Spite Extreme Wing
Non Ducor, Duco

I decided to review this album today, years after its release (and the presence of a review written by Grigio not long ago) because in the meantime tempers have calmed, the Italian black scene has progressed, and specialized magazines have already cashed the hefty check they receive every time it's about talking about local bands.

If the cover makes it clear right away that early 90s Norway will be the musical reference for the album, a quick glance at the beautiful booklet (in color, with photos and drawings, texts in Italian and translated into English) reminds us that the thematic influences will be different, far Bolder (what a pun...).

Spite Extreme Wing indeed operate in the well-known and widely trodden territories of raw and rough darkthronian black, reinterpreted in the light of War Black Metal (epic, resounding, and a bit noisy); the compositions are long but still tied to a distinctly Norwegian minimalism (we are obviously not talking about "Panzer Division Marduk"), varied among themselves: from the ride of "Non Ducor, Duco", to the more epic and reflective "In su la vetta" (the true centerpiece of the album) to the penultimate "Desperation-the cycle closes", slow and groovy. The singing in Italian perfectly matches the slower mid-tempos, clashing slightly with the rapid rhythms (the title track is an example: Argento does not follow the rhythm of the music, creating an "unpleasant" recitative effect).

The concept around which the album revolves is elaborate but overall not innovative: the metaphorical value of war, the journey of spiritual improvement, the rebirth of the self are themes widely addressed in the black realm, and with better results; the French Crystalium have completed a certain "cultured" type of War Metal, and the music, though heavily citing Darkthrone, never seems to reach them in intensity.
This is an album whose fame is tied mainly to legends: the recording at Forte Geremia, the samples of Psicofonia, Argento's statements about Black Metal as Archeofuturism leave much to be desired; they struck me once (not much, to be honest...) and leave me indifferent today. All the references to Fascism, even if veiled with D'Annunzio-style romanticism, are still clumsy and irritating: personally, I prefer not to listen to NSBM (National-Socialist-Black-Metal), but at least bands like Absurd, Graveland, or Crystalium definitely have more talent.

Above all, the disappointment remains in front of two events: the good work of "Magnificat" is not repeated; and secondly, the concept could have been better written, especially in the "precious" notes that enrich and comment on the text, which mix Evola, D'Annunzio, Buddhism, Zen, Mysticism, and others in heresy.

Good, no doubt, but that's all. There is better black even in Italy (Aborym, Locus Mortiis, Enthroning Silence, Black Flame, Tod); libraries are full of books to seriously approach the proposed themes; there are far more pleasant characters even in Argento's condo.

Overrated score 6.5/10