Shivered are the musical creature of Mohammad Maki, Iranian musician who, with this debut full length, does nothing to hide his devotion to the bands that bring a melancholy sound and depressive traits, Katatonia in primis. The adherence to the mentioned model sometimes becomes too explicit, but everything is performed with such skill and spontaneity that I think it’s right to move on, to enjoy the goodness of the work staged by Maki. I think it is useless to reiterate how complicated it is to dedicate oneself to metal in Arab countries, especially in Iran, where the Islamic religion and the state end up overlapping: this is enough to provide, in our small way, the deserved support to this musician who, with Journey To Fade, amply demonstrates to be much more than a good copyist. Yes, because, in the end, you also need to be able to compose songs that have their own identity and a defined song form, and in this the good Mohammad succeeds very well, by virtue of a voice that fits the genre, and guitar skills of good level, well supported by the rhythm section composed by two guests, the American Doug Ross on bass and the French Arnaud Krakowka on drums. Now, I try to put myself in the shoes of this guy, endowed with a strong artistic sensibility, who finds himself living in a social reality in which he probably does not fully recognize himself and whose passion is barely tolerated, if not openly opposed: it follows that, even if his musical proposal lacks in originality, there is no doubt that everything stems from an inner labor effective and far from being only a facade. Given this premise, it is more natural to make their own this dozen tracks of excellent workmanship, among which stand out for immediacy Second Soul and the title track, for depth and intensity Eradicate and the magnificent My Last Will, without neglecting the remaining tracks that go to make up a tracklist of high average level, offered with great attention to detail. Beautiful melodies, a latent melancholy, sometimes almost repressed and never too explicit, as per the dictates of the award-winning company Nyström / Renkse, are the basic ingredients that make Journey To Fade an album to listen to with due attention.

2017 – Independent