Almost five years have passed since the release of "Party Music For Graveyards", Bloody Mary's second full-length album, and now the time has finally come to enjoy "Anno Zero", the new chapter from the Milanese band. This new platter has the task of closing the trilogy that began with the 2005 debut "Blood'N'Roll" and of taking us into a world turned upside down, on the brink of nuclear crisis. It does so by setting these apocalyptic visions to the band's unmistakable gothic rock trademark, never trivial or predictable, with rhythms that are at times measured and martial and at others more delicate and highly atmospheric.
Bloody Mary's is a well-tested blend, one that has brought the band to a position of prestige in its genre, both in Italy and abroad, and that leaves no doubt about the quality of what they offer. This is a less immediate record than the previous ones: it has to be absorbed gradually, as a whole, over repeated listens, but in the long run it may well prove the most complete and mature thing they have released so far.
"I Keep Pretending" and above all "Chase The Nowhere" are the songs closest to their musical past, showing continuity in composition and a very evident growth in songwriting, while in "Concrete Jungle" the band also gets to express its more aggressive side with a rocky track driven by pressing rhythms, which may even wrong-foot their earliest fans. "Frozen", on the other hand, is a song that sticks from the very first listen, thanks to a spot-on chorus and a hypnotic, enveloping melody, but also to Aldebran's voice, which gives the song a special colour.
"So Far Away" is much more than a classic ballad: it is rather a cry of pain and suffering aimed at the world and at the state of decay into which it has sunk. Another very successful song with a very enveloping melody is "The 3rd Chance", which adds a touch of heartbreaking intensity to this "Anno Zero" and hands us a band in perfect shape, now ready to take flight.
First published in Italian; in English here. Where it appeared ↗