Keygen Church – Nel Nome Del Codice
Keygen Church – Nel Nome Del Codice
Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 22/03/24
Running Time 46:10
Review by Dark Juan
Score: Infinity/10
Good afternoon from Crow Cottage, where Mrs Dark Juan and I had decided we were going out for the day as we are both afflicted with some new and exciting plague, and have been stuck in the house for a considerable amount of time. As you are currently reading this, we have elected to not leave the house again because we are too poorly, and Dark Juan is coughing that much I projectile vomited across the lounge, and hit Mossy Boggart Rowan Bryan Grimshaw Cravensworth IV squarely between the eyes. He was not amused and took out his disapprobation upon some kitchen roll that I had lying about as I am building a De Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 in a stalwart attempt to not do the NVQ work I am supposed to be doing. Poor Mrs Dark Juan is climbing the walls as she doesn’t like being indoors. It didn’t help that neither of us were awake before 11am due to being unwell.
It fucking sucks arse, therefore Dark Juan has retreated into music while Mrs Dark Juan creates yet more art and I write yet more nonsense only loosely based around what I am listening to. Therefore, the Platter of Splatter ™ has been reverently removed from the side chapel it resides in and has been anointed with sacred oils and had much religious ministration from Tech Priests in order to be activated for the experience which is Keygen Church’s “Nel Nome Del Codice”. Let me attempt to describe this unique project to you.
It is the brainchild of Italian auteur Victor Love, who you will all no doubt recall from his being the brains and talent behind one of Dark Juan’s favourite modern musical projects, this being MASTER BOOT RECORD(MBR). Keygen Church is not the same as MBR, though. Whereas MBR are straight down the line Electronic Metal and references computer-based retro-futurism and 8-bit processing, Keygen Church are the sound of the Baroque and Romantic styles of Classical Music slammed into a wall of Electronic Metal and dragged screaming into the 21st Century, yet still with that odd retro-futuristic computer vibe as evidenced by the 1-bit ASCII art that accompanies the music. There’s also Love’s obsession with code and ciphers – Keygen Church is replete with them in both the music, the words (which are in Italian) and frequently chorally sung, adding a huge, cathedral-like dimension to the music, which is frequently epic in its own right, and just like MASTER BOOT RECORD, totally and utterly unique.
It’s like listening to Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ forever with added distortion. Dark Juan is sufficiently Goffik to enjoy this thought and Keygen Church might just be the answer to the prayers of anyone who ever thought that church music could be heavy as fuck while they were in the congregation blasting out Jesus-based bangers. Ave Maria and all that shite. I mean, come on, you have to admit that the church organ is a fucking amazing instrument, especially with a talented player because they can stir what’s left of your soul at the same time as blowing your spine clean out of your body with power and volume with those unique, swelling chords that only seem to grow the longer they are held until you are in thrall to the power and majesty. ‘Le Chiave Del Mia Amor’ is an amazing piece of music – it rams together some of the sickest Electronic Metal with the sheer power of a church organ very far forward in the mix and then also shows the virtuosity of Victor Love on the piano as he peels off glissando after glissando on the keys, flitting like a bat through a misty night on the keys, featherlight but incredibly dexterous.
‘Il Paradiso Dell’Anima’ is sheer epic scale grandiosity at its most glorious/pompous depending on your point of view. Rather than seeing this as a simple tune, it should be seen as a symphony, a gloriously overblown attempt at musical immortality, with added sneaky little hints to ABBA’s ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ as there are parts that share a bit of the same chord structure and key hidden beneath the clearly insane keyboard skills Victor Love displays. ‘La Voce Del Destino’ is rather different, being almost a Gothic Metal tune with its slow(ish) tempo and drawn-out chords and lashings of male and female choral singing. It sounds as if My Dying Bride decided to junk the instruments and make everything synthesizer based. We are all aware of how much Dark Juan likes the Heckmondwike-based Yorkshire miserabilists.
As always with Victor Love’s music, everything is meticulously produced, engineered, and mixed. He has managed to convey a sense of colossal scale with the music of Keygen Church, even though it is all electronics-based that offers the listener a chance to truly become part of the music as it dwarfs you with its power and squeezes you tighter and tighter in its thrall.
This album is almost enough to make Dark Juan religious. I have a massive bulbous salutation right now (thanks for that, Morrissey, I needed an excuse to use that two-word piece of literary genius). It can be done in the name of Jesus if it pleases you.
It appears that Dark Juan is firmly held by Victor Love’s multiplicity of musical visions. Everything about “Nel Nome Del Codice” is fucking brilliant, but in a similar, yet completely different way to MBR. It is an insistent, tenacious gripping of the imagination and soul, the desire for the epic and unique, the unusual and the abstruse, combined with the fact that both MBR and Keygen Church represent two sides of the singular talent of Victor Love that makes Dark Juan a terribly dribbling fangirl for Keygen Church.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Il sistema brevettato di classificazione degli schizzi di sangue di Dark Juan, per i miei amici e lettori italiani. L’Italia sta rapidamente diventando uno dei miei posti preferiti da cui attingere nuova musica, con Victor Love e Modern Stars…) cannot move. It has been crushed into inactivity and disbelief by Keygen Church and just how Victor Love can see into Dark Juan’s twisted black soul and make music so perfectly judged for him, it is awarded infinity/10 because Dark Juan no longer cares about his own rules when it comes to reviewing music and whether others might enjoy it. Dark Juan loves Keygen Church that much that he betrays his own principles.
TRACKLISTING
(I have provided an English translation to the titles. How accurate these are remains to be seen as my Italian is by no means expert…)
01. Se Hai Timore Del Vero (If You Are Afraid of The Truth)
02. Le Chiave Del Mia Amor (The Keys to My Love)
03. Sulla Via Della Gloria (On The Path to Glory)
04. Nel Nome Del Codice (In The Name of The Code)
05. Lode Al Disco Sacre (Praise To The Sacred Disc)
06. Il Paradiso Dell’Anima (The Paradise of The Soul)
07. La Voce Del Destino (The Voice Of Destiny)
08. Che Sia Vita O Morte (Be It Life or Death)
09. Sempre Nel Mio Pensiero (Always in My Thoughts)
LINE-UP
Victor Love – Everything, yet again. What a guy. I am not worthy.
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.
