MYSTERIA NOCTIS

The opener "Am I Here?" refers to the art cover and evokes bees all around and inside the head of the protagonist. It's a piece expressing a strong sense of bewilderment... Then it's the turn of "Thoughts", a piece that expresses an inner search that remains unsatisfied. Next comes the nightmarish "A Supplication", a long, complex track where the protagonist is on his knees in front of a jury, put on a hopeless trial leading him to the death penalty...

On "Ultimo canto" (Last singing) the rhythm slackens and the vocals turn from English to Italian. It's a touching ballad about love and death featuring a guest female vocalist who duets with the band's singer. The music and lyrics conjure up a spectral atmosphere as the protagonist answers the irresistible call of the Grim Reaper without fear...

On the following "Night Light" the rhythm rises again bringing demons and fears for an infernal ride into the night. This song is sung in English while for the next one, the melodic "Nell'anima" (In the soul), the band chose again their mother language to express the heat of an inner fire that burns inside the soul and makes the protagonist look up at the sky to overcome a sense of obscure, thundering solitude and uneasiness...

The last track, "Red Sea", is the most ambitious of the album and the most accomplished of the lot. According to the band, this composition was inspired by the classical form of the sonata and features some guest vocalists. Eventually it brings a pinch of optimism and some rays of light after the previous dark atmospheres. The journey comes to an end as the protagonist wakes up under a new sun...

On the whole, an interesting work that deserves a try.

The opener "Ombre dal passato" (Shadows from the past) sets the atmosphere. An acoustic guitar intro and a tormented voice open the album evoking a trembling hand writing a letter full of poisonous questions, addressed to a man who has changed over the years and seems to have forgotten his past. When the rhythm increases the image and perspective change. Night falls and the voice of the person who received the letter can be heard. The evil evoked by the sender envelops the protagonist like a shadow that takes his breath away. The journey in search of the mysterious sender begins, and the departure is described by the following short instrumental "Discesa" (Descent)...

"Anatema" (Anathema), on an apparently cheerful rhythm with echoes of eighties synthwave, describes the torment of the protagonist, visibly shaken by the mysterious call from his past and the shadows it evokes. The protagonist questions himself and questions his glass muse (a sort of woman-city metaphor of his present) on the opportunity to leave and begin a dangerous journey. The need to leave becomes more and more pressing, even if the response of the glass muse is extremely disturbing, a dark omen of perpetual damnation where the synth-wave echoes veer towards black metal hints...

"Ritorno" (Return) paints in music and words the protagonist who, alone and lost, travels along the traces of his past. Faces hidden in the fog watch him and hide the identity of the mysterious author of the letter. Afflicted by too many unanswered questions, by the memory of broken dreams, sacrifices and abandonments on the roads of his past, the protagonist goes on and on with many doubts but without fear...

A delicate piano passage introduces the following "Valzer d'inverno" (Winter waltz), a piece that describes the passion of a brief and intense relationship, a romance with a woman soon forgotten by the protagonist, a woman among many. What remains of that love story? The flames of passion have now given way to ashes and disenchantment, to broken dreams and broken promises, deceptions and betrayal. What remains is just a face that fades into the fog and perhaps a veil of nostalgia and regret...

"Ricordi?" (Do you remember?) begins with a short drum passage. It is a caustic piece that evokes the anger of a forgotten friend and rival of the protagonist in the race for success. A friend that the protagonist has ruined and humiliated. A sacrificial victim who has developed a deep hatred towards him. The meeting with his shadow is another ominous omen about the end of the journey that the protagonist has undertaken...

"Il processo" (The trial) opens with a slow and mournful marching pace. A hostile voice introduces the trial and invites the accused to face the charges. A rapped vocal part summarizes the accusations and invites the protagonist to look at that betrayed and forgotten woman who now takes care of her (and his) son and at the trampled and humiliated rival. The price of success is damnation, the verdict is one of condemnation. But the author of the letter is not among the jurors. He is still waiting for the protagonist at the pass...

The long, complex "La villa" (The villa) tells of the end of the journey. In fact, the journey ends in a dark and remote villa, the tomb of an unforgiving past. The piece opens with strong classical influences and then turns to threatening, heavy atmospheres. Growling, rap, operatic and theatrical voices combine to describe the scenes of an inner hell where you can find resentment and repentance. The protagonist feels that he is not alone in the villa but is welcomed only by dark presences. Four rooms are open. In one he sees the woman he left pregnant with his child, the woman he abandoned, in another room there's an innocent man who ended up in jail because of him, in the third a neglected friend who hanged himself while he was having fun at a party. In each room screams and damnation. In the last one the author of the letter awaits him...

The disquieting "L'ultima porta" (The last door) describes the protagonist ready to cross the last door and meet his fate. Of all the shadows, that of the author of the letter is the most feared. In the end, the most feared shadow turns out to be that of his soul. Now the protagonist understands that he is the monster who caused so much pain and inside a mirror he sees his soul dying. All the lights go out, between fear and remorse. It is his soul that wrote the letter, it is his hand. The man the protagonist was looking for is none other than himself. But when the final credits roll, the protagonist can still choose between forgiveness and oblivion...

The last track, "L'ombra" (The shadow), opens with powerful electric guitar riffs and a fast pace. The protagonist's hand still trembles as he writes the final words of a farewell to himself. He realizes he is the monster and condemns himself to death. Perhaps there is another path of penance and forgiveness, but will forgiveness be enough to save him from himself? The conclusion is left to the listener. The night falls among the shadows of the past and an ink-stained letter...

On the whole, a very good work that deserves a try.