For the one man band Atom, the ep Spectra arrives two years after Horizons: compared to that work, the stylistic coordinates do not change but, if anything, they see an enhancement of their best aspects: the atmospheric black metal proposed by Fabio, musician from Cesena who is behind the moniker Atom, is quite direct not because it’s trivial, but because it reaches the goal without indulging in avant-garde or experimental temptations. Both in the harsher parts, with the usual rhythmic accelerations, and in the more reflective ones, the melodic thread is always in the foreground, making this scarce half hour of music another good demonstration of compositional skills. Compared to other projects of similar mold, Atom still keeps its roots firmly in black metal, a genre that is dissected a bit ‘in all its nuances, which is done effectively in Night Sleeper, where in a relatively short period of time flow depressive drives, post black, epic and vocals that range from evocative choral parts to stentorian clean passages to get, then, the usual scream. Just this, as in the previous work, continues to be a sore point, proving to be of inferior quality to the instrumental context in which it is inserted: sometimes it is exasperated in dsbm style (Spectra), in other moments it becomes more canonical but strangely it results a bit too effected and relegated to the background at the production level (Dasein). As in Horizons, the guitar work is very effective in its various guises, which enhances an album that denotes a further step forward for a project in possession of all the trappings to carve out a minimum of living space in a congested area as never before and in which, despite many think otherwise, the average level is definitely rising.
2016 – Independent
Mournful Sounds 
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