Worm Gear

With one historical foot steeped in fascism and organized religion and the other in unparalleled artistic and philosophical advances, Italy is best viewed as a land of extremes. No wonder then that a band like Simulacro can take the worn paths of darkness, depression, and imminent demise that accentuate Black and Death Metal and imbue them with an undercurrent of beauty and originality that evades the capacities of dark metal journeymen spread upon the earth. Fall of the Last Idol’s airy riffage has motion and woe in equal measure, creating currents for the blasting snares and charred throat to glide upon and lurk behind, sidled below the guitars as they are. A taste of ancient Emperor-style keyboards stitch Simulacro’s Doom and Death Metal movements into their mainly-Black overtones, sculpting a scarred Da Vinci of sound ancient and ahead of its time in equal measure. Such a cornucopia of influence remains on tap for the length of Fall of the Last Idol that at times I had to reassure myself that I was listening to the same record I’d begun with, and, with a few unfortunate exceptions – namely, the jarring detuned march-riffs that close each of the last three tracks – that was a good thing. For the most part, Simulacro retain an effervescence with a ghostly, almost post-black metal aura.

Though Fall of the Last Idol is not without minor blemish, the near perfection of the first four tracks more than makes up for any missteps. Compelled, I know I will return to Fall of the Last Idol again to explore the layers of sound this by which Simulacro tempts the ear, just as historians are compelled to peel back the complicated, mysterious layers of Italy’s harrowed and hallowed ancestral legacy. -Jim

ATMF

~ by cliftonium on April 10, 2013.

Posted in ALL REVIEWS, S-reviews
Tags: ATMF, Black Metal, Italy, Simulacro