Verdena
Il suicidio dei samurai

From their very first album, Verdena have represented an anomaly in the agonizing Italian rock scene, often attracting unjustified antipathies and undeserved criticism from those who, either out of prejudice or their own limitations, didn’t even try to understand their music (preferring to pronounce judgments on the senselessness of the lyrics, perhaps forgetting that a good 80% of Anglo-Saxon artists certainly don't boast Shakespearean contributions in their lyrics): too adolescent for some, a bit pretentious for others, the band from Bergamo can indeed be proud of having contributed in their own small way to bringing something different from colleagues Afterhours and Marlene Kuntz.

However, if in their debut the limitations of still unripe songwriting were quite evident and in the second album the excessive expansion of some ideas ended up spoiling the flavor somewhat, with Il Suicidio Dei Samurai we are facing a fully mature and focused album where moments of excellence do not lack.

Right from the drum opening of Logorrea, there is a substantial change compared to the previous album: psychedelic digressions are set aside to make room for a direct, dry, rude rock that feels a bit like a punch in the face, and before which one cannot help but shake their head.

There's barely time to get used to the harshness of the opener before being welcomed by the melody of Luna, which closely recalls the shoegaze Smashing Pumpkins of Siamese Dream, exploding in a beautiful shouted chorus where it becomes evident that what matters is not so much what is said, but how it is said. The solo is perfect in its brevity and highlights how the tendency to cut out excessively dispersive parts was very fitting.

Mina revisits the melody of Spaceman in light of this change: the result is a decidedly more successful song in full Motorpsycho spirit (not by chance, one of Alberto Ferrari’s favorite bands) and one of the best tracks of the lot. Balanite seems to anticipate the paranoid inclinations of the following Requiem, swirling around a woeful bass line and increasing in volume until reaching the climax in the desperate repetition of a "prima o poi" that's as rowdy as it is menacing. And it is always the bass that forms the backbone of the excellent Phantastica, together with the refined keyboard work of additional member Fidel Figaroli, which adds depth to the final blend; the vocal interpretation is, as always, excellent.

The aggressive Elefante is a monolith where the snare drum reigns supreme, echoing the heaviness of angriest stoner sound: the wall of guitars in the instrumental section seems impenetrable. After so much fury, we are welcomed by the concentric arpeggio of Glamodrama, probably the masterpiece of the album. The beautiful vocal melody explodes once more in a very apt shouted refrain (would you ever have thought that the word "demone" could be so musical?) and then gently folds back on itself in an instrumental coda where the sound roundnesses endlessly chase each other.

Far Fisa is one of the album's lesser tracks, but boasts a radio appeal that many would envy, although it remains a cut not up to the previous episodes of the album. Unfortunately, the subsequent 17 Tir In Cortile, despite having an airy and floating atmosphere on its side, sounds like a discord after a series of impeccable tracks. The sunny 40 Secondi Di Niente seems a more mature revisitation of certain early inclinations, but suffers from a lack of bite and is not entirely convincing. It is with the funereal intro of the last track (the almost title track Il Suicidio Del Samurai) that Verdena returns to excellent levels: the text is a nihilistic and heavy haiku accompanied by the dramatic advance of guitar and drums, culminating in a noise orgy of total chaos, where visions and memories emerge collapsing in the cacophony of what, not coincidentally, could be the soundtrack of a samurai's seppuku.

Having reached the end of the album, doubts become certainties: the work has succeeded almost to perfection, the band is finally at the height of their potential and can only get better. A bolt from the blue ready to discharge somewhere. Detractors beware.