Il Ballo delle Castagne
Kalachakra

THE REVIEW

Kalachakra is the second album by Ballo delle Castagne, released under the auspices of Hauruck/Black Widow. The name Ballo delle Castagne refers to a satanic sabbath organized by Alessandro VI and Lucrezia Borgia on October 31, 1501, All Hallows' Eve, and transformed by Cesare Borgia into an orgy where naked prostitutes danced wildly and crawled to collect chestnuts with their mouths. As in the previous album, the sound matrix is clearly that of the darkest Italian prog of the '70s from bands like Biglietto per l'Inferno (a group already “covered” in the debut album), Metamorfosi, and Antonius Rex even if reinterpreted with a garage-psychedelic "feeling" and approach. But the sound of Ballo delle Castagne on this occasion also pays tribute to Krautrock and particularly to the early Amon Duul II discs like Phallus Dei and Yeti with their dark sounds cloaked in a black, pagan psychedelia. Other references can be found in Hawkwind's space-rock and the hard-rock-tinged psychedelia of High Tide, as well as in certain west-coast sounds of the '60s.

Kalachakra – a title that pays homage to a documentary by Werner Herzog – opens with the impressive “Passioni Diaboliche,” a piece of great impact and suggestion characterized by the theatrical emphasis of Vinz Aquarian's spoken singing. The album's sound features the beautiful pulsating bass of Diego Banchero, who some may remember from Malombra and Il Segno del Comando di Mercy, and the keyboards (organ and very “krautrock” Moog) and guitars of Marco Garegnani. It has its best moments in the central part with the title track and “La terra trema,” a long dark-prog ride. “Omega” is instead the most space-rock track while the music of “I Giorni della memoria terrena” is credited to the German progressive group Eloy. In some pieces, there are also certain references to the new wave of Joy Division.

Overall, this is a work of good quality, rich in philosophical and esoteric references – citing the Bardo Thodol, the Tibetan Book of the Dead – by a group that shows they have something to say.