Il Segno Del Comando
Der Golem

"The Golem in popular belief is the imperfect, the undeveloped, the existence that precedes essence, the confusion that implies order and so forth, from analogy to analogy"

The Golem, this shady figure originally created magically by a learned cabalist using clay and a magic word. Bearer of darkness, death, madness. Thus Gustav Meyrink describes it in his masterpiece aptly named "Der Golem". The stone robot, an elusive, enigmatic, nebulous semblance, a ghost that reappears every thirty-three years in the suburbs of the Prague ghetto, arousing fear and havoc. It is therefore the arcane representation of a spiritual epidemic, propagating in that black, dark, mysterious, self-styled, occult Prague. The fascination of Meyrink's novel has remained immortal both for its ability to overthrow the reader and for the philosophical-esoteric story that the work itself contains. The exchange of hats, the struggle of the two purest principles of good and evil, the imprisonment of the innocent, the paranormal events in its various forms in the mysteries and treasures of an alchemist Prague.

It is thus that in 2002 under the legendary label Black Widow, a milestone and pillar of genres like gothic, dark wave, and doom in Italy, the project called Il Segno Del Comando was born. The Genoese band led by Mercy and Diego Banchero pays homage to one of the most important TV dramas of the seventies, titled precisely like the group's name, which in turn is inspired by Giuseppe D'Agata's book.

The allure and mystery of this band goes beyond the implausible, with their refined "dark" progressive adorned with gothic and dark wave influences, they attempt to represent, or rather convey something shrouded in darkness, the impression of a worm that devastates and depresses us, but that urges us to go beyond. Another fundamental aspect (on which I first would like to dwell) is the accurate yet sublime choice of lyrics, which make this work a noteworthy masterpiece in the Italian landscape. " Dal Diario Di Un Tagliatore Di Pietre" is clear and evident proof..."only he who stops dreaming can truly be called awake, the material world is just a stage, on which to project the thrills of rabbit illusions constituted by calling them millions...", a thought that perfectly marries Meyrink's intention in his novel, the material world represented by man's madness, the dream instead we can identify as the advent of the Golem, the one who destroys and diverts us from the influence of reality surrounding us. The band's art is insurmountable when we are introduced to tracks like "Golem", "Salon Loisitschek" and "Funerale a Praga". Intensity, magic, superb technique, extraordinary voice, and suffocating atmospheres frame the occult mystery of the esoteric philosophy of the album.

Afterwards, emotions continue to pulse when the magnificent "Myriam" instrumental and intrinsic ballad begins to play. The most progressive piece of the entire concept, harrowing riffs, terrifying technique but never for its own sake, a cradle that rocks us towards distant, unattainable horizons. Finally, we come to the masterpiece of the concept "Io Il Bagatto, Io L'Appeso", a divine composition, a sort of symphony emerging from a gothic dream towards a path rich in pathos, hidden in the jaws of the depths of the shadow of the Golem.

"...The light of the night beats against the bottom of my bed and rests like a large, flat luminous stone. When the full moon begins to wrinkle and its right side starts to flake, like a face heading towards old age, first thinning and furrowing with wrinkles on a single cheek, around that hour of the night a turbulent, tormenting restlessness takes hold of me..." Gustav Meyrink