Saturnalia

Selvans

This is very personal music, but the hardened elements will please the listeners as much as the melodic ones, and as I mentioned, the band makes good use of emotion, swells, and crescendos to give the album a sweeping and ominous sound.
December 20, 2024

From Bandcamp, “The singer and keyboardist SELVANS plays heavy metal with black metal and prog-rock influences. The lyrics and concept are inspired by Italian folk-horror tales and imagery. The new album "Saturnalia,” entirely sung in Italian, sees for the first time an orchestra and a choir consisting of 60 elements playing side by side with SELVANS and his band.” The album has six songs, and “Necromilieu” is first, and it’s a short and somber piano and string introduction to the album. The guitar work is excellent.

“Il Mio Maleficio V'incalzerà!” Is the first proper track. It’s an odd but so far pleasing combination of Symphonic Metal and Extreme Metal, with a proper helping of keyboards, guitars, and plenty of ominous bombast. There are lead guitar harmonies, and the musicianship is very strong as well. “Madre dei Tormenti” begins with the sounds of dusk in the background, and soft spoken words. It makes good use of different textures, swells, and crescendos, and you can’t help get the sense that some of this is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

“Pantàfica” is a rousing and full sound, combining the best that different subgenres have to offer, and the Proggy elements are more noticeable here. He accentuated his vocals almost to the point of overdoing it, but I suspect that it is one of his many charms. “Il Capro Infuocato” makes good use of a variety of emotions, as well as thick, meaty bass guitar notes. There is just enough of a hard bite in the music, and it alternates with doses of melody. The section after the half-way mark is also a bit psychedelic.

“Fonte dei Diavoli” closes the album, and throughout its ten-minute journey, you will hear a plethora of instruments and sounds. It will also peak a few different times, each time more hasty then the previous. Overall, this is very personal music, but the hardened elements will please the listeners as much as the melodic ones, and as I mentioned, the band makes good use of emotion, swells, and crescendos to give the album a sweeping and ominous sound.

8 / 10

Excellent

Songwriting

8

Musicianship

9

Memorability

7

Production

8
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"Saturnalia" Track-listing:

1. Necromilieu

2. Il Mio Maleficio V'incalzerà!

3. Madre dei Tormenti

4. Pantàfica

5. Il Capro Infuocato

6. Fonte dei Diavoli

 

Selvans Lineup:

Selvans – Vocals, Keyboards

Chris D'Onofrio – Guitars

Agares – Bass

Marco Berrettoni – Drums

Antonio Scelzi – Lead Guitars

 

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