Fluxus
Non Esistere

After the explosive debut of "Vita in un pacifico nuovo mondo" (1994), Fluxus, led by the charismatic guitarist/singer Franz Goria, returned in 1996 with this terrifying follow-up "Non esistere," which features, among others, the collaboration of two fragments of the historic band Negazione: Tax Farano and Marco Mathieu.

The result is a noise rock/hardcore mix, a true "punch in the face" (like the cover of "Vulgar Display of Power") to the system, to the big city that swallows everything in its dreariness, metropolitan discomfort to the nth degree, rage, a lot of rage, spat and screamed in your face with a voice so sharp it makes those lucky enough to listen bleed. Short, inspired, intelligent, raw lyrics served dripping with blood, meant to make you say "Wake up, boy! Rouse from your stupor, life isn't what you see, life grabs you, chews you up and spits you out, open your eyes, don't float in limbo, think against, run ahead!"

Always on the fringes of the scene, relegated to a niche, a bit too uncomfortable for the "decent" Italian music, unpresentable for a "normal" radio program, Fluxus doesn't give a damn and continues to play, sweat and spit in the face of the recording industry, supported by an audience of loyal fans who, fortunately, have continued to believe in their musical message. "Veldt" opens the album, and right away you understand that these guys aren’t joking at all, granite guitar riffs, drums and bass that split, absolute power, Franz screams articulating the words perfectly to bring them straight to your brain, no holds barred.

"Veldt, life always flows the same
In the sandy desert of national pride
Rubber insects, carnival pranks
Terminally ill
Final scene in the splendid desert
That shines gloomy like an open sewer
For how to say, with respect saying
Of the leather life you are preparing us."

The anguished, splendid scream, between one verse and the other, accompanies and garnishes everything worthily. Now, when the track is finished, you remain a bit like that, and you ask yourself "Are they Italian? Why have I never heard of them? They're monstrous, damn it!" The answer can be found in the fact that we live in the saddest country, musically speaking, that Europe (and I'm being modest...) has ever known.. The beat increases with "Immagine di un cane enorme", the guitars are tight to the max, the ascending loop is splendid (it reminds me a bit of something from the harder Faith no More), the most concise and direct text possible, Franz follows the guitar's harmonic perfectly, nice megaphone effect on the voice accompanied only by the bass, which rises fiercely at the entrance of the guitar on the phrase "I don't need you!".

Special mention for "Non esistere", the best both for the musical part, great thought for the effect accompanying the calmer voice, great riff and central solo, (they seem a bit like "the Sex Pistols playing damn well"), and for the lyrics, one of the most heartfelt and inspired of the album, poetic and sharp just right. Few have managed to jot down words of such intensity. Splendid.

"The useless illusion of having succeeded
Of being able to preserve, retry, remember
Because time doesn’t erase
If not erased
For who you are now
For who you have been
The houses remain, the courtyards, and thoughts
Reflected on glass, in the smoke rising towards the sun
On a day that doesn't want to pass
In a time that doesn't want to stop"

Hardcore/punk at full throttle with "Sono fuori di qui", drums and bass accompany Franz's liberating scream

After this explosion of rage, a Stonehenge monolith like "851" hits you in the face, gradually increasing until it slaps you in the finale; then when you wake up you don’t understand who has beaten you and you only remember "No reason! No reason!".
You haven't recovered yet when the drums start hammering again with "Luce acida", "four notes" of guitar (played masterfully..) combined with an open loop a bit Nirvana-esque, if you'll allow me the term, frame a beautiful text: the illusion to align the masses to a common will, pretending to manipulate even dreams at will with silences and deceptions, leads only to not wanting to believe or see anything anymore..

The bass opens brilliantly in "Noi galleggiamo nel vuoto", the guitar follows it faithfully, not to mention the machine sitting behind the drums, alternating a claustrophobic round with a more open one reminiscent a bit of old metal riffs..

" We float in the void of history
Absence of consciousness of true things, of false things
Of abuses of power, nothing remains
To pass the time..."

Beautiful the incipit of "Origine del caos", a track that reminds me a bit—don't be mad at me for the comparison—of dear Marlene, but they come to mind with every listen.. Anyway, a great piece, also for the work on the skins and for the lyrics which I quote in full:

"Just one road
Reflections on his face
Few words, few phrases, little time, little air
Little sky around
And, in the end, those voices of people around
Indifferently while around
Nothing matters much in the end, while around
Every moment, at every moment
At every step, every moment
Every moment at every step
The moon becomes a blade that cuts
Becomes stone, slingshot and falls where every night is cold
Where there is every war, where everything stops
Where you cannot escape, flee, restart
For every moment, at every moment, for every step
That you can change
Every moment, at every moment
At every step, every moment
Every moment at every step
For this reason to seek, for this reason not to seek
For this reason to see
For this reason not to see and for this reason to escape
For this reason to restart, for this reason to fight
For this reason not to leave."

Words we usually hear in all the classics the radio sends us, right? Well, at this point Fluxus, having hit us over the head with a mallet until now, lands us the definitive hook on the chin and uppercut to the nasal septum with a very violent piece "Iconoclasta" that leaves us exhausted, worn out but happy, on the floor.

"Destroy the image of the world they force us to build
Destroy the normal being you have to be to be social
The time on the vocabulary, insufficient to remember
The true purpose of life, knowing what you have to do

Kill the good souls, do not accept the normal country
Awaken the blasphemous instinct, modifying the sacred images
The transparency of truth becomes a weapon in your hands
The bomb of reality, the false life that will explode

Think against, think against
Think against everyone
Run against, run against
Run against, run ahead.."

A instrumental track "Preghiera di un pilota bombardiere" follows to close an album that, along with their entire discography, has marked the history of independent music with balls, the kind many of us would like to be regularly aired on the radio, in this country that leaves no space for people who have something "different" to say, be it through music or through the pages of a newspaper or any other form of thought.

But you know, we are in Italy..

Land of the absurd, of the Vatican and the Pope, of omerta, of mafia, of corrupt politicians, of thieving entrepreneurs, of the sly, of football and trash television.

Land of no one anymore.