Artist: Metamorfosi
Label: Vinyl Magic
Release: 1973
Rating: 4.5/5
In the seventies, Italy had dozens of bands that released only one album (or only one good album). Many of them made some of the best records in the country, then vanished as quickly as they appeared. Metamorfosi falls into this category too. They’d put out another album before this one, but it can’t hold a candle to it. The band did come back to the music scene in the nineties and released a follow-up to Inferno, which plenty of other bands never managed to do.
The album is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. That epic poem is a classic of world literature, and the Inferno is usually considered the best of the three parts of Alighieri’s masterpiece. As for the lyrics, the band added a few ideas of their own. Alongside the classic criminals and degenerates, they threw in some modern-day wrongdoers (politicians, drug dealers), which makes the album feel more fitting for our times.
The music paints a gorgeous picture of hell. Piercing synths and dark, rapid-fire organs create an exceptionally dark atmosphere that’s always there, so the tension never lets up. Just when you start thinking a bit of rest is coming (say, when a gentle piano kicks in), it’s only a trick, with which the devil tries to soften us up so we’d let our guard down. It doesn’t take long for the devil’s true face to show, because the gentle piano is followed by a crazy jazzy improvisation that skillfully captures the torments of hell. Still, there’s a brief moment of relief from the constant grinding of organs and synths. The harpsichord is the traveler’s only real ally through hell, and later the piano, teamed up with a flute, provides moments of sweetness. Is Satan trying to lure us in with a siren song?
The rhythm section sets the pace in this underworld. The tempo never slows down, and the inhabitants can’t find any rhythm in their torment, since the time signature keeps changing and leaves them dizzy. The guitar isn’t used often, but when it steps up, it unleashes long, unbroken notes to contrast with the fast rhythm section and confuse all the sinners even more. The singer’s style is quite operatic and very aesthetic. The listener gets the feeling that Satan himself is narrating this work, trying to tempt us to join him with his deceitful voice. The main attraction is the keyboardist, who makes brilliant use of the organ, piano and synths. His parts are usually wild and tense, but also very organized.
For me, Inferno is a masterpiece of Italian symphonic progressive rock. You feel a certain tension throughout the whole album that makes you feel like you have to keep listening with total focus. You have to take in every single note, because you never know when something interesting or shocking is going to happen. It’s honestly pretty hard to compare this album with anything else. Atmosphere-wise, it’s most reminiscent of Il Balletto di Bronzo’s masterpiece – Ys, while stylistically they owe quite a bit to Emerson, Lake and Palmer. There’s plenty of majestic organ and synths, a bit less piano and harpsichord, just enough guitar, a very capable rhythm section, and the vocalist is one of the best operatic rock tenors in Italy (right behind Francesco di Giacomo of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso). In short, I can only talk about this album in superlatives.
Rating: 9 out of 10. If Hell is this divine, what must Heaven be like?!
Lineup
– Jimmy Spitaleri: lead vocals, flute
– Enrico Olivieri: keyboards, vocals
– Roberto Turbitosi: guitar, bass guitar, vocals
– Gianluca Herygers: drums, percussion
Production
Metamorfosi
Tracklist
1. Introduzione/Selva Oscura 7:51
2. Porta dell’Inferno 1:20
3. Caronte 1:19
4. Spacciatore di droga/Terremoto/Limbo 6:22
5. Lussuriosi 3:15
6. Avari 1:32
7. Violenti 3:45
8. Malebolge 1:32
9. Sfruttatori 5:42
10. Razzisti/Fosa dei Giganti 3:25
11. Lucifero (Politicanti) 2:32
12. Conclusione 1:37
Trajanje albuma: 40:18
