ASSURDO

Assurdo is the newest album by this Italian band whose first steps take us to the early 90s, however, their sound has been changing with time, and if you listen to this album, you will definitely understand it. Released under Lizard Records, "Assurdo" comprehends ten compositions and a total time of 67 minutes, in which you will listen to heavy stuff (not precisely metal) with some softer and eclectic passages, that make a wonderful release, full of colors and atmospheres, given the vast amount of musicians and instruments that one will find here.

It opens with "Iperbole", a cool introductory track which shows the eclecticism of this album, with strong weird vocals, electronic avant-garde elements, and heavier passages closer to metal. The spacey atmospheres are wonderfully blended with those heavier moments, and the vocals are pretty cool.

"Butterfly Song" starts with a softer sound, with nice drums, a beautiful violin and repetitive far voices. A couple of minutes later the song changes when vocals appear, reminding me a bit of some Patton projects and other avant-garde bands such as Sleepytime Gorilla Museum or even Nichelodeon (thanks Claudio, by the way). I love the inner changes on this track, because you are listening to soft and tranquilizing moments and all of a sudden it explodes and morphs into a powerful and chaotic scenario.

"Transfiguratofunky" follows that path with weird noises and dynamic surprising changes. This is a really wonderful track, with a cool structure, great bass notes that put the funky mood, and amazing African percussions that join after a couple of minutes. There is also a spacey synthesizer that works as background, while some weird voices appear here and there. A keyboard solo appears after four minutes, and makes a delicious sound that one can easily enjoy, it is later complemented by a guitar solo.

"Negative" is one of my preferred tracks here, with a mid-tempo sound, some kind of trip- hop feeling with female voice as background while male spoken words appear. Then just before reaching the third minute the vocals vanish and a new structure appears, with cool atmospheric keyboards. Later the sound of the first part returns and continues like this until the last minute, when a cool and soft vibraphone closes the track.

"Just Cannot Forget" is the shortest composition; a chaotic track with synth noises and a bass clarinet that lead us to "Flash", in which we can listen to both Italian and English male vocals speaking at the same time, while synth and other elements put the background. Later after two minutes an explosion comes and that heavier sound appears. Nice melody and cool sound!

"Clamores Horrendos Ad Sidera Tollit" is another fantastic track, with good keyboard rhythm, soft and heavy vocals accompanied always by some electronic noises. It makes a short stop after two minutes, and then a new structure with acoustic guitars and repetitive bass lines appears. When you think the soft moments will prevail, after four minutes all of sudden it explodes and turns once again into a chaotic track. But well, as you guess later it changes again and puts a new jazzy-like mood for some seconds, before a dark and phantasmagoric sound appears.

"Vaccum Fluctuation" follows with that chaotic and heavier sound of the previous tracks, until fter two minutes it disappears and opens the gates to a wonderful violin accompanied by acoustic guitars and percussion, this passage has mid-eastern flavor, which is really great. Two or three minutes later the violin is replaced by a great guitar riff which sadly only lasts a few seconds, and then the rhythm slows down considerably, making a moment of tranquility. Then the violin returns and the song finishes with that style.

"Re-awakening" has a calm, relaxing and beautiful sound, produced by acoustic guitars and a flute, but it lasts only for a minute, because later a new crazy sound is implemented by vocals, those electronic drums and addictive bass notes. After three minutes a metal-like rhythm appears, with the always inherent guitar riff. But once again, it only lasts a few seconds because the song is constantly changing, in mood, in rhythm, time and tempo, etc. This is one of the virtues of Garden Wall, they really know how to make those dramatic changes, without harming the music, so we as listener do not lose interest.

"Isterectomia" is the last song of this fantastic album, which by the way, is not actually easy to listen and dig. But well, this song is pretty cool, with a delicate flute sound above an electronic background and spoken voice. After two minutes and a half the music almost disappears and only some noises can be heard, creating an ambient of tension; then vocals return and a new structure begins. When you think the song has finished, they surprise us with the last scary and crazy five seconds of noise.

This is a great album by Garden Wall, highly recommendable but I warn you, don't judge at the first listen, you have to give it more chances before you truly enjoy it. Then you will not regret. My final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

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