I Compagni Di Baal
Demo

In a time when many historical bands are already at the end of their rope and live off their glory days' repertoire, it is a good idea to delve into the "underground" every now and then in search of a small revelation, a little surprise that provides a breath of fresh air to an often stifling scene. And if, as mentioned before, the old glories, with a few rare exceptions, are now reduced to a sterile rehash of their own myth, at this point the best thing to do, if not the only one, is to see how the new blood is faring.

In a gigantic cauldron like that of metal, where one can toss in both Led Zeppelin and Cannibal Corpse, things have been going rather poorly for several years, with non-existent generational changeovers, old relics in their sixties who, for better or worse, still hold the stage preventing any renewal, and an audience that seems truly little interested in younger and more promising names, leading at times to paradoxical situations where bands around for even twenty years are still considered "revelations" or "the new wave". In a universe of bad carbon copies, however, occasionally something truly worthwhile emerges, a band that, perhaps without inventing anything new, still manages to present itself in a fresh and original way, with a personal sound sufficient to distinguish itself from the endless army of clones destined for anonymity. This is the case with the Marchigiani Compagni di Baal, recently debuting with a full-length album under Jolly Roger, a self-titled album that has had the merit of reigniting the spotlight on a genre, that of hard/prog, often overlooked or confined to a reservoir of limited enthusiasts. And if the debut album amazed with the wisdom with which the quartet manages to mix dark atmospheres, Black Sabbath and the most decadent Italian prog (Metamorfosi, Balletto di Bronzo), with a certain melodic flavor typical of some formations of the eighties (Diaframma, Litfiba), it might be interesting, at least for enthusiasts, to go back to see how it all began, by re-listening to that self-titled demo that caused quite a stir two years ago.

If in the eighties and nineties the "must-have" for demos was the cassette tape with photocopied cover, nowadays it's all about burned CDs and color "covers", but the result changes little: rock'n'roll craftsmanship, few resources, and lots of passion. Naturally sparse tracklist, five tracks, which already lays the groundwork for the subsequent work, naturally better developed and more cohesive, but already showcasing a complex and refined sound, with the band firmly led by Daniele Carnali's guitar, between reminiscences of the best Italian prog and hard/heavy across the Channel. If "RIP", in its first incarnation, already presents itself as a flagship, to those who later listened to the album the absence of keyboards, which later became an indispensable element of the band's sound, cannot go unnoticed. Also, "Il Dono", which would later become "L'orrore che abita in me", presents itself in a version already similar to the final one, although, naturally, missing the necessary refinements, as with "Nell'oscurità". The real surprise is perhaps "Ostile", which presents the basis of what would later become "Tra potere e libertà", but with a completely different text. The conclusion relies on "The Knoll", a rather heavy piece in impact with English lyrics, but evidently did not convince its authors, as it was not continued in studio or live.

The elements that would come to compose the group's sound, therefore, were already all present in this first work and, even if by themselves the four, as already mentioned, do not invent anything new, it should at least be acknowledged that everything is done with enough personality to make them appealing and noteworthy. The demo is probably still available, after all, it was a burned CD that was sent directly to the home back then, and I would recommend you get a hold of it: besides offering tangible support to the tricolor underground scene, it would be a way to also support a great emerging reality like that of Compagni di Baal. 

• Diego Brocani, bass
• Giorgio Pantaloni, drums
• Daniele Carnali, guitars
• Luca Finaurini, vocals

1. RIP
2. Nell'oscurità
3. Il Dono
4. Ostile
5. The Knoll