Void Of Silence
Human Antithesis

"There are losses that communicate a sublimity to the soul, in which it refrains from complaint and walks silently as under tall black cypresses"

In Extreme Metal, one can encounter albums whose aesthetic value is so high and profound that it leads the listener to admire the beauty reflected in the notes, despite the themes being close to pain, the desire for death, and decay. It's the experience one has, for instance, with the third and final (for now, at least) work of our own Void Of Silence, a band that, in a little over three years, has managed to rewrite a genre otherwise difficult to intellectualize like Extreme Metal.

'Human Antithesis' is the third chapter of the trilogy, the most lyrical, the most touching, probably the rawest. After the anguish of the moments before the war's outbreak (Toward The Dusk) and the dramatic conflict (Criteria Ov 666), we now find ourselves before a landscape devastated by the ravages of war, staggering and dragging itself along.

If the first chapter might recall the narrative universe of Kafka, with its particular taste for symbols and eternal waiting, and the second the visionary talent of Coppola in "Apocalypse Now," a grim representation of a conflict that is internal before it's military, the coordinates of the last are simple and linear: an extreme and decadent version of Italian Neorealist cinema, anchored to a unique talent in depicting scenes of human and moral desolation.

The title track, an imposing suite of over twenty minutes, tackles the theme of Remembrance from multiple angles; the lyrics of the album stem from the Collective Memory (the two musicians from Ostia, who sought out stories and testimonies from war survivors) and the Individual Inspiration (that of the new singer Alan Nemtheanga). The Irish singer's lyrics are less open to "metal" contamination (Satanism and a certain imagery tied to black metal) and emerge as harsh and raw reminiscences with a poetic flavor. Thus, there follows the pain of the individual and that of the community; while the first two episodes were more tied to the individual dimension, this last one is the result of the union between the narrating self and the people around him.

The atmosphere is laden with Desperation, in the original sense of the term: nothing remains to man apart from his pain, which is eternal and unchangable; one may pray to God, Allah, or anyone else (as the lyrics say), but no one will hear the words, leaving in shame those who dared to turn to the sky. The artwork images (taken from photographs of the era) complement this, showing impassive stone angels from atop churches and basilicas, watching men and women who have lost everything and are rebuilding what little remains.

Musically, the album moves on different coordinates from previous albums, abandoning the heaviness of 'Criteria Ov 666,' in favor of a "more airy" doom, with a polished and shimmering production, which makes the listening easier and more digestible. This is the only concession. Otherwise, this album remains difficult and complex, tied to very long compositions (the whole thing lasts about an hour) and intricate arrangements.

The album is permeated with elements linked to the strong sense of Italian identity that characterizes the work (I'm not talking about nationalism, quite the contrary, nor about belonging to the state or similar) and that sets Void Of Silence apart from those who must look abroad for inspiration: numerous are the wartime samples, including a very interesting one at the beginning of the album, where a voice on the radio repeats coded messages to the Resistance. Again, there’s no political intent, just the desire to remember those who contributed to ending human madness… an intention that also returns in "Untitled", an entirely vocal track that revives an old Alpine song, with a really moving crescendo of pathos. Many other noteworthy points are present, including the lyrics of "CXVII", taken from Baudelaire's The Denial of St. Peter and the presence of Atratus from Tronus Abyss as a guest.