I’m not sure why it’s necessary for the title of this album, which means ash or Ash, has to be in lower and upper case but I’m sure there must be a reason. The album has an arty sleeve, representing an apparent symmetry. It’s not clear how this relates to the album. The track lengths are mostly around 2 minutes apart from the last one, which usually suggests grindcore or punk but it would seem that I Maiali, which translates as The Pigs, is a blackened hardcore project.
An echoing voice of evil matches a monotone and sinister guitar line. The sounds expands into a ghastly world which we’d rather not be in. Where “Genesi” (Gensis) oozes death, “Ora Sorgi” (Now Arise) is about violence and brutality. There’s a rawness about the sound while the vocals are hissed and subject to sound effect. It works. The appropriately named “L’Orrore” (Horror) starts off in the vein of second wave Norwegian black metal. The ambiance, whose extremity suggests and promotes chaos and disaster, continues the black metal image. By “Parassita” (Parasite) I Maiali are getting into their stride with a full-on, ear-busting noise fest. With the roaring, croaking vocalist and strident guitar work and thumping drum, it depicts a horrible place where punishment is the norm.
Using the vocal sound effects again and potent drum work, I Maiali make “Stanza 101” into a sirening scene of horror and destruction. The deep discomfort runs into “Oblio” (Oblivion) before “Messiv” attacks us like a towering monster imposing its overbearing presence upon us. We’re rattling through the songs now, as none of these three last two minutes. “Sculture de Autopsia” (Autopsy Sculptures) is a piece of blackened hardcore. I like the anarchy of its structure, as I do for all this album, and the experimental disharmony of it. The hard black metal riff appears again among the punk-hardcore horror on “Assalto Cannibale” (Canibal Assault), before the tribal beat of “(R)umore Blu” (Blue Noise / Humour) takes over. The whole thing seems designed to disturb us and take us out of our comfort zone. I liked this. Distortion is then the name of the game on the harsh and driving “Plumbeo Guidizio” (Leaden Judgement). The wall of noise is irrepressible for its 2 minute duration. Finally we have song which is allowed to develop. “Io, Brucio” (I Burn) starts in post-metal fashion, creating a dismal scene. It’s not long before the sound expands and the power level cranks up to present us with the now familiar terrible scene. Technical complexity meets unavoidable violence. For me, “Io, Brucio” was by far the most interesting and memorable piece on this album of harsh dystopian landscapes and copious agony and suffering.
It’s not unheard of that a band presents a raw idea, plays it and then we move on to the next on the basis that the message is out there. For me, getting snippets like this is like having a sampler and on that basis is unsatisfying. Of course this is I Maiali’s choice, but for me whilst I felt something when listening to these grisly songs, moments passed quickly in front of me. I’d rather have had a longer memory and indentation in my psyche than the fleeting moments which came and disappeared. I didn’t detect the symmetry depicted by the sleeve artwork either, but what is evident is the vivid imagery of these songs, which pull no punches in dragging us through harsh black landscapes.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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