Never
would I have expected an excellent record of technical and brutal Death
metal from the Naples suburbs, but sometimes life saves positive surprises
for me too. Succeeding the "2 Hymns: Countless Corpses"
demo released in 2003, the 4 skilled musicians self-produce their debut
MCD, made up by 4
articulate compositions. Imagine an intercross of the latest Pestilence,
the most wicked Cynic and a dose of Natron, especially as for the dry,
raw snare drum sounds in the fast Thrashing rhythmics.
The core of the band resides in guitarist Odium, an imaginative and
experienced axeman that could make any guitar happy of being played
by him; and I'm not referring only to the solos or the riffs, this guy
has a natural talent to join different structures without ruining the
collective feeling and avoiding decreasing the climax.
This is a record that needs several listens to be fully appreciated,
not because of the recording, fairly good and balanced to be a low budget
one (yes, you will hear the great bass lines as well, 'cos the Campanian
guys aren't pussies and have nothing to hide!); but because it doesn't
exploit usual paths and the drummer often tries to embrace some odd
patterns that may initially sound out of place once in a while. Don't
misunderstand me! The songs are not chaotic or badly-constructed at
all, in this ocean of fierceness there's even place for stunning blood-chilling
melodic breaks, such as the ones before the solo in "Hfg";
the thing is that "Idiosyncratical Armageddon" is not
a standard Techno-Death metal album, and consequently requires constant
deep attention, which repays the listener at the end of the playing.
The music is fundamentally Death metal, but the track "Centuries
of Me" is on the contrary a bit different, including several
trills typical of Black metal, melted with the ones characteristics
of the band. A further mention goes to Hypersang, a singer that can
interpret diverse emotions ranging from guttural to adrenalinic battle-like
vocals, reaching screaming demonic tones without apparent difficulty;
and whispered menacious vocals aren't missing either. He's also smarter
than many colleagues thanks to the philosophycal and metaphysical concepts
he perfectly expressed within this EP, suitable for a genre like this,
not gory and not excessively atmospherical. As an ex-singer myself I
virtually shake his hand and bow to the other 3 members.
At this point we are willing to hear what the new material will be like,
hoping that indifference, oblivion or, worse, flying bullets deriving
from a camorra street shooting do not occasionally involve any of the
members. Don't forget they come from Europe's all time most dangerous,
criminal and meanest city. It is really a miracle that in such conditions
they have been able to achieve such elevated levels. I rarely say that
but this time it's fully deserved: support the Italian scene when it's
worthy, for fuck's sake! We wanna hear more from Nalvage!
MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 20th June 2006