Review Summary: On their debut, progressive-metal group Nero di Marte brings us a wonderful, transdisciplinary metal record that is often as technically complex as it as musically diverse.
Italian metal-outfit Nero di Marte is a group that will certainly appeal to the more progressive minded metal listener in more ways than one. Their sound can be comprehensively characterised as a competent amalgamation of the more heavier side of progressive metal with the more technical and atmosphere focused side of death metal, with perhaps a hint of post-metal. When the first notes of opening track hit you, one can immediately start to decipher the array of musical influences which constitutes this European band’s sound: a rather unique and idiosyncratic mixture of proggy bands such as Gojira and Mastodon to death-metal bands such as Gorguts and Ulcerate, with elements from Neurosisesque post-metal sprinkled throughout. This wide array of discrete influences allow Nero di Marte to construct a sound palette which is both dense, atmospheric as well as quite diverse and varied.
What is noticeable in Nero di Marte sound is the way in which their vast array of influences are, as it were, disseminated across their album’s musical spectrum. The record’s compositional structures are more akin to what one might expect from a post-metal or progressive-metal release: their song structures are convoluted and varied in their style, as they give the impression of being both meticulously construed yet remarkably fluid and unpredictable. The music constantly oscillates between various musical extremes constantly ebbing and flowing along countless compositional peaks and valleys, seemingly never remaining stuck in one place for long; never stagnating and always moving back and forth. This fluidness accords the various compositions on this record a certain flare, a certain unexpectedness which rather appropriately fits the relatively long runtime of the tracks on this record. You can tell Nero di Marte’s compositional models were picked with due consideration and accommodate their artistic inclinations quite wonderfully.
The same can, at least to a certain extent, be said of the various kinds of instrumentation on this record. Again, one cannot help but notice the way in which the band’s transdisciplinary propensities manifest themselves discretely among the musical expression found on this release: the roaring, crunchy guitars accompanied by the murky bass produce a sound that sounds similar to a more polished iteration of sludge-metal, yet the rhythmically intricate, often blazingly quick, fill- and blastbeat-heavy drumming feels far more analogous to what the drums on a Gorguts or Ulcerate record might sound like. The vocals on the other hand seem more akin to an idiosyncratic combination of harrowing shouts and gut-wrenching belches apace with the occasional clean part here and there (see track five), again recalling a more hardcore-inspired post-metal sort of sound. It is these many artistic disparities that make it hard to adequately describe this band's sound.
A sound that is in and of itself difficult to properly follow, with its off-kilter, syncopated rhythms, strange feel changes or unpredictable tempo fluctuations. It is a sound which is full of juxtapositions and contrasts which force the listener to always be on their toes as they move through the record’s musical landscape. Certainly, this music is an acquired taste and by no means an easy listen. This is not necessarily helped by the production on this record. Although the production isn’t terribly unpolished, thus somewhat befitting of Nero di Marte’s textured soundscapes, one might question whether the production is polished enough. Perhaps making the production even clearer might further enhance the listener’s experience and bring out the music’s many layers even more. There is a fine line to be tread, production wise, between making the complexities of music such as this clear enough to be fully appreciated and making its sound overly mechanical and emotionless. One might question whether this album’s production treads that line as well as it should or could be able to. One might also wonder whether Nero di Marte adequately fulfilled the musical potential they overtly display on this release. Although their base musical template is quite varied, they refuse to move beyond this musical paradigm throughout this record, which causes the freshness of the record’s sound to wear of quickly.
Moreover, it does seem at points as if Nero di Marte are wearing their influences on their sleeves a bit, with certain drumming sequences creating the impression as if I’m listening to an actual Mastodon record and certain chromatic guitar riffs making me think I’m listening to an actual Ulcerate record. This doesn’t necessarily mean their music is entirely derivative. There are novelties to their sound, which although not fully explored on this release, are indubitably present. One might only hope Nero di Marte will continue to evolve their sound as they did on subsequent releases, but one thing is certain: this eponymous release was one hell of a starting point for a band that may yet prove to be one of metal’s most interesting outfits.
