Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Delirium X Tremens
Label: Self-released
Released: year_month
Runtime: 41:47
Rating: 4/5
A few days ago I wrote here that Italian metal isn’t exactly a hotbed of quality, but it’s looking more and more like we’re doing our western metal neighbors a growing injustice with blanket accusations like that. Italian metal gets its bad rep mainly from musical excesses like Rhapsody and their lousy offshoots, but luckily there are also bands out there giving the Italian metal scene its credibility back. One of them is Delirium X Tremens, who put out their second studio album, Belo Dunum, Echoes From the Past, a good year ago.
What makes the band special is that their discography (so far) consists exclusively of concept releases. Even their first EP, Cyberhuman, told a complete story, the debut CreHated From No_Thing toyed with the tale of a doctor searching for the secret of eternal life (bringing sci-fi elements into the concept), and the current record is also tied together by a single narrative. But where the debut played with questions of science, philosophy, and ethics, Belo Dunum turns toward reality, toward the history of Belluno (the name comes from the Celtic belo-dunum), the town Delirium X Tremens hail from.
Belluno sits nestled in the Dolomites, and its geography and history are fatefully intertwined with this mountain range, which also forms the core of the album. The first part kicks off with the death metal storm I Was, in which a dying Italian soldier uses his last words to reveal the myths and legends of Belluno, which DXT then take us through over the following tracks. Most of them stick to the well-trodden path of death metal, but the band expands the sound with instruments that are exotic for the genre, like xylophone, violins, brass, and accordion. These surprising additions mostly enrich and elevate the music, and even if they sound a little clumsy in places, they definitely add to the authentic feel of the early-20th-century stories Delirium X Tremens tell us. Despite using traditional instruments to back up the story and make an effective trip back in time, the band stays firmly anchored in death metal waters. It’s as stormy as the Adriatic Sea and as brutal as the snow blizzards on the Dolomite peaks. Delirium X Tremens are a technically excellent band that holds back from showing off their chops, aware that their main purpose is to present the concept and the songs as such. Still, Belo Dunum is a dynamic, undulating record, full of ups and downs, brutally fast passages and slower atmospheric ones, with the music enriched by plenty of acoustic breaks and the aforementioned »folk« instruments. The guitars do their job with flying colors, at times taking on a monumental, epic edge and at moments brilliantly recalling Death. The crushing drums trample over your ears like merciless avalanches, though it’s a shame the bass and snare have a rather strange and awkward sound. The album gives a special place to Ciardo’s excellent vocals, which growl like Matti Karki (Dismember); he’s no stranger to black metal screams either (a great black metal interlude in An Old Dusty Dream), nor to the extremely convincing clean vocals, especially in the chilling intro Artiglieria Alpina. It recalls a traditional Italian Alpine military march (which Delirium X Tremens composed themselves) and is a calm, serene, idyllic opening before the track unleashes the hell of the war with Austria-Hungary that Italian Alpine troops fought in the Dolomites during World War I. Just as thrilling is the »tribute« to the Church in 33 Days of Pontificate (Vatican Inc.), which stands out for its mass-like atmosphere and furious criticism of the corruption of the Vatican’s corporate machine.
The second part of the album, with the trilogy of Life Before Nothing, Scream of 2000 Screams, and The Memory, recalls the tragedy that struck the Italian town of Vajont on October 9, 1963. That day a dam gave way, one the authorities had built despite warnings that the site was completely unsuitable for it, and the water buried 2,000 people beneath it. Across these three tracks, Delirium X Tremens channel their rage and anger at the authorities who allowed the tragedy to happen, and above all at those who still allow such tragedies to happen, with top-notch musicianship.
With Belo Dunum, Echoes From the Past, Delirium X Tremens have completely overshadowed and outdone their debut in every way, and more importantly, they’ve managed to build a musical identity all their own. With this record the band has vaulted into the cream of Italian metal, and they’ve pulled off something that’s almost mission impossible these days – Belo Dunum is brimming with freshness and a sense of novelty, and the fact is that Delirium X Tremens dared to enrich death metal with elements the genre shies away from like the devil from the cross.
Lineup
Ciardo – vocals, guitar, flute
Med – guitar
Pondor – bass
Thomas – drums
Production
Marino De Angeli and Delirium X Tremens
Tracklist
1. I Was
2. Teveron, The Sleeping Giant
3. The Legend of Cazha Selvarega
4. Artiglieria Alpina
5. The Guardian
6. 33 Days of Pontificate (Vatican Inc.)
7. An Old Dusty Dream
8. Life Before Nothing
9. Scream of 2000 Screams
10. The Memory
