius Pernath whose life he will experience as in a dream. He wakes up in an apartment in the Jewish ghetto. A stranger commissions him to restore a book that will make him aware of the surrounding reality. We meet characters like the junk dealer Aaron Wassertrum, a sort of negative symbol, and Hillel, an employee of the Jewish municipality, a source of positive energies. The legend of the Golem hovers over it all, used in an unorthodox manner in contrast to traditional Jewish folklore. “Der Golem”, recently, has had 2 reprints in Italy, one, splendid, by Tre Editori (2015) with the magnificent and disturbing illustrations by Hugo Steiner Prag (which embellished the original edition) and another (2018) by Skira, frankly anonymous and dull.

From a musical point of view, changes are noted: the '70s atmospheres are partially abandoned and a more modern sound is sought, closer to gothic-metal sounds. Despite my musical preference always leaning towards the first album, in “Der Golem” there is always, in any case, a genuine dark feeling. Particularly tracks like “Dal diario di un intagliatore di pietre”, “Golem” and the epic and gothic “Komplott Kharousek” are truly frightening and imbued with a dark esoteric atmosphere. Even if it is not on the same level as the debut album, “Der Golem” has always had a macabre and esoteric charm that still makes it the classic cult record. Not everything works perfectly (some tracks lack inspiration) but the raw sound and sickly settings take us directly into the alleys and Jewish ghetto of the Meyrink’s Prague book. Worthy of mention is the splendid cover by the Genoese artist Danilo Capua.