LUCYNINE was born in 2013 as a studio project of the multi-instrumentalist, singer and producer Sergio Bertani. The debut "Chronicles from Leri", a five-track EP between Trip Hop, Psychedelia and Death Metal, received a good visibility, helped by the presence of guests like John Baggott and Gigi Giugno. LUCYNINE is back today, after seven years of silence, with the obscure "Amor Venenat": 13 tracks, 67 minutes, a concept album that examines the darkest and most negative sides of love. A journey between feelings, lust, suffering, anger and death; a fairy tale with no happy ending.

"Family" leads off the album. It's a short, just under three-minute track, consisting of some spoke words and the violent screams. Call it Black Metal, or Death Metal? "Nine Eleven" opens with some hushed vocals and guitars, even-keeled. Unlike the first track, this has an almost Alternative sound to it. Grungy guitars, and those clean vocal yells in the chorus, with a side of melody. Then come the screams, and the pounding of drums. I have a feeling this album is going to go in a lot of different directions. "Vetyver 717" is close to seven minutes in length. It opens with what sounds like someone struggling, with spoken words and light electronica. A heavy riff ensues, followed by an ambient passage. The madness returns with the heavy riff again, complete with a dazzling guitar solo. It ends with thunderous drumming and riffing.

"Charlie's got Blue Eyes" is much more of a Poppy sound. It's jovial and swings with all of the happiness of any song. There is a heavy passage breakdown towards the end. "Thing's I'll never know" is an odd song...there is some musical passages along with some melody but then some lighter passages as well. "Apostasia" opens with light bass work and vocals. It's dark in nature, along with some electronica. What the artists is attempting to paint here is obvious, as he mentioned above, but the methods he uses are widely expressive. "White Roses" opens with light atmosphere and vocals. He talks about "nine white roses," and it's an almost bluesy sound. I had a feeling that this album would be all over the place, and it is. "Anthony Hopkins" opens with some dark tones and a bit of a quicker pace. The feeling is that something is coming, lurking around the corner. Then, the heavy riff drops, and the song ends with an ambient passage of spoken words.

"Roma Blue" features a heavy and chaotic sound out of the gates. Drums, guitar and bass lay down an aggressive sound, with some eerie electronica in the background. Here, the vocals are harsh and angry. The feeling of losing your shit comes through strong here. "Tutto il Male del Mondo" opens with some light atmosphere and some dark and depressive tones. Spoken words come first, then chaos at around the half-way mark, ending with full instrumental attack complete with harsh vocals. "Everyone I Love is Dead" is a pretty bold statement to make. Alternating passages of heavy tones with lighter ones dance throughout, with some fantastic keyboard work here.

"Heartectomy" comes at you strong from the start, with raging Black Metal type vocals...well screams really. Sergio Bertani really leaves no stone unturned here, exploring several different styles of music on the album. The song is mostly aggressive and heavy, with some moments of sweetness, but they are few and far between. "20035310818" closes the album, and it's a twelve-minute whopper. It takes a while for the sound to develop. Ten minutes in, before you hear any real "music." This song perhaps summarizes the album as a whole...weird, odd, eccentric, but exciting. I can guarantee that this is a sound that you haven't heard before. And all those feelings and emotions he mentions above come through strong. With such a wide sense of exploratory sounds, it's hard to summarize this very personal listening experience. But I recommend that you do, just to keep yourself out of your current comfort zone.