### Sokrovenno: De rerum natura

#### 06/01/10 || Khlysty

Seems to me that, as of late, it’s my fate to review Italian bands – and NOT the ones that I would like to. So, well, Sokrovenno. Italians. From Como, in the Alps. I think that you can catch my drift, right? What could an Italian band from Como, with a name like “Sokrovenno” might play, huh? Yeah, you guessed it: Tarantellas, that’s what these dudes, these kool kats from the mountainsides and lakesides play. Tarantellas. With lots of accordion and some flutes and shit like that. Happy, crazy, dancing music, that’s what they do. Now that I said “do”, this reminds me of, y’know, Frank Sinatra. You knows him, doncha? And this song of his, that went “doobe doobe do, doodoodoodeedah, dahdahdahdahah”? Yep, THAT one. Cool song, yeah? And his style, oh, man. Imfuckingpeccable!!! Sharp!!! Chill to thrill. Yeah, matey, that’s the point.

Oh, okay, I’ll talk to you about Sorkovenno and their “De Rerum Natura” debut record. Or, I might not. I might tell you about the REAL De Rerum Natura, which is a longish poem from first century B.C., by the Roman poet Lucretius. It’s not as long as “Rime of The Ancient Mariner”, which this bastard Coleridge stole from Iron Maiden, but it’s pretty long, all the same. And, get this, it talks about The Nature of Things. Which is, in my opinion, pretty retarded, ‘cause you can’t talk about Nature and things, since things are part of Nature, or some such shite that I read somewhere in the Internet and, as we all know, the Internet ALWAYS tells the truth, so long live America, land of the free and home of the brave and of Coke and other great exploits of our modern world.

Look, DON’T shout at me, it’s not my fault that this asshole Lucretius –strange name, if you want my opinion, might be a commie…- went and wrote a poem about things and shit and then Sokrovenno from beautiful Como, probably without even KNOWING the existence of this silly poem, went on and named their record just that. If this bastard sues them, I’m gonna go to the trial and defend those Tarantella-playing, fusilli-con-carne-eating guys, ‘cause I pretty much like them, y’know…

What? Oh, okay, I’m leaving. Sorry guys, it’s time for my medication. Hope that pwetty soon I’ll be back…

(after a longish time)

Shit, shit, shit, the Lord’s gonna kill me if I don’t turn in the review tonight. Hey, there’s some crap written here. Oh, man, who’s the asshole that wrote them. Fuckfuckfuck, notime, notime, getcher shit together and do the job and be done with.

Okay, then, Sokrovenno is a black metal band from Italy, which seems to be lyrically-inclined towards all things nature and stuff. Their label tries to sell them as “Philosophical Pagan Black Metal” and makes comparisons to Agalloch, Negura Bunget, Drudkh and band of that ilk. What I here is a pretty rocking version of standard black metal; this means that the band uses the tremolo-picked upper-register guitars of black metal and the raspy, screechy vocals of the genre, but the music is not the usual blastbeat-ridden chaos of black metal, or the screwy nightmarish experimentation of bands like DsO or Wolves In The Throne Room. No, what we have here is, basically, mid-tempo rock music slathered with black metal elements.

Under this light, the Agalloch name-checking fits the band, although Sokrovenno lacks the dynamic range and scary tactics of the aforementioned outfit. Of course that’s not to say that these Italians are shit; no, they compose their songs with flair and passion, making everything sound as big as possible, while keeping the black metal elements firmly rooted within the music’s foundation. Their melodicism is pretty fine to these ears, even though some small codas between songs do seem a little superfluous and tend to slow down things. The production is pretty okay to these ears, not much separation, not white-out, but somewhere in a middle ground where the rocking elements and the black metal elements seem comfy-cosy with each other.

To wrap things up, I have to tell you that I like this record pretty much. It’s not revolutionary or something that you have never heard before. But it’s done with all the right ingredients and it works. As a melodic, relaxing dip into black metal’s more approachable side, “De Rerum Natura” is a pretty good choice that almost guarantees much replay time. So, there, and now I’m going for my other medication… Thank you and ciao!

- Information
- Released: 2009
- Label: Bleak Art Records
- Website: Sokrovenno MySpace
- Band
- Autunno: vocals, bass
- Maleficus: guitar
- Wartide: guitar
- Sin: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Brina
- 02. Ineunte hieme
- 03. I
- 04. Flammantia moenia mundi
- 05. II
- 06. Fragore
- 07. III
- 08. Sulla mortalità dell’ anima
- 09. IV
- 10. Vestigia pressa bisulcis
- 11. In ricordo