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Google
the name of this Italian band and you’ll notice that they dub
themselves a ‘melancholic hardcore suffering band’.
That’s quite the statement. It’s kind of funny too, but the
melancholic and the suffering sides of theirs are all too
evident once you get this record spinning. Broken Wings Lead
Arms to the Sun opens with “Black Star Aeon”; which opens
with the sad and suicidal sounds of a cello. It’s all enough to
slit your wrists, but even more so once One Starving Day lets
its hardcore side break in. Frankly, the band never completely
breaks into that hc sound, instead offers hectic drumming and
shrieks for vocals that quite frankly remind me more of a
Norwegian black metal band than of any tough hardcore dude.
It’s a nice yet eerie balance that this band creates.
It’s an
interesting formula that’s repeated on “Leave” with the same
degree of success. More introspective and far more interesting
is the quiet instrumental “Sacred Heart” and its more suggestive
and more expansive and busy follow-up “Fate Drainer” which
closes the B side of this vinyl release. There are airs of post
rock floating around here and noticing that this release was
recorded back in 2002 gives it a more veritable identity.
Everyone is jumping into this wagon now, it’s good to know that
One Starving Day were already rocking to it back then. Curiously
enough, the promo material sent by the label makes no mention of
such tags. Instead it opts for citing their psychedelic
elements.
Side C of
this release (yes, there are two vinyls!) is filled by a piano
centered tune called “Silver Star Domain”; think of a
melancholic soundtrack backed by drone and feedback. Closing the
festivities is another calmed instrumental called “Severing”;
here One Starving Day seems to be unleashing its most unsettling
experimental side. Going back to the soundtrack bit I wrote
above, some of this track even reminded me of Goblin’s work.
There is a
downside though; this album is supposed to sound huge. With its
expansive giant arrangements it would have been only natural to
match that to a fuller recording that has a bit of bombast.
Unfortunately, what sticks out the most is the tiny drum sound,
a suck factor that is all the more unavoidable since drummer
Francesco Gregoretti is the busiest cat here.
Also, I
would like to congratulate KNVBI, which is the label that has
released this recording in vinyl format. (CD was released by
Planaria Recordings) Broken Wings Lead Arms to the Sun is
issued in both a 12” and a 7”, both gorgeously packaged and in
white and black mix vinyl.
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