San Leo – Aves Raras
San Leo – Aves Raras
Bronson Recordings
Release Date: 17/11/23
Running Time: 38:17
Review by Dark Juan
7/10
Good evening, dear friends. Dark Juan here, and I would like to take a moment to share something with you. It is well known that I am neurodivergent, and that this creates problems for me socially. Don’t panic, this isn’t a pity party. Dark Juan is famously misanthropic at the best of times, but there are times when having something not quite right with one’s head impacts upon one’s friendships and social standing. It is rare that Dark Juan ventures out of Rowan Cottage as there are fully too many people out there and believe it or not, it is a frequent occurrence that the gigs I attend are too loud and cause me distress. This makes maintaining friendships hard from both sides. Plus, it is incredibly difficult for me to make new friends because my stock of small talk is exhausted in about two minutes, and I am easily overwhelmed by crowds and noise.
The point of this is that you all need to make sure your neurodivergent friends are okay. Don’t give up on them because they cancel on you or flat refuse to go out. They are struggling with themselves more than anything else and they might dearly want to be out getting fucking slaughtered with you, but their brains might not be permitting it. It is a deeply unpleasant position to be in, for both the neurodivergent person and their friends as well. It isn’t about fear of missing out, it’s about warped brain chemistry playing tricks with perception. A little understanding goes a long, long way, and our entire scene is supposed to be inclusive and friendly and accepting, isn’t it?
That is rather more serious than I normally get but it is something Dark Juan has been ruminating on.
Anyway, the Platter Of Splatter™ is spinning wildly and today’s offering is from Italian cosmic explorers, sonic shamans if you will, San Leo, and is entitled “Aves Raras”. They play what they call Mantra-core music. The opening tune on the album is called ‘Aries’ and lasts for almost 20 minutes, which gives you an idea of the scale of what this Italian duo are trying to accomplish. Reciprocating patterns of music and some utterly demented drumming build and build in relentless intensity until there is an explosion of distorted guitar and unusual sounds that take the unwary sonic traveller by surprise – it’s not unlike being on the bridge of a slowly patrolling starship that is ambushed, and then suddenly there is a cacophony of alarms and explosions, followed by an equally brutal phase out of the noise and fury into an almost pastoral, drifting finish to the piece, but with sounds that border on Power Electronics. The second musical journey San Leo take us on is called ‘J!OY’ and it is a thankfully shorter affair at around three minutes. Noise Rock guitar combines with yet more eight-armed drumming and some seriously disturbing vocals dripping in effects and using very unsettling harmonies. San Leo are disturbing the already fractured psyche of Dark Juan with this tune, especially when tribal drum sounds are added to the whole wall of noise. It is a short, sharp shock compared with the expansive soundscapes of the opening piece of music.
The album continues with another ten minute-plus piece entitled ‘Futura 2000’, which is named after pioneer graffiti artist Leonard Hilton McGurr and it is another slowly growing musical odyssey that develops over its running time, employing spasmodic, jerky electronics and backward-masked sounds over a beat that is almost primal and tribal. It is easy to imagine future techno-servitors dancing to this in their family groups when they are barracked for the evening. That tribal drumming underpins John Carpenter-esque synth work, all drawn out sound and brooding menace, until the tension finally snaps and the music switches gear into a strange and unusual melding of Synthwave and Escape From New York’s erstwhile soundtrack. It is as if H.P. Lovecraft got his hands on modern synths and scored the Great Old Ones awaking in R’yleh. Again, a quiet start builds to a shuddering crescendo.
The final offering on the album is called ‘AL.AY’ and starts in an atmospheric, epic fashion with coruscating crescents of sound sweeping across the consciousness of the listener yet it doesn’t let up, endless, otherworldly Drone is the order of the day here – an endless, almost painful wave of sounds break against the bulwarks of sanity and tread paths rarely trod in musical terms, with minimalism the order of the day, the duo seeing just how much they can extract from as few notes as possible.
Dark Juan has to be honest here, “Aves Raras” is a fucking challenging listen, and in concert with another record by a band called Ensemble 1 that I have recently listened to, I have discovered that there is an entirely unique form of music where normal dynamics are thrown by the wayside and the power of musical experimentation is the be all and end all. Again, in full disclosure, Dark Juan doesn’t think he is intelligent enough to understand it fully and might be doing the music a disservice when he says that it might be where the line is drawn between challenging enjoyment of unusual music and things that are too complicated and abstruse for their own good. I’m not sure I get it. It is certainly the point where Dark Juan’s enjoyment begins to wane, and Dark Juan really loves Drone and Shoegaze and many other out-there musical adventures.
And therein lies the problem – the music is superbly played and is obviously finely crafted and expertly written, but the sheer inaccessibility of it counts strongly against it. Only the most dauntless of musical explorers will be able to gain the most enjoyment and meaning out of this album and Dark Juan (at least today) is longing for the simplicity of verses and choruses and bridges and middle eights, instead of this freeform adventuring to the outer reaches, and this is why the Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (il sistema brevettato di classificazione degli schizzi di sangue di Dark Juan, per i miei amici italiani) awards San Leo 7/10 for an album that is very good, but also very hard work.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Aries
02. J!OY
03. Futura 2000
04. AL.AY
LINE-UP:
Marco Migani (inserirefloppino) – Drums
Marco Tabellini (m tabe) – Guitars
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
