Dark Lunacy
Devoid

The dreamy melody of a string quartet is abruptly torn apart by the intervention of a violent guitar riff, a prelude to a rapid-fire verse led by a cavernous voice. Thus opens "Devoid," the debut of our fellow Italians, Dark Lunacy, dated 2000.

It has been 7 years since the release of this album, which remains one of the brightest demonstrations of how Italian Metal bands have nothing to envy compared to their foreign colleagues. Dark Lunacy made their appearance on the scene with this album, which earned considerable fame due to the innovation it brought. The base from which the Parma four-piece begins is undoubtedly a melodic Death Metal that is quite fierce in its rhythms. To this, Dark Lunacy adds a string quartet that accompanies them in every track, giving the music emotional and melancholic nuances that are not negligible and furthermore, a significant complexity.

"Dolls", the opener, is perhaps the band's most well-known track. Built on a typically Death Metal structure, we are immediately presented with a masterpiece where the aggressiveness of Enomys' riffs perfectly merges with the main melody, which is instead the work of strings. Over it all, the raw growl of Mike Lunacy passionately delivers one of the most beautiful lyrics I have ever read.

Imbued with autumnal and decadent atmospheres, the album is a monument of sorrowful beauty. It is worth highlighting that despite this, there is a certain warmth that emerges here and there, albeit nostalgic and melancholic, typical of Italian bands. This allows this splendid group not to fall into a predictable pessimistic rhetoric (all too common in certain circles) but rather to drive a tortured yet positive reflection.
Famous are the influences that the culture and history of Russia have left on the singer Mike Lunacy, and this passion is evident both in the lyrics and the music, as highlighted by two masterpiece tracks, "Stalingrad" and "Forlon" (in which in the wonderful and captivating refrain appear choirs taken from an old Red Army vinyl), both disarming in how the sonic violence never suppresses the melody and the delicacy of the compositional structures.

The two souls of the group, one angry and raw, the other melodic and ethereal, coexist in every single song creating a tableau of suffering that is however filled with life and strength and, in a certain sense, hope. Examples of this are "Varen'Ka", a hymn of unheard-of power, perhaps the heaviest track of the lot, and "Cold Embrace", filled with orchestrations and female voices elevated by the chorus, intense and very sorrowful. "December," the darkest track on the album, does not lack influences that in some ways are attributable to English Doom. Also note "Fall" and its splendid melody accompanied by a solemn choir.
The album closes with "Take My Cry", the simplest and most direct track. Supported by a Thrash/Death rhythm and guided in the refrain by the interplay between an ethereal female voice and the growl, it explodes into a finale where strings, a sweet piano line, guitars, and voice blend into a sweet and moving sonic architecture, symbolizing what Dark Lunacy represents, constantly balancing on the fine line between pain and hope.

One can undoubtedly speak of a masterpiece for Dark Lunacy's debut; there are no weak moments, and all the tracks, even if sometimes too prolix, are special in their own way for the wonderful sensations they know how to evoke. An album that serves as a warning for all those who blatantly ignore the Italian scene. Here we are facing one of the best bands in its genre, certainly one of the most valid realities (if not the most valid together with Novembre) in a country where unfortunately in the Metal field it's almost mandatory to talk about blood and dragons or rewrite Iron Maiden songs to be listened to by someone.