mementomori

I like it... it’s perhaps the weakest album by ND before the definitive shift with "fear, emptiness and despair", but it remains a good work: although incomparable to the albums of the early era, it still brings about a much-needed stylistic renewal; otherwise, ND would today be forgotten, limited to the hardcore fans, relegated to rot among the millions of grind bands with zero evolutionary rate. And besides, I really love Barney's voice!

ops: about tony wakeford "...that cannot be overlooked for ..."

Wow Cosmo, how much do you know? Thanks Hypnosphere for the compliments... so, what I think of Sol Invictus can be gathered from my reviews... immense respect for Tony Wakeford, an artist whose technical and compositional limitations cannot be overlooked, but who cannot be appreciated for sentiment and coherence... ultimately, I really like them, but they fall a bit short of Death in June and Current. The discussion about Ain Soph gets more complex... they are essentially charlatans, having produced some terrible things in the past, but also some great, inspired, and original works (at least in Italy), like the esoteric trilogy I, II, III (I particularly appreciate II, which elevates them to true local Current 93). The singer-songwriter turn of Aurora is also not bad, which I will want to review sooner or later, but I need to find the right way, given that they also play a lot on ideological ambiguity... the alter ego Ottobre, on the other hand, doesn't excite me much... in short, a discontinuous group, but surely of interest to anyone who enjoys esoteric music and apocalyptic folk... I don't idolize them, though...

I'm trying to take a listen...thanks for the tips...

Beyond the provocative intent of my statement, it is true that I rarely get emotional about Italian bands... I don't know, maybe because I generally find them derivative of other scenes, and thus certain "nostalgic melancholies" seem to me like imitations of others... The truth is that I absolutely do not immerse myself in the Italian underground... I'm speaking from my limited experience, based on what I happen to hear...

and I almost forgot the most important character: Zappa!

But you know what the problem is...it's that Italians are a bit tacky, they don't feel pain and even less know how to express it...mind you, we have other qualities, but I'll gladly leave the dark-folk-doom-black to the English or Northern Europe...

The scisma were an Italian band from the nineties (some videos were also played on TV), a sort of My Bloody Valentine alla matriciana... maybe you know, by hearsay, Benvegnù, the guitarist/songwriter of the band who continued as a solo artist... nothing special, you didn't miss anything, but I thought you knew them... bye

oh, welcome back! I see that you've dried off in the meantime... incisive and eloquent the review, as for the Oniric, whom I don’t know, I don’t think they would interest me... unfortunately, I’m one of those so-called "esterofili" (not by bias, but due to continuous disappointments... including the much-lauded spiritual front lately... personally speaking, I remain faithful to diaframma - great Fiumani! I saw them live a couple of times this summer!, ataraxia, and kirlian camera...)

Fenrir, keep in mind that this is pure avant-garde (in the de-generi section I put free-jazz, but this definition can actually be misleading: it's not jazz, and perhaps the easiest example is the more cabaret-like moments of Mr. Bungle's "Disco Volante," but without the clarinet, distortions, or metal outbursts of any kind). The listening experience is challenging and doesn’t satisfy like a Zorn or Mr. Bungle album (which, while experimenting, know how to craft varied works with different tricks to appeal to people from the rock/metal world). Here, there are no tricks or pandering, but I nonetheless feel comfortable recommending it to fans of Zorn and Patton, and in general to anyone who wants at least one album of highbrow avant-garde in their collection... certainly, there’s hardly anything metal, rock, or noise here, but it can be an interesting (and even fun) listen, especially to understand how what seems genius or ahead of its time in more well-known artists is actually quite common in certain more underground circles... in short, it’s a matter of courage and curiosity... I, for instance, know them because they were recommended among the 600 essential records by Blow-Up (which is a very strict magazine, so you can trust it for these kinds of things) and because I found the original for 8 euros. At first, I must say I was a bit lukewarm, but with repeated listens, the album grows, and even though I still don’t think I fully comprehend it in its essence, I’m ready to assert that it’s quite accessible to those who aren't particularly versed in these genres (like me, indeed).