Verdena
Il suicidio del Samurai

"Better to enjoy a rose than examine its root under a microscope." - (Oscar Wilde)

There are circumstances where to take a step forward, it is necessary to take two steps back. This is the case for Verdena who, in 2004, following the renovation of the Henhouse (their chicken coop/recording studio), set out to feed both the public and critics with their third studio effort.

The third, indeed; the most treacherous and tricky in a young band's career, because we know how the world works, don’t we? The first album, everyone hails you as the next big thing of the moment, by the second effort they are already accusing you of being a flash in the pan, and by the third... well, by the third you have to establish yourself, grow, progress without selling out, you have to, you have to, YOU HAVE TO.......

... "Il suicidio dei Samurai" is three years older than that "Solo un grande sasso" which is like Christmas lunch: there's so much stuff, you like almost everything, but in the long run you just want it to end.

Older, as I said, but also as toned and lean as the first, self-titled one from '99 with which it shares the 49-minute duration and more...

The impression, after several listens, is of a considered and necessary return to the roots amidst the marlenian noise of the hypersaturated "Logorrea", the intense "Balanite", and the tumultuous "Far Fisa", all skillfully welded to garage-like roller coasters of "Elefante" and the alternation of emptiness and fullness of the compelling "Phantastica" where Alberto caresses and howls with hysteria with equal ease.

"Illuminate, cancel the fears, oh Moon
nothing is the same
I will be so honest as if you were the sea, the sea
And I see you, me and you, nothing matters and collapses, collapses"

The imperious lesson of Nirvana and a barely concealed acid-psychedelic reflux pervade "Glamodrama", while the limping "17 Tir nel cortile" precedes in the lineup a "40 secondi di Niente" on which it is worth pausing.

It is indeed interesting to note how this, together with "Luna" and "Mina", constitutes the backbone of the album, just as five years ago "Valvonauta", "Pixel" and "Viba" did.

Placed in almost identical positions (2nd, 3rd, and 9th/10th) in their respective tracklists, the songs end up performing similar functions.

Power ballads with high emotional coefficients and unassailable refrains, "Luna" and "Mina" evoke Smashing Pumpkins and overseas alternative rock, while "40 secondi di Niente", boasting one of the most successful lyrics by the Bergamasque frontman, is probably the quality peak of the album.

"There is no more peace here

September will take us away with it and

like a rock hanging

we will have the same demands, on me and you"

Needless to say, the trio alone is worth the price of the entire batch.

The loose and dirty title track is tasked with sealing a work not perfect, but certainly more focused, confident, and homogeneous than its predecessors.

If they were called The Verdena's Project and came from a pub in Birmingham, we would be talking about a band with a worldwide impact, but they live in Albino (BG), Italy...

Too little, really too little cool.....