Endorphine
The Future Seed

Italy is a country where the word Underground is almost never used. As in any self-respecting capitalist country, even in our country, we have many small labels that are overshadowed by the big ones and many emerging bands destined to play forever in a damp garage where there are no suitable technical-instrumental possibilities for proper production; and above all, it is sad to think that often in this way, many talents are wasted and left in oblivion despite having all the credentials for widespread success. Why this digression?

Well... I am about to review an album and a band that have brought a breath of fresh air and originality to the Italian metal scene, unfortunately passing unnoticed once again. I am talking about the Neapolitans, my fellow citizens, 'Endorphine'; a band that I also had the pleasure of meeting, and it must be said that besides being skilled musicians... they are also pleasant and approachable people! The CD they offer us is their first real record release (after producing a couple of demos "Endorphine" in 2001 and "Godmind" in 2002). It was released in 2004 and is titled "The Future Seed"... as if the title wanted to emphasize once again how important it is to value emerging bands that can indeed be 'the seed of the future'.

The album, as mentioned before, is original and immediately presents a strong personality from the boys, so much so that it rarely falls into the 'already heard'. The genre is difficult to label, it starts from Thrash-Death roots with atmospheres that are sometimes slow and paced, sometimes angry and killer, then it spans into gothic flows with Luca Zaccariello's voice alternating, with great professionalism, between growl and clean in an excellent manner. The dark and decaying atmosphere is created right from the intro "Self Portrait" which hypnotizes the listener enchanted towards a new world to discover, propelling them immediately to track number 2: "One Day" one of my favorite tracks on the album. Dark and melancholic atmospheres, a voice alternating between suffering and anger, excellent work on the riffs and on drums, a Daniele Ciao in great shape. "Endorphine" instead starts very quickly with the double pedal beating on the skins and riffs bordering on madness, then it stops to create mysterious doom reprises.

Power and aggressiveness are instead the ingredients of "Make Me Bad", one of the meanest tracks on the album, but suddenly what happens? Arpeggiated guitars are heard, and the rhythm becomes dreamy and romantic, only to become even meaner than before, almost reaching Norwegian black! In fact, in certain passages, they remind me a lot of Opeth with these sudden tempo changes alternating two vocal timbres. "A World Outside" is a doom march paced by the precise riffs of Alessandro Martinelli and Maddalena Bellini that make this piece another gem of the album. But the real gem, in my opinion, is "My Breath Away" poignant and melancholic like few others, it seems the calm after the storm, Alessandro's Gibson accompanies with an acoustic solo the rhythm of Maddalena, then continues distorted... 7 minutes of poetry. It continues with the thrashy "A New Yourself", where Daniele gives us yet another demonstration of what he can do behind the drums. "Unleashed Godmind" is drawn from the revision of the song in the previous demo, although I must say, I much preferred the former with a stunning initial riff. The album concludes with the title track, where Endorphine gives the last grand display of artistic maturity, shouting to the music world that the seed of the future must not be wasted, but fully valued. This last track is another sample of gothic melancholy and suffering that somewhat recalls Katatonia-like atmospheres... then after the end of the song beware! There's also a ghost track waiting to be discovered!

What more to say... it is a lively album with a thousand facets that will satisfy a bit of all tastes but, above all, will highlight how underrated the Italian underground scene is!