Anamnesi is the solo project of the eponymous musician from Oristano, already active as a drummer in several island bands; Descending The Ruins Of Aura constitutes his second long-distance effort after the self-titled debut dating back two years ago. Immediately clearing the field of the prejudices that often accompany the work of one man bands, the work I am about to talk about turned out to be a very welcome surprise from the very first notes: Emanuele (this is his real name) succeeds where many other names, far more considered by the specialized press, have failed. Descending The Ruins Of Aura is a record that admirably succeeds in combining the harshness of black scores with the melancholic mood of the best depressive, exhibiting a series of tracks in which the emotional involvement is never lacking: that is, the main endowment of this work is its intensity, its ability to penetrate into the listener’s heart, even in the moments when ambient sounds become predominant. A range of contrasting, though complementary, feelings is exhibited over the course of these three quarters of an hour of excellent music, ranging from anger to desolation, from anguish to melancholy, through a rather good sonic delivery by the standards of the genre. Shareable, as always, the choice to use mainly our language to convey more effectively the content of the lyrics; unfortunately, also in this case, as in many others already addressed, the production tends a bit to bury the voice making it difficult to understand in certain passages. Litany Of Suffering And Reaction and Julia Carta are the tracks that I personally prefer but, really, the whole album is worthy of attention by those who love these sounds that, precisely on occasions like this, are really able to convey those feelings that are often sought in vain in much more advertised products. An obligatory mention must also go to Naturmacht Productions, a small German label that deservedly deals with promoting music light years away from the mainstream and that, just to make things clear right away, on its homepage declares that it does not admit in its roster bands involved in forms of political extremism or race glorification, favoring instead those who deal, in particular, with themes that see “mother nature” as the undisputed protagonist.

2012 – Naturmacht Productions