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DAWN OF A DARK AGE - Duration: 00:40:21
- Available from: 12/12/2025
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My Kingdom Music
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The musical tale of the ancient Samnites reaches its fourth chapter, and once again Vittorio Sabelli manages to deploy the usual folk charm in the highest and most intense sense of the term.
“Ver Sacrum”, whose title refers to the rite of separation from the community to occupy new lands, and therefore create new communities starting from the original nucleus, probably represents the closing of the circle and perfectly conveys the urgency and importance of this tradition common to pre-Roman peoples, a sort of death and rebirth of the community, which does not happen in the blood but in relation to the earth, that soil so important on a material but also conceptual level in this long and wonderful concept. As always, the role of the clarinet is central, a true 'voice' parallel to that of Ignazio Cuga, alias Brusiòre of Kre'u, who here confirms his skills and perfect adherence to projects that aim for a more complex and intense story than the “simple” theatricality of certain extreme metal.
The four tracks on the album are configured as real acts of an opera, different yet complementary. “Il Voto Infranto” opens on an acoustic dimension, ideal for entering the right state, even mental, before a very rhythmic crescendo that leads to a decidedly ritualistic ending, ideal to remind recent fans of Heilung, Wardruna & co. that sometimes we play very well even at home.
“Il Consiglio Degli Anziani”, built on the contrast between a full-bodied tremolo riffing and almost tribal percussion, is limited to a few vocal inserts that convey the excitement of a round table and the invocation to the god Mamertes, who once again grants his grace and protection to the Sabines. Let us remember, incidentally, that Sabines and Samnites were often identified under the same 'hat' by the ancient Romans, such as Sabelli – just like our Victor, proud heir of these vestiges.
“The Rite of Consecration” returns to elegiac movements, and the growing violence that takes shape from the middle of the song gives a good impression of a ritual in progress, while “Twenty Years After – The Departure”, with its fourteen minutes of duration, closes the story with power, mixing epic, lyrical moments and sounds that fully convey the strength of a people and of the Nature around them.
As always, it is something more than a simple record: Sabelli and his traveling companions vividly take us back to a distant yet very vivid time, narrated with rare force.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
