Style: post-metal, sludge metal, progressive metal (harsh vocals, Italian lyrics)
Recommended for fans of: Intronaut, Ulcerate, ISIS, Gojira
Review by: Chris
Country: Italy
Release date: 24 January 2020
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the January 2020 Part 3 issue of The Progressive Subway.]
Anytime something is described as post-anything it’s expected you will find repeating themes, ebb and flow of builds, and atmospheric tones. Immoto brings a body of work which reads like a master-thesis on the usage of these techniques while injecting some new style into the formula. Having gone back and listened to their previous work Derivae, Immoto takes the ideas they had there and heightens the extremes, giving us even heavier riffs and more post lows and atmosphere. Before I say more about this album I just want to make it very clear this is the best thing I’ve personally heard all year.
This album opens with the appropriately named Sisyphos, who’s fate of rolling the boulder up the hill only to have it fall mates well with the ebb and flow of this long track, which I feel really serves as an abstract for the album where the band states their intent, building the tension with light atmosphere and almost spoken word style harshes before dropping bone-crushing heaviness onto you to 3 minutes in. After that point you have dropped on the first big hill of the coaster and are at the whim of the flow of this album as Nero Di Marte guide you through their constant ebb and flow of energy and intensity.
One feature of this album I have to highlight that contributes greatly to its atmosphere and feel is the naturalness of every instrument in the mix; an abundance of roomy sounds and feels for every instrument provides the sense of being within the music that this kind of building and atmosphere-driven music needs in order to really bring me along. In terms of performances, the drumming is absolutely stellar and my favorite drumming on a release this year. The bass tonality and sense of when to blend and when to really contribute a separate voice is excellent; the guitar tones and reverbs throughout manage to go from bone-crushing to light as a feather, and toe the line between inhuman and completely natural in feel.
I don’t speak Italian so I really don’t understand the lyrics, but that hasn’t kept me from feeling the emotion and intent dripping from them. Vocalist Sean Worrell as he provides a great delivery on every track: from his Gojira esque pitched harshes to softer almost pad-like hums and tones. Overall this was an album that very pleasantly surprised me, and caused me to dive a bit more back into the Post-Metal genre, though I have yet to find something else that has met the bar this album has given me. The fluidness with which Nero Di Marte have weaved their heavy and light sides together is something they’ve managed to do beyond anyone else I’ve encountered so far. So yeah, here’s my first 10 for the blog.
Recommended tracks: Sisyphos, L’arca, Immoto
You may also like: Dead to a Dying World, Ergo I Exist
Final verdict: 10/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Season of Mist – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Nero di Marte is:
– Sean Worrell (vocals, guitars)
– Francesco D’Adamo (guitars)
– Andrea Burgio (bass)
– Giulio Galati (drums)
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