1. Marti In The Sky
2. Don Calisto
3. Non Prendere L’Acme Eugenio
4. Angie
5. Aha
6. Isacco Nucleare
7. Caños
8. Il Gulliver
9. Faro
10. Muori Delay
11. Trovami Un Modo Semplice Per Uscirne
12. Opanopono
13. Il Caos Strisciante
14. Was?
15. Sotto Prescrizione Del Dott. Huxley
Us English speakers take it for granted that most other people in the world speak English. We can go anywhere and yell at someone and it’s likely that they’ll be able to speak at least a little English to accommodate us. Equally with music, most of the greatest stuff was written in English and most bands sing in English despite being from places like Germany, Finland or Portugal. This however isn’t always a good thing. It has made us lazy and arrogant and makes us think that the only music
worth listening to is English. If we can’t understand the words we tend to guffaw and not take it seriously, as if Sascha Baron Coen’s idiotic Kazakhstani creation Borat were singing them. However this is stupid, and to prove that is Italian three-piece Verdena; accepted into much of mainland Europe but still only managing to scratch the surface of the UK market.
Requiem is Verdena’s third album and treads a more psychedelic and experimental path than its predecessors Il Suicidio Dei Samurai and Solo Un Grande Sasso. After a short intro, ‘Don Calisto’ blasts on, evoking thoughts of a heavier Silverchair and showcasing Verdena’s adept talent at grungey style rockers. However Verdena are in no way a pseudo grunge band; they have a far more interesting side to them, exhibited first in spiralling, twisting acoustic track ‘Angie’ and further
emphasised in driving acoustic rocker ‘Caños’ and then the almost 12-minute psychedelic jam of ‘Il Gulliver’. Clearly Verdena can just as easily do grunge as they can long waves of atmospheric jamming and acoustic ballads. Although the lyrics are indeed in Italian, singer/guitarist Alberto Ferrari’s voice has enough raw power to deliver them with the required attitude to take them thoroughly seriously along with the dexterity of drummer Luca Ferrari (Alberto’s brother) and bassist Roberta Sammarelli. Verdena also have the old school ethic so lacking in today’s music seeing as they record entirely with analogue equipment. This lends a warm yet appetisingly rough sound to the album that is quite rare nowadays and you will find yourself appreciating simple things you never noticed before on an overproduced modern album – the sound of cymbals meshing together or the slack rumble of the bass through a valve amplifier.
There is no doubt that Verdena are an exciting and brilliant band and they are well worth some exploration if you’re into stuff like Silverchair, Nirvana and Radiohead but also more progressive and experimental stuff like Sonic Youth or even dinosaurs The Grateful Dead. Requiem is a strong album and Verdena’s best yet in terms of cohesion and ideas which put many bands who sing in English to shame.
Review by Liam McLaughlin
Requiem is not yet available in UK shops but can be easily obtained via Amazon
The band is signed with Universal Records Italy
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