Alessio Antoni is an artist of a most peculiar nature and therefore, my kind of creator. Those who've read my reviews on the compositions of Raffaele Pezzella and Michael Ferentino know how much I appreciate the experimental and offbeat. That's precisely what Antoni serves his audience, and for my sake, listening to his new release struck an autumnal chord. It's the Halloween season, after all, and Antoni's work fits its crisp, crusty, and enchanting mood to an atmospheric tee.
Incidentally, Antoni's experimental-music project is named Neraterrae, which signifies something dark...lofty. The project's initial offering is The Nhart Demo(n)s (Nhart being the name of Antoni's previous project), and per that title (and its clever structure, as well as Federico Gusso's moody cover artwork), I felt compelled to imagine something formidable and demonic. Of course, such things needn't always be hellspawned; and as Antoni's creation seized my senses, it wasn't long before a series of bizarre variations inundated me.
Trust me when I say, it's Antoni's heavy, eclectic ambiance that does the trick here, and man alive, Nhart Demo(n)s is ever drenched in it. To me, the album is as dark as night and as orangy bright as a jack-o'-lantern; even more so, as forlorn and delicate as a fallen leaf, sprinkled with slimy dew. I suspect that Antoni's experiment would prove gratifying to those who flip over rocks to admire all those pretty, creepy crawlies.
The introductory track, represented by a slashed circle (an implication of an "empty set"), defines the album's open-for-interpretation, idiosyncratic mode. However, this prelude isn't too open and far from empty, for it spurts a wall of sound that reveals...what? Maybe it's something akin to Kong, Gojira, Vermithrax...maybe something extra-terrestrial, culled and complied from the celluloid clips of Ridley Scott, though charged by metaphysical wit. Whatever the case, the introduction behaves as a gargantuan host, demanding one's undivided attention, then requests one to pave a personal pathway through which the other tracks (and their accompany landscapes) can uninhibitedly roll; and they do as follows...
"Core" (merely based on my imaginative bias) extends the prelude's mood, invoking Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar: a place into which one may have steampunked to reach reckless fun. On the other hand, "End" dictates more of an absolute beginning in its harsh, sardonic stream; with "The Gift of Blindness" becoming its terrifying, losing-one's-way aftermath. To counter "Gift'"s stinging glare, "Night Visit" presents hope through coarseness, in defiance of that spiteful thing that dared to block one's view. The "Untitled" tracks then bounce from out "Night'"s desperate delights, morphing into the most complex of Antoni's musical progression, for they work as Rorschach hymns upon which any meandering pursuits might populate (endless, intersecting visions, if one will); while "Deeper Down" and "New Faith" symbolize and parenthesize the crazed ascents and descents of being damned and yet ecstatically blessed, cradled in a time designed for death, rebirth, struggle and above all, well deserved rest.
It's important to acknowledge that Antoni is a drummer; therefore, his build-ups are percussive, even if devoid of the expected, associated beats. Some tracks are colored by panic-propelled bursts, crunching crashes and tingling industrialization. No matter what the twist or pull, each produces a recognizable, mounting draw: steadfast roads that lead to something unknown, perhaps forbidden and/or dangerous, but once the disquieting dust clears, fulfilling.
As one may infer, Antoni's creation grants a fantastic, full-range voyage. One's imagination will be stretched, plundered and restored all in one magnificent sitting. Such dark, euphoric experiences don't come often, no matter what the season, so be wise to take advantage.
Tune in at... https://soundcloud.com/neraterrae; and ... https://neraterrae.bandcamp.com/releases. Thereafter, encourage others to visit Antoni's audio accomplishment. He's one of those special artists whose musical demo(n)s deserve a legion of fans.
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