atmospheric black metal
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Believe it or not, but Venice, or better 'Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia' has had a huge history of oppression. In fact, is there any piece of land left without a huge history of oppression left on this planet? Venice has seen the Napoleonic hate and violence, the Austrian oppression and the vile Italian attempt to annihilate the Venetian people through the old Roman mechanism of "damnatio memoriae" ( "condemnation of memory", a judgment that a person must not be remembered).
This album is the counter attack, a furious answer to that. It digs deep into the rich history of the region, both conceptually and musically. 'Venetia' is a viscous album, but it's also a beautiful piece of work, combining haunting black metal with orchestral and acoustic passages. Besides the rather traditional instruments of guitars, drums and bass, there are stings, piano and even a harp. Those elements push the whole a bit into the gothic metal scene but that's quite ok. It still is a striking album.
Traditionally, the album opens with a bombastic orchestral introduction. At this point, you might indeed expect heavy guitars and female vocals, enhanced by loads of keyboards. Yet, what you get is complex black metal with manic vocals, rolling double bass drums and an assault of all kinds of orchestral elements. Somehow 'A Reitia' reminds me a bit of Rotting Christ or a black metal version of Moonspell maybe.
From then on, the album alternates between calm passages and vicious black metal. 'Dal Mare Alla Terra Adhuc Viventi' blasts on with sheer intensity, a bit like gothic metal but harsher, bleaker, darker and downright malignant. Personally, I really dig this combination, which couldn't have been easy to write and record. Combining metal with orchestral elements often results in a confusing piece of music where it sounds as if both are completely unrelated, playing separately from one another at the same time. Here that's not the case, on the contrary.
Fast, furious black metal with acoustic piano is simply awesome, that's for damn sure. It takes the genre to new levels. 'Sogno De Vis' is one of my favorite tracks here, certainly with those organ sound and the immersive tempo. None of the other songs should be underestimated by the way. In all, this is a stunning piece of work and of course comes highly recommended if you're a black metal fan.
Serge
This album is the counter attack, a furious answer to that. It digs deep into the rich history of the region, both conceptually and musically. 'Venetia' is a viscous album, but it's also a beautiful piece of work, combining haunting black metal with orchestral and acoustic passages. Besides the rather traditional instruments of guitars, drums and bass, there are stings, piano and even a harp. Those elements push the whole a bit into the gothic metal scene but that's quite ok. It still is a striking album.
Traditionally, the album opens with a bombastic orchestral introduction. At this point, you might indeed expect heavy guitars and female vocals, enhanced by loads of keyboards. Yet, what you get is complex black metal with manic vocals, rolling double bass drums and an assault of all kinds of orchestral elements. Somehow 'A Reitia' reminds me a bit of Rotting Christ or a black metal version of Moonspell maybe.
From then on, the album alternates between calm passages and vicious black metal. 'Dal Mare Alla Terra Adhuc Viventi' blasts on with sheer intensity, a bit like gothic metal but harsher, bleaker, darker and downright malignant. Personally, I really dig this combination, which couldn't have been easy to write and record. Combining metal with orchestral elements often results in a confusing piece of music where it sounds as if both are completely unrelated, playing separately from one another at the same time. Here that's not the case, on the contrary.
Fast, furious black metal with acoustic piano is simply awesome, that's for damn sure. It takes the genre to new levels. 'Sogno De Vis' is one of my favorite tracks here, certainly with those organ sound and the immersive tempo. None of the other songs should be underestimated by the way. In all, this is a stunning piece of work and of course comes highly recommended if you're a black metal fan.
Serge
