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LA RECENSIONE
Paul Chain is one of the notorious artists from our country. Founder, along with Steve Sylvester, of the legendary Death SS, he then embarked on a surprising solo career, rooted in bold and experimental sounds. Beyond any empty label and sterile classification, we are in the presence of a great artist. An album like Violet Art Of Improvisation is, in its own way, an unparalleled masterpiece of great music, merging various influences such as doom, experimentation, psychedelia, and Krautrock. Paul Chain is indeed a great admirer of Italian prog from the '70s and, not by chance, he was the producer of A Piedi Nudi, a group that revived the glories of the legendary Balletto di Bronzo. The musician from Pesaro is also devoted to Krautrock and the sound of Amon Düül II and the master of Cosmic Music Klaus Schulze.
And, in this sense, Opera Decima (recently reissued on CD by Minotauro), released in a sumptuous limited box set - for the legendary Minotauro of Pavia - that contained 3 LPs, is a tribute to the German electronica of the '70s and Klaus Schulze. "Opera Decima" is dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach. The first track – "Dogma" over 40 minutes long, is a delirious and cathartic journey into the darkest recesses of the human mind: it is an authentic delirious trip with a sick and malevolent organ in evidence – references to Schulze's Irrlicht and Cyborg are not lacking - it emits notes that evoke a supernatural dimension. Perhaps, if I have to make comparisons, Anno Demoni” by Antonius Rex comes to mind, but they had not ventured to such extreme levels. With “The Face” we enter even more experimental and abstract territories. “Domino” seems to be played in a desecrated church by a mad priest who, from the pulpit, evokes the Lovecraftian Great Old Ones: the music is calm but, at the same time, menacing: the second part is pure German Cosmic. But the rest of the album consistently maintains levels of excellence between pulsations coming from deep space as in “Sickness Radio” and minimal rhythms in “Get Down”. It closes, once again honoring the Cosmic Couriers, with the electronics of “In Days Of Snow”.
Opera Decima is a cult album, a monumental and dark work that is unique and original in its own way: it is a manifesto of pure and uncompromising dark art.
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Summary by Bot
Paul Chain's Opera Decima is a monumental and dark album that defies easy classification. Rooted in doom, Krautrock, and cosmic electronica, it channels the spirit of '70s German electronica and Italian prog. The album's lengthy tracks deliver a deep, experimental journey into dark and supernatural themes. Praised as a cult masterpiece, it stands as a pure and uncompromising work of dark art.Tracklist
Paul Chain
Paolo Catena, known as Paul Chain, is an Italian musician from Pesaro cited in these reviews as a co-founder of Death SS (formed in 1977) and as a cult figure whose solo output ranges from doom metal to experimental, psychedelic, and cosmic/electronic music, often centered on improvisation and phonetic/invented vocals.14 Reviews
