Steve Sylvester
Mad Messiah

"Mad Messiah" (the second and final act in Steve Sylvester's brief solo career) is not worse than its predecessor "Free Man". In fact, in some aspects (sounds and arrangements) it represents its natural evolution, establishing itself as a more self-aware and better-crafted product. However, it lacks that surprise effect that accompanied an album that was, after so long, the result of the collaboration between the legendary voice of Death SS and the mythic Paul Chain, who, as everyone knows, left the band back in the Jurassic age of 1984.

An idyll that lasted briefly: after the work was suspended due to yet another definitive spat between the two, the album's release would be postponed to 1998 (although much of the material was ready for a long time), following the publication of the then latest studio effort by Death SS "Do What You Will".

Stylistically, "Mad Messiah" also adheres to the characteristics of Sylvester's solo style, shedding the Vampirello costume to return to his childhood and embark on a journey back in time towards his youthful passions: therefore, a lot of hard rock, doom riffs (inevitable, given the paw of Catena) and flashes of dark progressive, all strictly drawn from the fantastic universe of the seventies. And with the usual selection of covers for the connoisseur (in this case: 1) "Dying World" by the never-heard-before Sturm; 2) "The Shapes of Things to Come", resurrected from the soundtrack of "Wild In The Streets", a cult film from the sixties; 3) "Heaven on Their Minds", instead taken from the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar", episodes that emphasize Sylvester's love for the underground, both musical and cinematic, and for counterculture in general, preferably when it smashes against the clichés of respectful society).

In short, between Jodorowskian aesthetics and genuine glam audacity, two dimensions well represented by the contrast between the cover image (a Steve Sylvester in a guru-like version as if stepped out from a film like "The Holy Mountain") and the back one (which portrays him instead as mother nature made him flamboyantly astride a motorcycle), we are indeed faced with the logical continuation of "Free Man": if you liked that one, this will please you just as much.

Even if, we add, a little more audacity in the operation wouldn't have hurt: the sound desired by the Pesaro singer, flanked by Catena's and Alberto Simonini's guitars (for those who don't know, the historical ax of our local Crying Steel), and backed by a horde of shady figures, many of whom were plucked from the ranks of Death SS (Tommy Chaste, Claud Galley, Ross Lukather, Freddy Delirio, Felix Moon etc.), the sound of the Mad Messiah, as was said, is powerful and assembled with professionalism, but doesn’t dare to go beyond the bounds of a grandiose revelry with revivalist hues (not a fault in itself, as much of its charm lies precisely in sounding exquisitely vintage). It's a pity because from an eccentric artist like Sylvester, one always expects that extraordinary spark, the masterstroke that makes your hair stand on end.

More homogeneous than its predecessor, "Mad Messiah" unfolds in nine tracks for a total of forty-two minutes, where the brevity of the songs (except for three cases where they exceed five minutes - but never crossing the seven that in my opinion is the minimum to deserve the label of "long track") is symptomatic of the generally non-complex nature of the compositions. The second track "Dying World" (split between grim arpeggios, electric blitzes, tough restarts, and sparkling organ escapes) and “Heaven on Their Minds” (strong with a dynamism typical of the musical coordinates within which it develops) make for (pleasant) exceptions.

The other tracks, starting from the granite opener “Sons of War” (opened by sirens that signal a program – did someone say “War Pigs”?) and ending with the river solo and female warbles (all – decidedly – very “Sympathy for the Devil”) of the concluding “Speed of Life”, stand on their own, without much shock, thanks to the creativity and craft of seasoned musicians, among whom the (easily recognizable) hand of Catena stands out (the Hendrixian start to the title track is great, and the “molto-Horrible-Eyes” cadence of “Armageddon Days” is overwhelming). But Simonini also holds his own well, scoring one of the album’s winning strikes, namely that "Ancient Dreams" which, between doom descents and murky crypt organ, remains the moment closest to the imagination of the mother band. It's obvious that at the center of everything stands the awkward and unsettling charisma of Steve Sylvester who this time decides to sacrifice his more theatrical and iconoclastic side to fully embrace a more classic approach, paying tribute to his idols (Alice Cooper and Marc Bolan above all).

Needless to say, it's a mandatory purchase for fans of Death SS, Paul Chain, and all that sensational parade that between the eighties and nineties represented the New Wave of Italian Heavy Metal!