Bud Tribe
Roll The Bone

For Daniele Ancillotti, known as Bud, music has always been a family affair. From the glorious and unforgettable days of Strana Officina, that iconic band led by the Cappanera brothers, to the current formation helmed by the Cappanera cousins, passing through Bud Tribe and Ancillotti, groups that feature family members in various roles. The lineups change, the names on the covers of LPs and CDs change, but fortunately, the quality and offerings have remained unchanged for the past thirty years, and good old Ancillotti continues to deliver excellent old-school heavy metal, performed with class and great passion.

Bud Tribe, formed in the mid-nineties after the obligatory farewell tour of the Livornese Officina, is a sort of commune of Italian heavy metal from the eighties, featuring in its ranks, in addition to the aforementioned Bud, his brother Sandro "Bid" on bass and especially Dario Caroli and Leo Milani, known to many for their time with Sabotage, another historic band from the golden years, never properly recognized and today sadly known only to the most attentive audience. This "Roll the Bone," released in 2008 after ten years of silence thanks to the involvement of the Brescia-based My Graveyard, presents a group in great shape, delivering fifty minutes of excellent vintage heavy metal. Unfortunately, compared to the previous "On the Warpath" from 1998, we must mention the absence of Marcello Masi, also present on the first recordings of Strana, who passed away years ago due to a serious illness. The album is rightly dedicated to his memory.

Despite the painful loss, it must be said that this "Roll the Bone" features a compact and determined quartet, with the guitars now solely handled by Leo Milani, who delivers truly remarkable performances song after song. Reading through the wonderfully crafted CD booklet, one cannot overlook the role once again played by James Hogg, author of the group's English lyrics, as was the case during the times of "The Ritual" and "Rock'n'Roll Prisoners", along with the presence of Oleg Smirnoff behind the keyboards, well-known in the Italian metal scene with a resume that includes collaborations with Death SS, Eldritch, and Vision Divine. After the brief instrumental "Forsaken World," the dances are officially opened by "Roll the Bone," a well-structured track with a great drive, in the wake of the best Italian heavy metal, further emphasizing how Bud Tribe and the current course of the Livornese group led by Dario and Rolando Cappanera are the only ones capable of carrying forward in a sincere and credible manner the immense legacy left by Roberto and Fabio Cappanera, the true engines of Strana Officina in its prime.

If "Holy War" further underscores the long-time influences of the Tuscans, namely Saxon, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest, the album takes off definitively with "Mother's Cry," a long and varied track conceptually divided into five parts, followed by "Face the Devil" and the moving "Ghost Dance", songs that seem almost like they emerged from that masterpiece "Rock 'n' Prisoners" of 1989. The fans from the early days of Strana Officina, in the end, will surely appreciate the return to using Italian in the final part of the album, with the remake of "Non Sei Normale," "Starrider," and the closing "Non Finirà Mai." If the first is indeed a cornerstone piece of Strana from the days gone by, appearing in an initial version even on the "Heavy Metal Eruption" vinyl in a prehistoric 1983, effectively giving rise to the Italian metal scene, the subsequent "Starrider" instead enjoyed some notoriety in 2008 when chosen by Jolly Roger Records for a 45 RPM split with another little-known Italian group, L'Impero delle Ombre, which offers a very classy doom. The conclusive "Non Finirà Mai," instead, written in collaboration with Dario Cappanera, another character for whom the term 'passionate' would be an understatement, is yet another anthem from the pen of Ancillotti and company, the product of a life that, despite the difficulties and many tragic moments, continues to be guided by that legend known as rock'n'roll. Truly an excellent album, therefore, performed by a group in a state of grace with Bud Ancillotti and Leo Milani delivering truly remarkable performances.

It's a pity that bands like these play so little around, but it's also part of precise choices, favoring quality over quantity, after all, it suffices to note how the various releases under the name Bud Tribe have been truly few and far between in almost twenty years, and perhaps that's for the better. Certainly one of the best realities of Italian heavy metal ever. 

Bud Tribe:

Bud Ancillotti: voice Bid Ancillotti: bass

Leo Milani: guitars

Dario Caroli: drums

with the participation of Oleg Smirnoff on keyboards

"Roll the Bone":

1. Forsaken World 2. Roll the Bone 3. Holy War 4. Mother's Cry (a. Promenade, b. Nature's Song, c. The Higher You Fly..., d. Mother's Cry, e. Flight of Icarus) 5. Gates of Hades 6. Face the Devil 7. Ghost Dance 8. Breaking the Spell9. Starrider 10. Non Sei Normale11. Non Finirà Mai