Il segno del comando
Il Volto verde

The dark/prog band from Genoa returns with a dark and fascinating album, inspired by the second novel of the author of the Golem, reviewed by Cesare Buttaboni, a connoisseur of progressive and gothic narrative.

Il Segno del Comando is a musical studio project born in Genoa in 1995. The intention was to recover the Italian musical aesthetics of the '70s as can be heard in the first album, released in 1997, a true homage to Italian prog (ahead of later experiences like La Maschera di Cera) that evoked the dark atmospheres of certain Italian horror culture of the period represented by the horror films of Mario Bava and groups like Jacula.

The concept was indeed based on the extraordinary fantastic series "Il Segno del Comando", broadcast by RAI in 1971 and on the book by Giuseppe D'Agata from which the group takes its name.

The following "Der Golem" focused thematically on the famous masterpiece novel by the great esoteric writer Gustav Meyrink, while musically, there was a shift towards gothic-metal and experimental sounds.

After a long inactivity (lasting from 2002 to 2010) Il Segno del Comando now returns with a new work that focuses again on the "meyrinkian" work and in particular on his second novel "Il volto verde" (below on the left the cover of an English edition of the novel, not easily available in Italy, Ed.) which gives the album its title. In this work, the great writer began to put esoteric and mystical themes in his writings.

Meyrink himself was actually an initiate and a great connoisseur of oriental philosophies and disciplines like yoga. "Il volto verde" is set in Amsterdam in a period of material and spiritual confusion for Europe in which war disturbed Europe and resumes the legend of the Wandering Jew. It is undoubtedly one of his most important novels, admired also by the great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.

The style of Meyrink is visionary and proceeds by "images" and, at least at the beginning, is not very easy to assimilate. The reading requires great concentration: in the book, secret techniques are revealed to manage to achieve control of the mind and awaken the powers hidden within oneself. Through these techniques, man thus succeeds in awakening and reaching a higher state of consciousness that leads him to achieve immortality.
From a conceptual standpoint, the album reveals a very deep philosophical and esoteric depth. Diego Banchero reworked the themes of the novel by writing visionary texts with a strong symbolic charge.
Musically, "Il volto verde" is a partial return to the sounds of the first album and a tribute to legendary groups like Il Balletto di Bronzo, Goblin, and Antonius Rex.
The guests are also numerous and of great significance: Claudio Simonetti, Gianni Leone, Martin Grice, and Sophya Baccini, Paul Nash & Maetheliya of Danse Society and Freddy Delirio of Death SS. Moreover, tracks like "Chider il verde" and "Il manoscritto" are a clear homage to the musical spirit of the glorious "YS" by Il Balletto di Bronzo.

The influences, in any case, are numerous and range from gothic rock to horror film soundtracks. Throughout the album, there is a dark and esoteric feeling that brings to light a mythical and creative era for our country. Particularly exciting are "L’evocazione di Eva" – featuring, as mentioned, the great Claudio Simonetti on keyboards and Martin Grice of Delirum on flute and sax – and "L’Apocalisse", a track that benefits from the decisive contribution on keyboards by Gianni Leone.

"Il volto verde" – which comes with a suggestive cover (at the opening) showing a painting by Danilo Capua – proves to be overall an excellent album without drops in tone that I warmly recommend to all enthusiasts of dark music, prog, and, in particular, obviously to the fans of Gustav Meyrink. Also because, to understand the spirit of the record more deeply, we recommend reading the book.