Tenebro - L'inizio di un incubo (2022)

Spawned forth from the same death metal primacy that brought us bands like Fulci or Scolopendra, Italy's Tenebro hope to pay tribute to their rich history of horror cinema, or horror themes at large, with some of the most repulsive tones and vocals they can muster. Another comparison might be Denmark's Undergang in that they stick with their native tongue for the lyrics, and have that utter, guttural sort of approach to the songwriting, though I found L'inizio di un incubo a little simpler and more thuggishly chugged out. Of course, I don't think you can avoid the semblance to Mortician, for the same reason, especially how they switch between the slower chugging and squeals to blasted grind parts in tracks like "Ultima Tomba"; this record occasionally musters more of an atmosphere than some of the NY legends' works, but the bottom end has much of the same disconcerting, unforgivingly brutal effect upon the listener.

The bass is so thick you could like a sewer full of syrup and other goo, and against that the guitars are flexed out with a grotesque tone that carves into the depths. Like their aforementioned counterparts from the Big Apple, they use drum programming here, and while it's good enough to give you an idea of how the tempos are supported, I found it fairly wimpy and completely overpowered by the other instruments and Il Becchino's monstrous gutturals that are almost impossible to trace beyond blunt syllables. The faster it goes, the more it gets lost to me, though there are a few places throughout, like the intro to "L'Imbalsamazione Dell'Amore" and it's weird, almost Godflesh atmosphere where they enter the attention span a little louder, almost like a tribal pacing before the roiling and spleen-rupturing. I'd also add that I enjoy this album more when they pack on some more layers, like higher pitched tremolo guitar lines to accompany the nasty murk. Samples and screams and such are placed in a few strategic places, sometimes effective and others not, and bits like the organ that opens the album are quite cool and I wouldn't mind more of them.

However, those atmospherics often contrast a little strongly against the revolting crush of the metal riffing, and the entire album suffers from an unevenness including the drum machine quips I had already mentioned. It's like the mix just can't carry it when the guitars and bass are fully liquifying your speakers. Some of the uglier atmospheric effects just become obnoxious rather than horrifying (such as the outro), and when it comes to the construction of rhythm guitar riffs, these don't exactly go anywhere interesting. And that might not be the point of L'inizio di un incubo, but I long to explore bands like this that can concoct some more evasive or compelling material that helps define and enrich the basic bludgeoning. That said, the Matt Carr artwork here is excellent, evocative and does somewhat prepare you for the sound, and if you're just seeking out extremity without regards for much form over function, a combination of the band's I compared them to, then this is for sure fucking ugly death metal that creates a foundation the Italians can expand much further, and spoiler alert: they do exactly that with some of their later EPs and superior sophomore full-length.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

https://tenebro666.bandcamp.com/