Mandragora Scream
Madhouse

Cradle Of Filth were among the pioneers of a genre that set a standard and spawned thousands of derivative bands and countless clones lacking any musical logic, rationality, and inspiration. Back in the days of masterpieces like "Cruelty and the Beast" and "Dusk... and Her Embrace," it was a very unique (within certain limits) atmospheric metal with nocturnal and gothic attributes, addressing themes of explicit erotic charge such as vampirism and obsession with the flesh. However, in recent years, due to a sudden (and poorly executed) sonic diversion, the throne from which they once reigned unchallenged is vacant. Now, among the many groups they inspired, all are seeking the rightful heirs. And here, among the numerous contenders, we see the emergence of Mandragora Scream, a Tuscan combo which, after various vicissitudes (including a contract with Nuclear Blast and the release of their first two albums "Fairy Tales from Hell's Caves" and "A Whisper of Dew"), in 2006 self-produced and released the concept "Madhouse".

Before starting to talk about the band and their third album, a premise is necessary. I allowed myself to mention Mandragora Scream among the heirs of Cradle Of Filth, not so much for their musical proposal (in reality very distant from that of the Albion band) but for the gothic romanticism, the lugubrious scenarios, the horrific atmospheres, and the murky erotic charge characterizing the songs of both bands (of which the ideal graphic transposition could be the illustrations of the Iberian artist Victoria Francés). What we have in front of us is indeed a story divided into twelve tracks musically attributable to the horrific fringe of today's Gothic Metal, yet far from the hysteria of Dani Filth and his companions. And, when I use this term to describe the band's proposal, I do not do so for lack of terminology; there is indeed no adjective more suited to describe the genre of music played in this album, given that the composer is a true gothic soul, an intellectual and intriguing character, for whom I have deep admiration, named Morgan Lacroix.

In her tower, and on sheets of paper written by candlelight, the compelling leader of Mandragora Scream brought to life the entire concept of "Madhouse," and within the same abode, the disc was also recorded. The plot of the story (set in 1312) takes us directly to the asylum of Molanvert, in the city of Tihuta, in the Carpathians. The protagonist is a girl named Vera, who, after a traumatic childhood, is interned in this gloomy institution. On a full moon night, seized by a moment of lucid madness, the girl escapes from her room, slipping past the surveillance and, cutting her veins, falls into a deep coma. With a faint lantern illuminating her steps, Vera crosses a dark tunnel that leads her to an enchanted forest, where she meets the projection of herself as a child. The little one renounces her adult body, disfigured by the traumas of the first twelve years of life. The girl confesses to herself that she met a dark angel and fell hopelessly in love with him. For love, she decides to embrace the suspended life of the beloved creature, never to return to the world of the living. But the angel, dazed by the knowledge of a love so strong it transcends the vestiges of his lineage, renounces his wings to die, reborn as a human being on earth. Thanks to his new form, he will thus be able to unite his body to Vera's, giving her a love no one will ever be able to end.

Musically, the band offers an even more convincing version of the sound tested in the past, enriched by an uncommon interpretative intensity. Eerie sounds, tormented voices, harrowing screams, and obsessive choruses adorn the versatile vocal performance of Morgan, the true protagonist of the album, holder of a very particular and unpredictable timbre, sinuous and enveloping, yet at the same time rough and masculine without being any less thrilling compared to the voices of many lyrically trained colleagues, and to that of Terry Horn (guitarist and Morgan's right-hand man in composition), powerful, exciting, and technically impeccable. The sound plots perfectly blend the symphonic effects (of cinematic nature) of the keyboards with the harshness of the guitars (in some moments more oriented towards rock and authors of solos borrowed from heavy metal) and with parsimonious and skillful electronic inserts, presenting very varied episodes altogether. Among tracks with catchy refrain and unsettling melody ("Dark Lantern", "Redeemer", "Blight Thrills", and "Omen Reveries"), and intense ballads ("Frozen Space" enhanced by a moving piano plot, Morgan's superb performance, and the dialogue between adult and child Vera placed at the end, and "Ghost of Swan", where Terry's voice surprises for its versatility), "Madhouse" often reaches unexpected emotional peaks.

Touching and solid, this album earns, in my opinion, the gold palm for the best Italian Gothic Metal album of 2006 (if we exclude the masterpiece "The Diarist" by Dark Lunacy, offering a sort of symphonic Gothic-Death Metal). The press has elected the mediocre and contrived The LoveCrave as the Italian revelation of the past year without accounting for Mandragora Scream, certainly more solid, passionate, and convincing. Ignoring the fact that these artists possess authentic dark souls within a reality where pretending has become a necessary effort to adhere to the clichés and stereotypes prevailing in the scene.