“We’re constantly looking for borders, creating boundaries where there are none. Just as the ancients established the finis terrae, or the end of the known world where there was nothing left for them to conquer, so do we exclude the existence of what we cannot understand, control or dominate. (…) there’s no end of the world, just as there does not exist an individual ‘self’ detached from the environment and all other living beings. We can choose to be the end of the world or to push ourselves through the unknown.”
Introducing their new album Finis Terrae (latin for “End of the land”), STORM{O} state clearly how deep they dug to find a suitable material for its creation. They got their hands dirty in the mud of the uncomfortable and the challenging. They took a complex subject such as the concept of “border” and brought it beyond the border itself, inspecting its bowels and returning us a powerful album that is not just poetic, but philosophical.
If you know STORM{O} already, in Finis Terrae you’re going to find something familiar declined in a more sophisticated shape. Luca Rocco’s voice sounds clearer than ever as he contained screaming in favor of a quasi-spoken tone that does real justice to the beautifully crafted lyrics. Italian listeners will probably recognize how the reference to a branch of their homelands’ rock tradition (Massimo Volume, Il Teatro degli Orrori) is even stronger than in their previous works. This is probably one of the crucial details that allows Finis Terrae to sound airy and fresh despite its breakneck speed, in which verses roll down the ridge of the usual delirium of Converge-like riffs, complex yet absolutely in-your-face. And above it all there lingers a sense of authenticity that allows STORM{O} to dare without risking to sound cloying or self-referential.
STORM{O} chose to explore an arduous path and they walked it successfully. 14 years since their foundation, but just 5 after their intense debut album Sospesi nel vuoto bruceremo in un attimo e il cerchio sarà chiuso (“Suspended in the void we’ll burn in a moment and it will come full circle”), the Italian hardcore sensation seems to have broken a levee in favor of a fiery and relentless stream of creativity, constantly raising the bar of their production. In this sense, Sospesi nel vuoto bruceremo in un attimo e il cerchio sarà chiuso mirrors Finis Terrae: the first was a feral, raw scream exploded after a years-long gestation; the latter is a product of conscious urgency. Finis Terrae is maybe one of the most thoughtful and visceral albums you’ll listen this year, leaving you wanting for more.
More details here below.
Finis Terre came out on October 4th, 2019 via Moment of Collapse Records (DE), Skeletal Lightning (US), To Lose La Track (IT), Shove Records (IT), Pundonor Records (ES), Left Hand Label (UK/DE), Zegema Beach Records (CAN/NZ)
Check it out on Bandcamp.
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Finis Terrae tracklist :
1.Trema 01:24
2.Tempi Morti 02:01
3.Movente 01:23
4.Rilievo 02:03
5.Ho Chi Minh 02:33
6. Vetro 01:38
7.Progresso 02:32
8. Metropoli 02:28
9. Respiri 01:49
10.Lascito 02:22
11. Interludio 01:03
12. Niente 05:40
