Il segno del comando
Sublimazione – Live

With Sublimazione – Live, Il Segno del Comando celebrates thirty years of activity. Recorded at the “Gala delle Nobili Sinfonie” in Pesaro, and enriched by three bonus tracks from a Dutch concert in 2022, the album retraces the arc of the Ligurian band without indulging in nostalgia, but revealing a surprising freshness in interpretation. The setlist draws especially from more recent works L’Incanto dello Zero and Il Domenicano Bianco, yet does not forget the legendary 1996 debut, from which La Taverna dell’Angelo, Il Segno del Comando, and Missa Nigra re-emerge with ritualistic force. It is in this dialogue between present and origins that the “sublimation” evoked by the title truly takes place: a process of purification and evolution, both spiritual and musical, that allows the tracks to experience a new season of intensity.

Right from the opening of Il Domenicano Bianco it’s clear that the band doesn’t intend simply to faithfully reproduce what was recorded in studio, but rather to transfigure it, making it more physical, direct, and atmospheric. Diego Banchero’s bass, founder and mastermind of the project, marks out the backbone of the tracks with his usual depth, while Davide Bruzzi and Roberto Lucanato's guitars weave textures alternating darkness and lyricism. Riccardo Morello’s theatrical voice gives the lyrics an almost liturgical narrative dimension, and the new addition behind the drums, Paolo Serboli, injects energy and dynamic into a repertoire that thus feels renewed without losing its esoteric aura. Beppi Menozzi’s keyboards add a veil of mystery and grandeur, which turns into eloquent absence in the bonus tracks, recorded with Fernando Cherchi on drums: there, the band becomes rawer and more stripped-down, proving that sublimation can also come through subtraction.

The end result is an album that sounds authentic and sincere, thanks to a deliberately essential production, self-produced in partnership with Nadir Music, able to return the vitality of the concert without falling into the coldness of mere documentation. The visionary artwork by Paolo Puppo and the photos by Ago Sauro complete the work, underlining that gothic and imaginative aesthetic that has always accompanied the band.

Sublimazione – Live is neither a greatest hits nor a self-referential celebratory operation, but the narrative of a musical rite that has lasted for three decades and today manifests itself in a living, pulsing form. It is proof that Il Segno del Comando does not regard the past as a fetish, but transforms it into energy for the present, renewing its identity without betraying it. For longtime followers, it is an essential piece; for those encountering them now, it can become the gateway to a unique musical universe, where prog and metal intertwine with gothic literature, occult visions, and a constant artistic quest.