Branches
"Old Forgotten Places"

Almost 10 years after the release of "Distance," the Branches, a Sicilian band, have released their second album "Old Forgotten Places." They are a mature offshoot of the Transcendental Dark, formed in 1996, and have retained, reworking them, the tracks "From Somewhere" and "Mice" from their first album "Distance" from 2006.
The Messinese "Rami," as their name translates, delve into the 80s new wave past, drawing the darkest lifeblood from the darkwave and post-punk of that magical period and creating a new and refined music.
The band consists of Enrico Russo on vocals and guitars, Giovanni Scuderi on bass, Francesco Forestiere on keyboards and synth, and Giampiero De Francesco on drums and drum machine.
This second work confirms the premises of the album "Distance"; the group presents us with its decadent and romantic music that you'd never guess originates from such a warm land famous for its sea and sun.
The album immediately strikes with a cover featuring shades of blue and white, an imposing glacier on the front, and an aurora borealis on the backside!
The 8 tracks follow one another for 54 minutes, almost like the old LPs.
It opens with "Sedna," an instrumental track that serves as an intro even though it's the longest piece on the CD; the atmosphere, you feel immediately, is one of glacial electronics with gloomy synths and a post-punk bass in the foreground. You'd expect an evolution of the track, but it continues on that obsessive rhythm until the end.
It's a very instrumental work, but the sung tracks have well-curated lyrics talking about memories and the passing of time. Even the title, "old forgotten places," carries with it profound melancholy.
The second track, "Wake," is a reflection on lost faith, wasted time, sadness, and guilt.
Also, the track "All That is Left" is dedicated to what we have left behind, a funeral of old memories of a young and rebellious age.
In the song “The Sunset Way,” referring almost to the old movie from the '50s, there's a surprising mystical moment: after saying "I'm slowly weakening, ash through the fog," there's talk of Christ's passion and his ordeal seen through the poisoned eyes of his murderers.
As for the music of these 3 tracks, the influences of the Cure, Sad Lovers and Giants, or Tears for Fears can be strongly felt, indeed the best of the new wave.
The next piece, the instrumental "Interlude," is the ideal start of the B-side of the 33 rpm, a short and fast track that introduces the funereal solitary march, "The Lonely March," which with a martial pace recalls the Cure's "Pornography" or the track "The Top"; the guitars and keyboards are beautiful at the 3:15 mark. It's a solitary march over the lands, in the deepest seas, under the weight of time.
The seventh track is the danceable “Declining Days,” the ideal single: the rhythm is more cheerful, but the lyrics are always dramatic. Here, you feel the influence of the electronic darkwave of Frozen Autumn and Clan Of Xymox, but compared to Xymox, the lyrics are more curated. It talks of forgotten and time-worn places and hope dying under the arches, among the ruins. So there's no room for joy, after all, the title is deteriorating days.
The last track “On an Ice Plate,” slows down again, and the atmospheres become more ambient. This track seems dedicated to someone who is no longer there, among the angels, and in the silence, you can hear their ghostly voice.