Album Review: Ponte del Diavolo - De Venom Natura
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
Some bands like to stick to the tried and tested conventions of song writing. Some prefer to experiment and push those conventions and boundaries. Some are successful whereas others fail. Some bands flirt with so many genre boundaries and just tear up the song writing rule book to the point where you forget what the original book looked like!
Enter Ponte del Diavolo.
To be released via Seasons of Mist, “De Venom Natura” represents the band’s unique sound that combines doom, black metal, traditional heavy metal, and more experimental electronic music in a package that will make you feel foolish for trying to box it into a single genre category.
At the tip of this spear of this one of a kind sound is Erba del Diavolo, the band’s vocalist who can perhaps be best described as wonderfully chaotic and unpredictable. Is she going to unleash blood curdling growls, speak to your very soul with the most eerie ethereal cleans, or inject some dynamism with half spoken almost rap-like vocals? Yes. When is she going to use each style of vocal? Your guess is as good as mine. You're not even sure what language it's coming, whether it’s English or her native Italian. But it’s that variety and lack of certainty that makes her wonderful.
The musicianship follows a similar undecipherable pattern that defies all logic. You can be treated to some tremolo picked guitar riffs reminiscent of a good ol’ fashioned black metal band, though they’ll often sit on a more traditional 4 beat riff you’d hear from a classic heavy metal band. There's frequent time signature changes though and the point of attack is shifted to more bludgeoning and deliberate doom inspired in parts of the album. The experimental nature of jazz comes in too, especially with the subtle introduction of the sax and the more salient use of synths during ‘Il veleno della Natura’ to add a darkened wave. Or in the case of ‘Delta-9 (161)’, things just get bizarre feeling like a missing sample track from a 70s Sci-Fi movie! I mean bizarre in the best way possible too. The kind that makes you stick around, spellbound by curiosity.
Production wise, everything feels clean and sharp. They've clearly done their homework. But it feels honest and believable, resisting the urge to become to sprinkle a little too much studio magic and lose that authentic feel.
Overall though, there's just an ineffable drive and forward thinking energy to their music, one which seeks not the approval of the masses but one which is an embodiment of the bands boundless creative talent and vision! This will prove difficult to digest for some whilst proving to be irresistible to others who like their music seasoned with spices from the more left field of platters.
