Review Summary: Ti ricordi com'era guardare l'Italia dall'altra parte del mare?
I’ve always held the belief that while American post-hardcore/skramz is the poster child for the whole movement, it is its European cousin that holds an incredible record of having some of the most varied, engaging and unique blend of artists in the genre.
Having Anchors Aweigh Records as my introduction to a host of fantastic bands (Raein, Miles Away, Capsize) it was a particular one that caught my eye back then,
Gold Kids, as listening to The Sound of Breaking Up eventually led me to my longtime obsession of European (but mostly Italian/Swedish) Post-Hardcore/Skramz, one of such bands being
Ojne, who had laid the foundations of their sound on their debut EP Undici/Dodici and went on to aggressively expand it on their debut LP
Prima Che Tutto Bruci.
Sonically, PCTB is an amalgamation of restrained chaos and somber melancholy, like a Pasolini home movie, a shaky camera motion being held by a laser sharp, focused mind. equal parts Beauty and vulgarity, all glazed over a veneer of sepia that calls out times long past, loves long lost. All these ideas enhanced by a terrific rhythm section that is both insanely energetic and frantic as well as creative and balanced,
Nel Migliore Dei Mondi Possibili being probably one of the most post rock themed cuts, waxes and wanes and then eventually explodes into a catharsis that is there for a moment, going at full breakneck speed with intricate guitar patterns and pounding drums, and then it’s gone, blink and you will miss it.
And yet for all the delicate complexity of the Post Rock nature of many of the songs, none of them embody its pathos of it more than the 2 hit combo of
Kalieaswari and
Lo Schema Di Propp, the first one a heavyweight that spares no time trying to dig your skull in, with crushing riffs and pounding drums, the second a longer, slower, more somber rumination of the violence present in the sound of Ojne, with much more spaced out riffs and driving bass line that keeps the momentum going, a proverbial velvet glove to Kalieaswari’s hammer
Special praise goes out to the main lyricist, in a interview Alessandro stated that the concept of PCTB is Violence and how violence affects you, how getting in touch with it is a blade that cust you just as deep as it cuts the object of your ire, and how we become accustomed more and more to increasing levels of violence in our every day life to the point where violence becomes second nature. It’s a theme that is thoroughly explored throughout the length of the album, with the atmosphere ranging from longing to hatred to pain to solace, all able to be switched on for maximum effect, at the drop of a dime.
Its quite impressive the longevity that Ojne managed to achieve with Prima Che Tutto Bruci, as it signaled to both the waning days of the skramz movement, and the culmination of their artistic vision, and I would honestly have it no other way.
