Written By Kevin McSweeney
Ponte Del Diavolo De Venom Natura album review
Now, this is devilishly good! Emerging from Turin, shrouded in darkness – See what I did there? Suit yourselves! – we have Ponte Del Diavolo, whose name translates into English as “Bridge of The Devil”, presumably in reference to the one spanning the Serchio river, rather than the one in Wales.
The blackened post-punk outfit from Italy – don’t the Italians always produce the most exquisite outfits? – are about to release their second full-length album, De Venom Natura, via Season of Mist on February 13th, and we thought you might like to know all about it.
So, excuse me while I prise apart the petals of this intoxicating flower, track by track, in my usual ham-fisted way. May God have mercy on me!
Every Tongue Has its Thorns
Just like every night has its dawn. Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song. Apologies for that little self-indulgence. It’s not the vibe, I know, but it’s quite fitting in a way, given that Poison is one of the album’s primary themes.
From its creepy vaudeville intro, with its spooky musical saw sounds, the opening track charges headlong into black metal, albeit a melodic variety thereof, with its dark but accessible chord progression as gloriously incongruous within the style as the haunting and ethereal vocals.
Erba Del Diavolo resorts only fleetingly to guttural growls. The enigmatic frontwoman’s name means “Devil’s Weed”, according to Google Translate.
I’m sure something is lost in the translation, but her name itself is very much in keeping with the album’s overarching theme: that which is natural can be both beautiful and dangerous.
A captivating chanteuse, there is something of the torch singer about her vocal delivery, though in her case, the torch would presumably be accompanied by a pitchfork.
The song comes out of its blast beats at times, and slows to a moody, mid-paced malevolence. Lyrics detailing the damage done to the flesh by thorns are delivered with a macabre glee. It’s a grisly opening statement that’s as fun as it is fear-inducing!
Lunga Vita Alla Necrosi
Long live the necrosis? I have a feeling that Google Translate is making a mug of me.
Anyway, I defy anyone to verbalise that title without breaking into an operatic interlude. Needless to say, I don’t speak Italian, but I enjoyed Erba’s extravagant and flamboyant spoken word delivery on the verses of the second track nonetheless.
It reminds me of Patricia Quinn’s portrayal of Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Musically, it turns its face towards perfidious Inghiltera, owing much stylistically to the English post-punk and gothic rock bands of the late 20th Century, like Bauhaus but with greater urgency about them, or Joy Division, but actually joyful, albeit in a sinister kind of way.
Two songs in, and it is already apparent that this is a multi-faceted musical force, with many different strings to its bow: all of which are black.
Spirit, Blood, Poison, Lament!
One wonders if the title is a list of ingredients to go into a witch’s cauldron.
Anyway, we are back in the realm of black metal, though again it slows and gives way to melody in the verse, with some intricate cymbal work from Segale Cortuna, and Erba’s vocals being as dramatic and overblown as before.
The trombone adds an amusing flourish. Well, it certainly brought a smile to my face, anyway, as did the occasional orgasmic gasps.
The brass takes on a more mournful character towards the end of the song, giving the listener the sense of being in attendance at a New Orleans funeral. This is not a band that tends towards the conventional, and that is very much to their credit.
Il Veleno Della Natura
A spooky synth intro and a frightfully British bass line bring the fourth track to life. The influence of Peter Hook of Joy Division is evident.
It’s mid-paced Anglo-centric gothic ghoulishness, with Erba’s vocals bringing to mind Siouxsie Sioux, and the band’s performance not being far removed from that of her Banshees.
That is, until we get half-way through, and it doubles in pace, not unlike the middle section in the Clash classic Should I Stay or Should I Go?
It is at this point that the venom comes to the fore, as do some proggy synth sounds, and we remain at this elevated pace until the closing stages of the song, where it plays out under a high-bass and tribal tom-tom groove of which Messrs Hook and Morris would be proud.
A video for this track was released around a month ago, and it’s every bit as unnerving and amusing as one might expect.
Delta 9 (161)
Now, this is a different kind of darkness. It’s slow, atmospheric and moody, building like something by The Doors in their more ponderous, brooding moments – I’m thinking of The End from the Apocalypse Now soundtrack.
It’s perhaps not that deep, being ultimately a tribute to the more illicit naturally-occurring substances.
Erba’s vocals soar as he states her desire to: “…get High, so High!” Around half-way through, we switch to a sound more reminiscent of Tool, with bright, melodic vocals adding light to the darkness of the slow, doomy chug. The near nine-minute epic acts as a fine centrepiece for the album.
Silence Walk With Me
Not much silence going on here, as this song starts with a groove characterised by cascading tom-toms in 12/8 time under a riff that verges on stoner metal, perhaps as a result of the intoxication referenced in the previous track.
We then have the unexpected introduction of deeper vocals, provided for the first time by someone in possession of a Y chromosome.
The vocalist in question is Gionata Potenti, aka Omega, who has a CV in music as long as the Turin Shroud, and also provides us with a delightful acoustic guitar outro.
The resonant, soulful baritone vocals guide us through the early stoner stages through to the emergence of more black metal blast beats, rendered without sacrificing melody in the process.
It’s not until roughly half way through the song that Erba’s vocals are introduced, first in the form of an ominous whisper, and then taking over from Potenti fully. The lyrics are startling, and delivered with no small amount of venom.
…a black blanket will grow over your eyes and your ears will be filled with buzzing wasps and your nostrils of thick, resinous smoke and your mouth will be heavy and speech will be vain.
Lovely!
In The Flat Field
Matters are brought to a close with this track that takes us straight back to the English gothic rock scene of the 1980s, at least until the black metal blast beats kick in.
Erba once again evokes Siouxsie Sioux with her vocal delivery. I wasn’t provided with a lyric sheet for this song, so I had expected it to be an instrumental.
The riffing, having taken the form of tremolo picking up until the solo, then switches to a more rudimentary punk style. The lead guitar resembles the wail of a banshee, which would no doubt please the aforementioned Siouxsie Sioux.
The song then ends with a barrage of drums. I have spoken many times in previous articles for Metal Lair about my love of a good drum intro. As it transpires, I love a good drum outro as well!
So that’s Ponte Del Diavolo’s latest release for you. It’s a curious blend of styles but they all work so well together.
It makes absolute sense that the prevailing blackness of Scandinavian metal and the prevailing blackness of English gothic rock should go so well together, but it’s taken an Italian band to help me see it.
Who else could pull off black paired with black? Theirs is a sound composed of many strands, all woven intricately to create a fine tapestry of shimmering darkness, rendered with customary Italian elegance and festooned with fiendish frivolity. Did we say it was devilishly good?
Metal Lair awards 4.5 “corna del diavolo” to De Venom Natura by Ponte Del Diavolo
Line-up:
Erba del Diavolo – Vocals
Khrura Abro – Bass
Kratom – Bass
Nerium – Guitar
Segale Cornuta – Drums
Tracklist:
1. Every Tongue Has Its Thorns
2. Lunga vita alla necrosi
3. Spirit, Blood, Poison, Ferment!
4. Il veleno della Natura
5. Delta-9
6. Silence Walk With Me
7. In the Flat Field
Pre-order De Venom Natura and save
Production Credits:
Recorded at The Deepest Sea, Turin, Italy.
Produced & Engineered by Danilo Battocchio.
Mixed by Danilo Battocchio at The Deepest Sea.
Mastered by Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios, Stockholm, Sweden.
Guest Musicians:
Francesco Bucci
Sergio Bertani
Vittorio Sabelli
Gionata Potenti
Cover Art:
Francesco Dossena (https://www.instagram.com/facciobruttefacce/)
Photography:
Sergio Bertani
Ponte Del Diavolo Online:
Read More From This Author: Seven Deadly Songs – A weekly roundup of the most unholy new releases.