AA.VV.
...E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore

The year was 1998, the small label Black Widow from Genoa, along with the Erga editions also from Genoa, published a truly remarkable work; we are talking about the book "Incubi Notturni" plus the double anthological CD "...E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore".

Here, I will focus exclusively on the double CD designed (and sold) as a whole with the exquisite volume dedicated to the masters of Italian horror Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci.

The CDs in question are nothing but a wide array of valid musical offerings with terror as the common thread. Attention! The cover and the theme should not lead you to think of a "musical terror" thrown in your face, ostentatiously "gruesome" in sound or singing.

On the contrary, one is faced with a work of a certain musical refinement, considering that some of the artists involved are at their recording debuts or almost so, and the terror is whispered, psychological, paranoid, almost unreal.

In essence, there is no trace of Death Metal or other musical aberrations (in a good sense), much less growl or screaming vocals, except in very sporadic and marginal moments. The artists (many under contract with Black Widow) have engaged in putting their worst nightmares to music, often arising from viewing seminal works by the two above-mentioned filmmakers.

The result, although it doesn't make you shout a miracle, is, in the opinion of the writer, really positive. The groups, almost all from Rock/Metal backgrounds, realize their efforts in airy compositions, often long, classical, and in some cases "gothic". The two CDs are predominantly musical with few lyrics on which one cannot express a decisive judgment (they serve more to complete the horrific atmosphere of the melodies).

The massive duration of the work (almost 160 minutes) does not allow one to appreciate its qualities unless after repeated listens. The sound is good, with decent musical expertise, but an enviable commitment to the cause.

There are some gems like the tracks by Simonetti, Keith Emerson (cover of Mater Tenebrarum by Iconae), Death SS, Ars Nova, Abiogenesi, Lingam, Tenebre, Standarte, etc.

Believe me, with a stunning 29 tracks, you will surely find more than something you like! The personal score would be 3.5 but I round it up to 4 for the honesty of the project (almost always anthologies are cunning and with a mere commercial purpose, here there was passion and a desire to provide lots of valid material compared to the money asked at the time).