Style: Progressive metal, progressive rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Yes
Review by: Francesco
Country: Italy
Release date: 08 November, 2022
European bands writing about Native Americans has always made for kind of a dodgy endeavour. One example that immediately comes to mind is Iron Maiden’s beloved “Run to the Hills”, which I wouldn’t exactly consider a monumental piece of songwriting in a vacuum, let alone with its ridiculous lyrics. Then we have Europe’s monumental 1986 tragicomedy “Cherokee”, that does nothing but reduce a brutal topic to a banal singalong. May they never live it down. In general, I don’t think it’s a topic that necessarily many Europeans have been interested in touching upon, and many Indigenous bands now raise their own standard – but on 122 Lune, Wounded Knee from Genoa, Italy, were able to flesh out some of these concepts with creativity and earnestness; bassist Davide Galletti has a passion for the Native American way of life he imparts on the rest of the band, and guitarist Fabrizio Bonanno has a sincere desire to safeguard the natural environment, expressing contempt at the idea that man is above all else, and has the freedom to manipulate nature with impunity.
With the wide variety of influences comes a very diverse album; the musical stylings of this release slide back and forth on the spectrum that bridges progressive metal and progressive rock. There are some heavy passages with arpeggiating metal licks like in “Figlio rimasto”, but there are also jazzy, bluesy, swinging parts reminiscent of the progressive rock bands of the 70s, as in “Miseresistenza alla storia”. The melodies are actually kind of catchy, such that even if you don’t understand the lyrics you’ll still find yourself humming the tunes. The metal aspect I find to be very derivative of Dream Theater, with the singer Daniele Carboni’s over-pronounced vibrato and lamenting singing style reminiscent of James LaBrie without rasp and seldom venturing outside of quite a narrow range. Fabrizio’s guitar work is often doubled by Piero Dondi on the synthesizer; the bassist Davide quietly trudges along an octave below, going mostly unheard until “Miseresistenza”; Mauro Lamattina dutifully keeps the pace with his drumming, adapting to all the different styles present on the album.
Ostensibly a concept album following a narrative from the 2006 album Ol3mare (read: “oltremare”; lit. “overseas”), the protagonist finds his way back across the ocean to a land he calls home. The lyrics are written exclusively in Italian, and the aforementioned themes refer to concepts often related to Native Americans, such as philosophical ideas regarding life and the natural world (“E non ero mai stato”); a mind-altering plant that the Europeans had no love for (“Era solo stramonio”); self-discovery and realization (“Figlio rimasto”); and a journey back overseas to where the protagonist calls home (“Niente e come prima e tutto e uguale”). The texts often speak in metaphors, poetic in a manner, and sympathetic to the plight of the Indigenous populations of the United States whose very existence was radically changed by the arrival of the Europeans. They also refer to cultural concepts such as shamanic visions and historical locations and events like the Big Horn river and the massacre at Wounded Knee. The esoteric passages are difficult to translate accurately from Italian, as is the case for any language, but the band clearly put a lot of love into this project.
Overall there’s an obvious competency on 122 Lune present both in the musicianship and the songwriting. The songs are consistent, but aside from a few standout moments like the prologue “Prologo” that was reminiscent of Lakota chants; the jazzy intro to “Miseresistenza” which reminded me of fellow Italian prog rockers Osanna; and the undeniably heavy instrumental “Ocropoid”, unfortunately, most of the album seems to blend together– perhaps the singer’s unaffected delivery made every song sound like it had already played, or maybe the 70s Italian rock stylings were unappealing. In any case, given the soundscapes, I may not have been the target audience. Hammonds were never my thing. If, for some reason, you find yourself studying Italian and interested in progressive rock bands that sort of sound like Dream Theater, 1970s Deep Purple, Yes, or new Opeth, then maybe give this album a listen. Otherwise, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything new here.
Recommended tracks: Miseresistenza, Ocropoid, Figlio rimasto
You may also like: Osanna, DGM, Labyrinth
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Wounded Knee is:
– Daniele Carboni (vocals)
– Fabrizio Bonanno (guitars)
– Davide Galletti (bass)
– Mauro Lamattina (drums)
– Piero Dondi (keyboard)
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