Rosetta Stone
An Eye For The Main Chance

In the plethora of gothic bands formed between the late 80s and early 90s, Rosetta Stone perhaps represents the best fruit.

Like all their colleagues of that period, even "La stele di Rosetta" (named after an ancient Egyptian basalt stone, discovered in the seventeenth century, which bears the text of a pharaonic decree written in three different languages and was of decisive importance for the deciphering of hieroglyphics), pays a heavy tribute to the Sisters of Mercy's "First and Last and Always" in the obsessive rhythms and in the sharp and pressing post-punk riffs.

The debut of the band formed by Porl King on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, and Carl North on bass, accompanied by the drum machine dubbed "Madame Razor," entitled "An Eye For The Main Chance," is undoubtedly an excellent record. An energetic, powerful work, decidedly "heavy" at some points, which takes the classic gothic rock sound styles and speeds them up in a metallic key, much more so than what the Fields of Nephilim had already done. Let it be clear, it's not originality made into a record, but for fans of the Sisters of Mercy, Mission, early Cult, and the Cure of the trilogy period, it is certainly an album worth listening to, and in my opinion, it deserves to sit in the same drawer where you keep the debuts of Eldritch, Astbury, and Hussey's bands. A record that wipes out attempts by people like Love Like Blood or Two Witches to combine metal with gothic rock timbres, rightfully relegating them to oblivion.

Rosetta Stone proves to be the best students of all that was born after the release of the first chapter of the sisters in the 90s, as demonstrated by songs like "Forevermore" and "Something Change", both reminiscent of Mission (the chorus and melody somewhat recall "Wasteland" and "Blood Brothers" respectively), the dark and throbbing "Reason" which, if it had come out a few years earlier, could have easily been on the same record with "Marian" by the Sisters without causing any disturbance, the melodic and decadent title track, a sort of "A Strange Day" by the Cure (whose basslines are somewhat revisited) in gothic rock sauce and with Porl's voice closely following the classic genre singing style of Eldritch, dark and baritone, and the concluding rock ballad "Subterfuge", which instead harks back to the Cult of "Dreamtime".

In short, if you are a lover of these sounds, this debut of La Stele di Rosetta will surely earn a place in your most frequent listens.