Falena
began life in 2002 in Rocca di Papa, near Rome, on the initiative of
Andrea Trinca, Emiliano Sellati and Alessandro Fusacchia, influenced
by the alternative rock scene and progressive rock. In 2007 they
released a first self produced album full of raw energy, Impressioni.
After some line up changes and a good live activity on the local
scene, in 2013 the band released another self produced album,
L'idiota (The idiot),
with a line up featuring founder members Emiliano Sellati (vocals),
Alessandro Fusacchia (guitar) and Andrea Trinca (bass), along with
Marco Rusignuolo (guitar), Marco Peschi (keyboards, synthesizers,
flute) and Rossano Acciari (drums). The overall sound here is more
refined and mature than on the previous work and the band showcase
really good song-writing skills blending hard rock and calmer
passages, ethereal atmospheres and disquieting moods. The strong
theatrical attitude of the vocalist and lyricist Emiliano Sellati
adds brilliant touches of colour to the musical fabric with excellent
results. There are no liner notes but all the tracks are in some way
linked and tell in a poetical way about a daily diet of despair, a
metaphorical fall into a void where your personality and your sanity
are in danger.
 |
| Falena 2013 |
The
dark opener “L'idiota” (The idiot) evokes in music and words the
obscure ghosts of madness. Here madness is nothing but a scream
without voice, sentences and inhibitions coming out from deeds
without ardour leading to days without light. Heaps of hourglasses
mark the life of men who can't fly towards the sun and get lost into
a black void, victims of their false illusions, submerged by morals
that prevent them from understanding what freedom really is. The
fools have wings too thin to fly and they end up to dream of becoming
what they already are...
 |
| The album cover painted by Alfonso Paulis |
“Il
destino è coperto da...” (Destiny is covered by...) is another
track featuring an uneasy mood where the borders between nightmare
and reality get blurred. Try to imagine a rag covering your destiny,
then a sudden cut in the rag lets the light in... There is someone
who can control all your activities, you're flying like a bee in a
swarm, but you feel as if you were drunk on your ego... “No place
is so far / There are always imperceptible voices...”.
“La
ricerca del nulla” (The search for nothing) describes in music and
words a pointless inner quest within the boundaries of order to dig
out your hidden impulsions. Soon space and time become meaningless
concepts... Along the way you'll meet voiceless giants proud of their
greediness, keepers of shadows, untied dogs and other strange
creatures, you'll be mislead by peculiar dreams and mirages, you'll
be deceived by strange images and powerful illusions but in the end
you won't find what you're looking for... “We're looking for
nothing / We're looking for...”.
“Una
strana sensazione” (A strange sensation) is another tense track
describing a kind of emotional short-circuit that causes a sudden
dizziness and a fall down the stairs while the borders between
obsession and logic disappear... “I will be a flower of paper /
Without stem nor soil...”.
“Cibo
di uomini” (Food of men) features a slower pace and a hallucinatory
mood. The visionary strength of the lyrics conjures up surreal images
describing an anthropophagic rite of daily cowardice, a banquet where
men feed on other men and brains are on sale. It's a bold metaphor
suggesting the absurdity of struggling for power and money... “I
will love the Autumn that knocks down the world / Between the murmurs
of automatons dressed for the party / And that innocence which turns
on every truth of mine / Feed of men... Men...”.
“Es!”
is about a tearing inner conflict, a war where the real personality
of a man is at stake and risks to get suffocated by an external
mechanism. The music and the hermetic, evocative lyrics depict brains
assembled and disassembled on production lines to celebrate the
victory of impersonality. You can't ignore what you can't explain, to
survive you've got to enter labyrinths of snow where everything
reappears and a drop of colour or a sun ray is all you need to
remember who you are.
The
final track “Spazi vuoti” (Empty spaces) features recitative
vocals and ethereal atmospheres. While the words flow away in a
measured cadence, every now and again Pholas Dactylus come to
mind... Finally this strange kind of trip through silent, empty
spaces surrounded by the ghosts of madness comes to an end.
Eventually you can hear a sound and you realize that you're not
insane after all!
On
the whole I think that this is a very interesting work... Anyway,
have a try and judge by yourselves! By the way, the album is
available in digital edition on the main digital stores while for the
physical copy you have to ask the band.
More
info:
