This is the new album from the
Italian band ATARAXIA, whose discography would take ten minutes
to be told, considering all the albums, DVDs, solo projects
and collaborations they did in nearly twenty years. But surely
they are a band than doesn’t need a presentation anymore. What
emerges listening to their albums is that, since the beginning,
they had a distinguished and recognizable style and every new
record, even though always adding something new, gives you what
you expect from them and never disappoints. KREMASTA NERA is
not an exception and surely every previous fan will appreciate
it, but at the same time adds more influences that make their
sound even more intense and expands their stylistic horizons.
The concept of the album is about Axieros, the White Goddess
of the Greek isle of Samothrace, and explores the religious
beliefs and rituals that her followers had to practice. “Kremasta
Nera” enriches the usual medieval sound of ATARAXIA with a strong
influence from ancient music, with Hellenistic and Oriental
influences, and transports you in a historical era submerged
by the dust of centuries, where you will dance around the fire
and listen to hypnotic mantras leading you to trance. The use
of ethnic percussions (both acoustic and electric), played by
the guest musician Riccardo Spaggiari, adds that right element
that makes this album really wonderful, like in “The Nine Rituals”,
“Ochram” or “Kaviria” just to mention few. Francesca Nicoli’
enhances her vocal skills, alternating chant, recitation, ritual
lamentations or other influences I could say from African singing
(in “Ochram” I thought there was a Senegalese guest singer).
I think the ritualistic and theatrical musical approach find
its top in “Therma”, so obsessive it evokes visions as in a
delirium or in ecstatic trance, while in “Ebur” an unexpected
electric guitar adds a lacerating melody to a powerful and cadenced
track that’s perfect for a colossal movie. But this isn’t the
only dimension you’ll find in “Kremasta Nera”, that also gives
pearls of sweetness (more similar to the “traditional” music
of the band) like “Fengari” or “La Fame e la Danza” where classic
guitar and keyboard pads support an Italian singing full of
sadness and melancholy. Definitely, an album pervaded by the
perfume of exotic incenses and burning torches, deep and intense,
to be listened at medium-high volume (or headphones with closed
eyes) to be completely submerged by visions. It’s a door to
a forgotten age, if you dare to discover it.
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