STRJA / TICINUM / KRE^U / VRIM

vote
7.5

• Bands:
  KRE^U STRJA TICINUM VRIM
• Duration: 00:55:50
• Available from: 10/31/2024
• Label:

• Masked Dead Records

Black metal sung in dialect – and more or less contaminated by folk – is certainly not new these days, but has actually had an almost thirty-year tradition, think first of all of Inchiuvatu (and in general of the 'Mediterranean scene'), and then to the Bolognese experience of Malnàtt, who in the early 2000s added irreverent irony and accordion scores to a traditionally black system, to the Bergamo veterans Imago Mortis or to very young groups such as the Friulian Unviâr.
White flies, of course, within a panorama of bands that primarily choose English – the undisputed lingua franca at a global level of our time – and secondarily Italian, to convey their message.
In fact, every time you choose which language to express yourself in, you are forced to give up something: specifically to easily reach a wider audience using English, or to leave something of your identity out, opting instead for Italian or ( even more so) the dialect.
A difficult genre like black metal, however, easily goes hand in hand with 'harsh' languages ​​that are little (or not at all) understandable outside national borders: today's listener is increasingly accustomed – and intrigued – by those bands that choose to include own culture in music also through the use of one's mother tongue, let's think of the Slavic bands, the Romanian of the late Negură Bunget, or the Scandinavian languages ​​themselves, often used alongside English.
This split gives us an overview of four young realities – some more immature than others – who have chosen to sing in their respective local languages: Strja (Veronese dialect), Ticinum (Pavia dialect), Kre^u (Sardinian language, or rather Barbaricino) and Vrim (Piedmontese) equally divide the space on this work, which was first released on cassette, confirming the underground spirit that animates the collaboration.
And therefore, it is the Venetians Strja who open the hostilities with a telluric and rhythmic piece which however does not give up a strong melodic vein, capable of combining harshness and melancholy of atmospheric black origin, particularly evident in the solo guitar and in the central slowdown, particularly poignant . The following “La Siora Dei Troni E Delle Site” is also on the same wavelength, perhaps even more balanced in combining aggression and minimal melodies.
This trio from the Veronese plain sings about local folklore, dark fairy tales between magic, superstition and tradition, as is the case of the child protagonist of the opener “Instrià”, who has the misfortune of finding himself face to face with a witch (a striato be precise).
The boys, who have already written an EP of the same name, prove to be interesting and the only point we feel we can make concerns the production, which needs to be improved to give depth to the compositions and intelligibility to the instruments and voice, without sacrificing the rawness of the sound. , which suits their proposal well.
We then ideally move to Lombardy with Ticinum, who with their debut “A' La Porta Di Cént Tùr” gave a shake-up to the stagnant Italian folk/black panorama, often crystallized in already heard formulas and strongly indebted to Scandinavian styles.
On the contrary, the Pavia quintet seems to have immediately found its dimension in compositions with a strong medieval flavour, melodic, captivating and truly successful, in the face of lyrics clearly linked to local folklore.
These new songs only confirm the good things done so far, showing us the entire compact and inspired band: the folk scores and the bass of the incipit of “La Cacia Ad Godan” stand out, a piece on shields that opens in a tasty guitar solo, while “Pavia Brusa, La Stria” has – if possible – even more epic and belligerent tones, while naturally preserving intact the melodic vein that animates Ticinum. Certainly the most complete and focused of the lot.
We continue to move west, but this time we abandon the peninsula, and with the Kre^u we land near Nuoro. The Sardinian formation, which debuted last year with a full-length of the same name, offers a melodic black metal rich in tempo changes and with rather complex, almost avant-garde structures, thanks to the melodic openings – with clean vocals – which look to the ancient musical tradition of the island: perfect in this sense “Accabbadòra”, while “Ma^iardzas” reveals a remarkable shot and beautiful solo guitar work.
Both pieces manage to effectively convey the idea of ​​the harsh pride of a population that particularly values ​​its independence, a concept at the basis of this project by the mastermind Brusiòre (voice, guitar, bass and mandolin).
Let's return to the continent and climb into the mountains of Piedmont with Vrim: they too have an album under their belt, the debut “Diciarassion Ed Guera E Grinfor”, with respect to which the two pieces included in this split are in safe stylistic continuity.
The Piedmontese duo is the author of a black metal with dark and epic hues, 'old school' yet open to atmospheric contaminations and to at times more modern writing. Long and intense songs, with abrasive but quite intelligible singing, the first of which – “Ij Lìngher Vendicator” – recalls the long magical tradition of those areas, and the violent repressive intervention of the Inquisition. The following “L'ora Ant El Kali-Yuga” is particularly incisive, with its anthemic and belligerent pace, which worthily closes this compilation.
Ultimately we are faced with a praiseworthy operation, which sheds light on four underground realities with a strong identity, which deserve to be discovered and explored, recently born projects that give new life to Italian extreme metal.