I discovered this band, unknown to most, back in the days of "Dirty Happiness," their debut album, a blend of very melodic Progressive Metalcore, new school Hardcore, and the good old classic Progressive Metal in the style of Dream Theater; a pleasantly diverse record, rich in interesting content, boasting a very different compositional technique from the usual clichés.
"Ambition" comes out a full 7 years later, reportedly due to "internal struggles" against various adversities, and much more, painstakingly produced and recorded in various studios across Italy; in this EP, however (5 tracks), it starts slow: "Looks Like Disaster" opens with a very dreamy electric arpeggio, outlining a melody that will repeat in the (very successful) final chorus, alternating hardcore interludes, funky rhythms in the ultra dissonant pre-breakdown (echoes of The Contortionist in the "Flourish" and "Geocentric Confusion" era are heard here), sudden melodic openings, and a blistering solo, a worthy successor to the best John Petrucci around, showcasing ultra "tight" alternate picking and remarkable taste in note selection.
It starts very well, to be sure, but it's from the second track "The Diary" that the tension rises suddenly (and brutally): a 1:50-minute fuse of Grind/Mathcore/Djent with blackened nuances, with displaced riffs, syncopated and polyrhythmic drum patterns that send shivers down your spine (I should underline that it's Mike Malyan from MONUMENTS on the drums), with an ultra-heavy breakdown at the end that leads into an almost ambient interlude, serving as a prelude to the next track.
I pause on this new track, "Fragile Beliefs," as it is one of the best entries on the record: an exemplary mix of Swedish Death Metal, post-hardcore, Djent, Metalcore, Prog Metal, and more, with very well-executed modal exchanges and a series of riffs that, in my opinion, belong in the anthology; there are echoes of Darkest Hour, Nevermore, Periphery, Destrage, and In Flames with incredible ease, something unheard of in the stagnant panorama of Italian bands. The solo is impeccable, with a blistering speed of execution and an "80s" flair, and the pre-chorus arpeggios are also beautiful.
"Sheepdogs," the following track, returns to the nuances of "The Diary," delivering to the listener a whirl of riffs in 7/4 à la "Bleed" by Meshuggah, jazzy chords and arpeggios with a very pronounced Mathcore vein, and a central riffing style very much like Architects' "C.A.N.C.E.R."; one of the most original pieces on the record.
Everything's going great so far, but it's with "(S)innocence" that, for me, the absolute peak is reached: an instrumental suite of over 8 minutes drawing from the best of Dream Theater, Intervals, Tool, Mastodon, and beyond with grace and ease, transitioning from classical arpeggios to powerful Djent rhythms that literally take your breath away, leading up to a conclusion that gives us one of the best clean arpeggios you can hear in the Metalcore scene, a term quite reductive for a record like this.
The production, very different from the absolute power of the debut yet equally clear, visceral, and "mean" to just the right degree (note the perfectly audible bass during the listening, something very rare and even absent on the first record), makes everything cohesive and enjoyable.
In conclusion, we are faced with an EP that literally "outclasses" 99% of the so-called "core" productions on rotation: varied, dense, showing an ease of transitioning from one subgenre to another without any fear, embellished by instrumental and vocal technique truly above any "young" band you can hear in Italy, certainly a record much more "difficult" to listen to compared to the debut "Dirty Happiness," but in the long run, it wins hands down despite the goodness of the first episode.
The icing on the cake is certainly the artwork, vaguely inspired by "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog" and showing an attention to detail that is just crazy.
So, is the Italian scene dead and buried?
I don't think so.
Top marks all around!
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