Eldritch
Blacknday

And the Eldritch also accomplish their own seventh seal, reaching a remarkable milestone that for the Tuscan band, surely among the most representative and acclaimed in the Italian heavy metal scene, certainly represents more than a definitive international consecration.

Indeed, for a formation that has behind it small masterpieces of communicative art such as "El Nino" or the fundamental "Headquake," expectations have always been enormous, and, with the exception of the misstep represented by the tendentious "Reverse," our friends have always responded rather decisively, showing more through actions than words that they have deservedly conquered that status of grandeur that for years seems to unmistakably mark every single discographic move of the Tuscan combo in question.

This album "Blackenday" arrives only a year after the previous "Neighbourhell," as if to somehow reaffirm a prolificness, as well as a certain rediscovered creativity, which shows no sign of diminishing in the slightest, and has once again driven the band to chart an artistic path that, while firmly aligning with the discourse carried out so far with previous releases, also pushes them towards musical realms rich in melodies yet still shrouded in a certain veneer of emotional drama, well highlighted by artwork work naturally reminiscent of "Parallels" from the masterpiece by American masters Fates Warning. Similarities with the American band do not stop at the artwork alone but, as we will see, also persist within the tracks present here, although it must be reiterated from the outset that the techno-thrash metal that has marked the band's songwriting since its beginnings continues to peep through these twelve enticing tracks, interspersed with now more melodic and smooth contaminations, and others more damnably metal-oriented, even touching, at times, almost post-hardcore horizons.

Yes, with this new work the Eldritch have amply demonstrated once again that they've been able to carry their unique progressive sound into the advancing new millennium, without having the slightest temptation to look back, making their artistic proposal naturally more modern and in step with the times, thanks to increasingly refined arrangements and an ever more dominant metallic inclination that, combined with the vocal prowess of the good Terence Holler, once again the undisputed showman of the entire work, has led the band to rise again above the average of Italian acts.
And it is precisely in this manner that tracks of the caliber of the rough "Why," a song with typically Bay Area thrash metal dissonances divided between not so blatantly hinted references to the early Annihilator, always more than just a simple muse for the Italian band, the instinctive rationality of "The fire," pervaded by almost thrash/core moments in full Biohazard meets Suicidal Tendencies style, the cryptic twilight of "Broken Road," a splendid atmospheric song featuring guest appearances from Ray Alder and Nicholas Van Dyk, both members of the American band Redemption, or the heavy power tout court of "Deep Sleep" a track surrounded by a truly disarming wall of guitars as well as an excellent refrain, are born.

An excellent album in every sense then, packaging, songwriting but also regarding the specular production curated by the same guitarist Eugene Simone, for a band that, at least as far as we are concerned, represents more than a synonym of guarantee. Recommended.