Vladimir Demikhov is defined by many as a scientist, as well as a pioneer in the technology of vital organ transplantation (so much so that even the famous Chris Barnard seems to consider him his master); personally, however, the kindest name that comes to mind is sadistic-psychopathic: difficult to define otherwise the one who, in the name of who knows what benefits for medical science, delighted in creating two-headed canine aberrations (those who love animals like me will shudder to see the photos taken at the time, trying to imagine the suffering to which those poor creatures were subjected). Having said that, Demikhov that interest us most are these guys from Desenzano who assume in toto the moniker and the concept from that deplorable character: Experimental Transplantation Of Vital Organs is their first full length, comes a few years after the debut #0 and is a concentrate of strictly instrumental music, except for some background vocals that you can catch every now and then, consecrated to the disturbance of the ear thanks to its mix of drone, sludge, post metal and progressive. What comes out of this is about forty minutes that, as with most of the albums that are the subject of this choice, does not always manage to fully compensate for the absence of sung parts, but manages to make everything seem more logical and functional to the cause than similar attempts. Demikhov, all in all, do with music what the homonymous Soviet emulator of Dr. Frankenstein tried to do with living beings: first they dissect it, then they try to bring it back to life by combining different genres until it ceases to live again, and so on, in a sort of disturbing loop. The final result is intriguing and the experiment, at least for them, can be said to have been successful: probably the best things come out when the trio from Lombardy lets their psychedelic impulses gush out (Twice The Bark is really good); this is the point from which, personally, I would restart with more conviction at the next occasion, with the aim of making everything more organic without necessarily stifling the experimental nature. A good test aimed at sufficiently open minds.

2016 – DioDrone