Album Review: Sconfitta - Essere Nessuno
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
In the pursuit of pushing my musical tastes as far and wide as possible, I couldn’t resist passing up the opportunity of an album that blends hardcore punk and metal with dark wave and jazz. It’s an intriguing mix of genres, and as the band themselves say, they “aim to be a dissonant and out of tune note in the paradoxically homogenous and artificially harmonious chorus of protest music”.
The band are called Sconfitta, and hail from Genoa, Italy, with Simone on bass/vocals, Giorgio covering guitars/piano/effects and Enrico on drums and… proofreading! They’ve got seven songs, and don’t give you much time to stop and think, as it’s about twenty one minutes long, so strap yourself in, as it’s one hell of a ride.
As I’m reading the press notes, I’m sensing some dark humour from the trio, as the band was “born from a (bad) idea by Simeone” after he failed at almost all his others musical projects. Opening with “Sconfitta” you can sense their displeasure with the world as they begin their aural assault with a hard-hitting rhythm before a softer direction slowly builds up the tempo, resulting in an explosion of noise in the final minute.
“Brucia Sempre Cosi” continues their angry ways, with an enjoyable vocal and bruising bass line from Simone. I’m no expert in Italian, but the lyrics are political, as the band go between feelings of “anger, introspection, indignation and reflection”. There’s something different with “Senza Esempi” a curious beginning that gives way to some tremendous punk noise. They temper their anger with moments of clarity and impressive musicianship, before battering your body once again.
There’s more excellent drumming on “Buio Nella Mente” as Enrico sets the pace for the other two to keep up with. The songs are short, sharp blasts that reflect what the trio stand for, but with a name meaning defeat, they are poking their collective fingers at a society which sees only victory as the primary measure of excellence. They are more reflective on the acoustic “Lunghe Ombre” with soothes hearts and minds before they return to their belligerent selves with “Non un Vizio di Formo” with its stop start sound which gets under your skin.
The album title track is the final song on an album which the band describe as “schizophrenic music against standardized dissent” and is for people “who place the nobility of failure before success at al costs”. It’s abrasive in nature but wrapped around some subtle notes juxtaposing their uncompromising styles, which hints at early Minor Threat in places, and is worth a listen or two.
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