Verdena
Il suicidio del Samurai

They were defined, and maybe there are still those who define them, as the Italian heirs of Nirvana.

In 2004, Verdena released "Il suicidio del Samurai," a rough, dirty, neo-melodic, hallucinatory, and at times shocking album in every way. The lyrics, almost all about love or loneliness, are composed of phrases that often verge on nonsense, cold phrases, warm phrases that strike straight to the heart like a stabbing in every sense; the voice breaks out of the channels, the screams are there and you can hear them, but they fit perfectly, everything is cursedly so rough, so grunge, so absurd that it doesn’t seem real. Super distorted and prolonged guitar riffs, solos that are so uneven, so random yet enchanting, a stunning but precise drum... these are the elements to mix together to create a Verdena album.
Perhaps the secret of Verdena is to be sweetly violent, to be able to lay down poetry on a magical musical carpet of feedback and distortions; if I think about it, the beautiful lyrics are not overly complicated, I would say they are straightforward, but they still manage to enchant, to transport, to make you feel freely empty inside.
The 11 songs diverge a bit from older tracks like "Piuma," "Dentro Sharon," "Ovunque," "Meduse e tappeti," etc. ... they seem more studied, more mature, instrumentally more advanced, also thanks to the new addition, Fidel Fogaroli with the "crazy" keyboards.

"Logorrea (Esperti all'opera)" is the track that opens the proceedings; a distorted, sick song ("fashion experts scratch their throats" and "swallow the toad"), eardrum-splitting and hammering just right, the voice and guitar are a spiraling hypnotic hallucination, paranoically splendid! "Luna" takes a bit from the Smashing Pumpkins, notice how in the chorus the voice completely breaks out, Alberto's throat burns like his final solo, a simply and madly dreamy text ("paint me distorted like an abnormal angel falling"), psychedelic, I'd dare say. The third track, "Balantine," opens with a drum roll, deceiving the listener that a delirious riff will follow, instead, a sweet melody in the style of "Come sempre" by Negramaro emerges, accompanying an equally sweet but (I don't know how they manage it) gut-wrenching and ice-breaking text; an excellent track.

The album thus alternates violent moments of imbalance with decidedly more delicate ones; among the tracks to keep well in mind are: "Glamodrama" (delicate until the chorus arrives), "17 tir nel cortile" (psychedelically unique) and "40 secondi di niente" (a rose with many thorns). Verdena doesn’t lose some trademarks but, on the contrary, expands them to reach near-total perfection for an Italian alternative rock album. Well done, really well done!

Recommended for those who listen to grunge, alternative rock and bands like Marlene Kuntz, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Afterhours or Verbena (a US band that, in the beginning, forced the then Verbena to change their name to Verdena).