Album Review: Arcana 13 - Black Death
Reviewed by Jon Wigg
Like doom-laden riffs dripping in horror imagery and a large slice of fuzz? Italian's Arcana 13 could be exactly what you are looking for.
Styling themselves as a cross between Black Sabbath and the classic Italian horror directors such are Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci, their 2016 debut album 'Danza Macabra' brought a huge slice of retro-doom. There is nothing subtle or new here but by 'eck do they know how to be heavy.
Their latest single, 'Black Death' was written as the main theme for Claudio Simonetti's (Goblin) upcoming comic book based horror TV series of the same name. Taking a similar structure of the seminal song 'Black Sabbath', this track starts with atmosphere building effects before the main riff kicks in and dooms along nicely. Then the tempo increases and it chugs along nicely. Not original but an excellent doom track with vocals that I would describe as creepy - a perfect fit.
The B-side is a cover of Iron Maiden's upbeat Wrathchild. Not a track that would immediately suggest it would sound good doomed-down, being one of Maiden's faster and punkier tracks, but this is also an excellent track and well worth a listen.
Based on this and their debut, Arcana 13 have an excellent future and I for one look forward to their next offering.
Arcana 13's 'Black Death' E.P. is available now via Aural Music.
