If you are going to name your album after one of the Three Mothers then it had damn well best be a work summoning up a sense of malevolent witchery. Based upon the writings of Thomas De Quincey and adapted by Dario Argento for his triptych of terror, we turn to the cruellest of these sinister figures the Mater Tenbrarum ‘Our Lady Of Darkness’ here. Anyone who has seen Inferno, Argento’s 1980 nightmarish sequel to Suspiria will no doubt have been affected by its spectral horror. 20th Century Fox didn’t know what the hell to do with the film and it ended up, like its predecessor, on the video nasty list here in England. What were we in for from this Venetian band then? I know I wasn’t expecting Keith Emerson but perhaps due to Italian ties something along the lines of Cadaveria who also interpreted the theme to Grand-Guignol aplomb.

Innerload seem to have been tagged a Heavy Metal band in some places and possibly their last two albums were more inclined in that direction. Here though we get an act that builds their music on a bedrock of thrash, galloping away and harried every step of the way by the coarse rasps of vocalist Marco Cortese. It strikes as very tried and tested at first but not what I was hoping for. Anything resembling horror motifs are left till the introduction of third track ‘Asylum’ before they chug forward once more seemingly swiping these ideas away into a Soulfly like stomper. By now the vocals are beginning to grate a bit, they never really change apart from at one point on the album where a snatch of clean singing is somewhat clumsily attempted. Lyrics are however in English and are interesting as they focus on subjects such as addiction, nightmares, schizophrenia and no shortage of restless nights. Songs are perhaps a bit on the lengthy side as is the album itself but at least the players get plenty of opportunity to fire out some metallic licks and solos. ‘Gemini’ reminds a little of Children Of Bodom and ain’t a bad number to bang your head along to due to the exuberance of the stylised thrashy melodic death metal on display. They then decide to have a tinkle of creepy piano work prior to ‘Again’ and batter out something Haunted but seriously those clean vocals detract terribly, otherwise it might have been a much more solid banger of a song.

Naturally I was on tenterhooks waiting for the title track, which we get to eventually. There’s even a video available to go with it. The good news is that at least it has a sense of the macabre in the slower parts and the malevolent as it speeds up. After several plays it does seem to begin to possess. From here we go to the bloody suicide forest again. I’m not sure which is the more popular theme for metal bands, ‘The Three Mothers’ or ‘Aokigahara’ but it must be close. As for the closer ‘Insomnia’ they may as well just have gone the whole hog and called it ‘Non ho Sonno.’ More originality is needed here both musically and thematically I’m afraid and although this was an album I really wanted to like, overall I found it contrived on both fronts. Still, perhaps I had set hopes too high and others not having found themselves as immersed in the alchemical horror of the true auteur here may enjoy it on baser levels.

(6/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/INNERLOAD

https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/mater-tenebrarum