Il Ballo delle Castagne
Soundtrack For Unreleased Herzog Movie

Il Ballo delle Castagne is an Italian dark-prog group formed in 2007. The name Ballo delle Castagne refers to a satanic sabbath organized by Alexander VI and Lucrezia Borgia on October 31, 1501, the eve of All Saints' Day, and transformed by Cesare Borgia into an orgy where naked prostitutes danced wildly and crawled to gather chestnuts with their mouths. The two main members, the singer Vinz Aquarian and the multi-instrumentalist (guitar, sitar, and keyboards) Marco Garegnani, came from dark bands like Calle della Morte and The Green Men. The other members are bassist Diego Banchero (Il Segno del Comando, Recondita Stirpe, Malombra, Egida Aurea) and drummer Jo Jo. Il Ballo thus has its roots in dark and new wave music. The new musical path, however, has seen a decisive turn towards the dark and hard Italian prog of the ’70s, namely that of Jacula, Antonius Rex, and Un Biglietto per l’Inferno, without forgetting the lesson of Black Sabbath and Black Widow. Everything is revisited with a dark sensitivity, a legacy of past experiences. Il Ballo delle Castagne now has 3 albums to its credit – the debut, the excellent “Kalachakra” and the worthy follow-up “Surpassing All Other Kings” plus a live album. But the influences of the Ballo are very wide, as evidenced by the recent Soundtrack For Unreleased Herzog Movie (Hau Ruck! Spqr) where the references to Krautrock clearly emerge.

This is a special project released in a strictly limited edition of 100 vinyl copies, and is a sort of ideal soundtrack for an unreleased film by the great Werner Herzog. The German director has linked the fortunes of his films to the music of Popol Vuh by Florian Fricke. Masterpieces such as Aguirre, Heart of Glass, Nosferatu, Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (where you can see Fricke himself playing one of his compositions) live on a blissful union between the celestial notes of the German group and Herzog's dreamlike and visionary images. In Soundtrack For Unrealeased Herzog Movie Il Ballo delle Castagne wanted to recreate these settings through music. The first track, titled “In The Garden Of Popol Vuh,” is a grand homage to Popol Vuh and captures the mysticism of a seminal album like In Den Garten Pharaos by recreating its atmospheres. The sensation is that of finding oneself inside the garden of the Pharaohs evoked by Popol Vuh. The subsequent “Lentus In Umbra” is calm and always moves in oneiric territories. In “Il Pianto di Cristo su Gerusalemme” – featuring guest vocalist Maethelyiah – we can hear the oriental notes of the sitar that accompany us on a journey in search of the ancient mysteries of the Christian religion. With “Profumi d’Oriente” we are again enveloped in mantric oriental spirals. The concluding “Sicut In Caelo” closes the album with ethereal piano notes. The music contained in this album shows us an unprecedented side of Vinz Aquarian’s group, who here has shown off his synth talent. In the economy of the album, Marco Garegnani’s contribution proved very important as he tackled the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sitar, harpsichord, piano, and percussion. The album is mixed by Diego Banchero. Soundtrack For Unreleased Herzog Movie is perhaps the masterpiece of Il Ballo delle Castagne, and I warmly recommend it to all their followers but also to admirers of Herzog and Popol Vuh. Available on Bandcamp (https://ilballodellecastagne.bandcamp.com/album/soundtrack-for-unreleased-herzog-movie).

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