Blow Up.
20 ESSENTIALS: Folk Noir 1988 - 2011 (di Paolo Bertoni)

"If I had to rank the top ten albums of apocalyptic folk (a very challenging task, considering the vague and confused boundaries that define the genre), I would unhesitatingly include this 'Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude'..."

That's how my review of "Nature and Organisation" began. It was November 30th last year, and a few days later, to my great surprise, I saw Douglas P.'s mocking grin on the cover of the December issue of Blow Up at the newsstand! I must say that I appreciated the gesture, meaning that a magazine not specifically dedicated to the genre like this one had decided to dedicate an overview to a niche sub-genre like neofolk, a strictly underground phenomenon that is often snubbed by the "blue salons" of music.

The task of Paolo Bertoni, the author of the article, was simple and complex at the same time. On one hand, neofolk is no longer virgin territory: various contributions in recent years have attempted to illustrate the phenomenon, providing an adequate framework within which to move. Without bothering with the untranslated "Looking for Europe. Neofolk und Hintergrunde" by Andreas Diesel and Dieter Gerten, and looking only at publications written in Italian, we can mention "Lucifer over London" by Antonello Cresti and "Death in June: Hidden among the Runes", a biography of Douglas Pearce curated by Aldo Chimenti. On the other hand, many shadows remain to be dispelled, and the subject is still open to different interpretations and personal interpretative paths.

Meanwhile, Bertoni/Blow Up decide to talk about "Folk Noir" and not neofolk. The label (I learn from Wikipedia) was coined by photographer David Mearns to describe a phase of Sol Invictus's career (indeed, at a certain point, they deviated towards a more mature and composite sound, capable of assimilating jazz, neoclassical, singer-songwriter elements and those derived from popular folklore, English and otherwise). The term Folk Noir would later be adopted by many magazines to continue referring to the neofolk phenomenon as a whole, probably intending to avoid those "uncomfortable" connotations (which lend themselves to ideological interpretations) with which the entire genre has become identified over time. But if, in fact, Bertoni's writing reviews the various expressions of "classic" neofolk without, among other things, referring to the middle albums of Sol Invictus, nor those of bands linked to Tursa Records (which are the only works that can be literally defined as "Folk Noir"), it is unclear why one should not calmly take the bull by the horns and honestly address the subject. Was it not "convenient" for Blow Up to openly deal with neofolk? I find it hard to believe, appreciating the intellectual independence and courage always shown by the magazine, but there is a doubt that around this genre there are still prejudices and fears that make no sense to exist if one wants to do journalism objectively. In my opinion, the methodological correctness of titling the article "Folk Noir" is equal to that adopted by someone who would find themselves titling "Rock Baroque" an overview of progressive rock!

Bertoni, after all, says about Folk Noir: "...a genre that many prefer to define as neofolk, perhaps thus diluting the relevance of the post-punk, dark-oriented matrix which is indeed the soil it grows in." Something I consider only partially true. Pearce and Wakeford played punk in Crisis and the early Death in June took on unmistakably post-punk appearances, but upon noting this fact, we cannot overlook the other fundamental cultural background for the genesis of the genre: industrial. Let's just remember that it was precisely the industrial of the pioneers of the second half of the seventies that saw that historical period as the terminal phase of a disease infecting the West, its history, its culture. The provocative adoption of images and symbols linked to war, Nazism, occultism, Satanism, pornography (think of the extreme performances of Throbbing Gristle and subsequently of Psychic TV) was a foundational pillar of industrial and post-industrial culture. And it is reasonable to think that it was from those nefarious forges that neofolk drew heavily.

Moreover, Bertoni proceeds with a tortuous writing style, brilliant and rich in content, writing, ultimately, worthy of a superior caliber magazine like Blow Up: he prefers to scatter the individual pieces of the mosaic along his path, in order to deliver a complete (but alas fragmented) vision only at the end of the reading. Too bad that much is merely hinted at, implied, taken for granted, and that overall the reading is not at all smooth (the use of punctuation is, to say the least, questionable!). I wonder how useful such an approach can be, as the writing ends up being challenging for newcomers and nebulous for enthusiasts.

Far from claiming exhaustiveness (which is impossible for any overview intended to frame any subject in so few pages), it must be prefaced first and foremost that we are not talking about yet another retrospective on the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, about whom everything is already known, but rather about an unknown universe to most and barely comprehensible even to those who follow it regularly. Therefore, one could have reasonably expected a more detailed historical and cultural contextualization, a more systematic treatment of the subject, both on the conceptual side and on the purely musical and stylistic side. I've been writing reviews in this area for years, and I notice that the most common question is: "What on earth is neofolk?"

This concerns the introductory part. Let's now move on to the selection of the twenty works identified by the author. To give the reader an idea, I list them below: "Swastikas for Noddy" (Current 93), "Trees in Winter" (Sol Invictus), "But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter?" (Death in June), "Gilded by the Sun" (Fire + Ice), "Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude" (Nature and Organisation), "The Force of Truth and Lies" (Strength Through Joy), "Fire of Life" (Changes), "Luctamina in Rebus" (Argine), ":Emptiness:Emptiness:Emptiness:" (:Of the Wand & the Moon:), "Windzeit" (Forseti), "Nachtliche Junger" (Orplid), "Barbara Carmina" (Sangre Cavallum), "Unsere Feuer Brennen!" (Werkraum), "Notwendfeuer" (Darkwood), "Heiliger Wald" (Falkenstein), "Memoria" (Leger Des Heils), ":Jordansfrost:" (Sonne Hagal), "Schattenlieder" (Sturmpercht), "Born Again" (Blood Axis), "Die Aestetik der Herrschafts-Freheit" (Rome). Given that it is always disagreeable to dictate single choices, and that overall I accept the selection made by Bertoni (a path with sense, coherent and completed with reasoning, mastery of the content, and awareness of cause), I must disagree on a couple of moves.

Point one. I am surprised that as the leader of the series, the Death in June of the "Brown Book" are not included: not only the first album in history that "technically" can be defined as "neofolk", but also the commonly recognized manifesto of the entire genre (the same Blow Up, in the six hundred must-have rock records, had included that work as the only representative of the category). I can still understand the author's difficulty; the choice is certainly not due to negligence: opting for "Brown Book" would have meant excluding "But, What Ends When the Symbols Shatter?" which is literally the essence of neofolk. But even admitting this, two desirable solutions were possible: either to make an exception to the strict methodological rigor that imposes not considering more than one album per artist (in the case of Death in June, the exception could be made, given their importance for the development of the genre). Or open with "Brown Book" and possibly insert "Thunder Perfect Mind" by Current 93 (instead of "Swastikas for Noddy") as an example of mature neofolk. But not contemplating the Brown Book is a choice that, returning to the metaphor of the progressive rock overview, would be like excluding a seminal and symbolically representative work for the genre such as "In the Court of the Crimson King". This way, the period in which the overview is circumscribed is ultimately skewed, whereas it would have been more correct to adopt as time limits 1987 and 2011 (the choice to complete everything with the world-work of Rome is fully agreeable, not only serving as a useful compendium of what the genre has achieved in its nearly thirty years of life but also as a bridge towards the future, towards a more mature and singer-songwriter form of neofolk).

Point two. Being included in the list are eight German-speaking artists (out of twenty!), it seems to me that the discourse has become too biased towards the "Teutonic" side, taking away vital space from important names that would have deserved to be present. True, Bertoni implicitly justifies this choice by identifying an important handover (coinciding with the end of the Cold War) between the founding fathers, interested in probing the disintegration of the values of the Old Europe, and the disciples, who have sought refuge "in the realm of mythology and neopaganism". True, very true, but to explain the concept, half the mentioned names would have sufficed (I would have limited myself to including Forseti, Orplid, Darkwood, and Sonne Hagal). Thus, the remaining space could have benefited other artists bearing significant facets, such as Boyd Rice (remember that in the infamous "Music, Martinis and Misanthropy", released under the label Boyd Rice & Friends, folk was played and not industrial, featuring "heavyweights" like Pearce, Moynihan, Wakeford, and Rose McDowall!) or Andrew King (cultured interpreter of English tradition, as well as an indispensable collaborator of Wakeford in Sol Invictus and his other projects). Or important exponents of the "overseas scene" like Unto Ashes and In Gowan Ring (the latter excluded due to possessing "elements linked to traditional folk and psychedelia too marked to be included in this list of essentials": but then, are not Argine or Sangre Cavallum, which I would not have considered, just as "traditional"?). Not considering that it would have been interesting to take a look at the original variants offered by Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, In My Rosary, and Spiritual Front (if Italy had to be represented!). From a strictly methodological standpoint, I don't know how appropriate it was to insert a band like Changes, to be considered (alongside Comus) more as precursors (since they were already active from 1969 to 1974) than as real protagonists of the "movement".

In conclusion, it is necessary to remember the intrinsic difficulty that underlies every enterprise of this type: impossible to please everyone! With my notes, I only intended to supplement an already effectively outlined picture by the good Paolo Bertoni, who was responsible for a "summary" that can certainly provide useful insights for those who wish to delve deeper into the subject.