Inchiuvatu
Piccatu

LA RECENSIONE

My first negative review, it's a pity it involves the Siciliani Inchiuvatu, but I'd like to talk about it.
Authors of a new musical trend (the Mediterranean scene), the Inchiuvatu were born from the sick mind of Agghiastru, heavily influenced by the early '90s Norwegian black metal scene. Unfortunately, with this work titled "Piccatu", they make me think poorly of Norwegian black.
The album starts with the intro "Lustro" where it's possible to hear the cry of a newborn (in this case Agghiastru), then moving on to the real first song "Cunsumu" entirely sung in dialect, with a use of voice that's not very useful or pleasant, it reminds of the late John from Dissection, but it has nothing to do with such caliber. The guitars present in this song should emanate that black touch, they do, but quite offbeat. Good use of drums.
Then comes the title track "Piccatu", which is nothing more than a repetition of the horror found previously: the same (and useless) singing in dialect, the same rhythm except for the pre-chorus and chorus where guitars and drums seem to have some decency. Very peculiar in this song are the keyboard inserts at the beginning, middle, and end, accompanied by a more melodic guitar. In the song, it's also possible to hear an annoying flute sound (??!!?) and the already heard (very boring) cry of the newborn.
With "Maleficu", the weak point of the CD starts to become evident: it's not that it's repetitive, but listening closely, it's clear that the musical structure is always the same.
"Animacula" is the most successful song on the CD, this time sung decently at least partly in Italian, a very original intro opened by the sound of flute and keyboard, and then again (in my opinion) the extremely annoying voice of Agghiastru supported by another female voice. The track is saved by the melody of the song that strongly reminds of Sicilian traditional music before diving into the next useless minutes of Italian-made black metal.
The same old story in "Vattiu", nice intro, monstrous already used verse rhythm, Agghiastru. A breath of fresh air in "Ciuri Sacrificatu", really beautiful, the keyboard and the mysterious female voice create a song with a dark beginning that then bursts into the devastating black metal of the Sicilians. Perhaps I like this song because one half is very original, the other just repeated without variations.
Useless to talk about "Eva" (it could make even the review repetitive). It closes with"Curù", an intriguing piece, piano sound and Agghiastru who once again does not give up dialect but surprises me: his voice has a small charm, it's pleasant to hear him sing calmly and normally. Then at the end of the song, again that very boring newborn's cry.

Let's talk about the cover since we're here: it depicts a building in the upper central part, then there's darkness below, with a creepy doll crying blood, horrible. The group's logo is very original.

In conclusion, I repeat that the CD disappointed me a lot, when I heard it was winking at the cold Norwegian black I got excited, but then listening to it I lost hope.
Agghiastru's voice to me is extremely annoying, not among the best, the use of instruments is pretty good, the singing in dialect becomes tiring in the long run (and maybe even on the first listen), I understand the attachment to the land, but singing everything in Sicilian is an exaggeration, if it were in Italian at least one could understand something, but it was a good idea to sing in dialect in black.
Maybe it's me who can't stomach this CD, I give it one star (*) because the only good thing (besides the idea of dialect) is the insert of keyboard and flute, which, thanks to the folk breaks they manage to create during black metal rides, make us well remember the traditional music of Italy's beautiful region. The lyrics instead focus on what was our hero Agghi's childhood and Sicilian traditional customs (see Cunsumu).
Honestly, I prefer the Norwegian school, maybe after listening to this CD, I'll reward myself with "Transilvanian Hunger" by Darkthrone.