Completing international tours with the likes of Pianos Become the Teeth, Defeater, This Will Destroy You, and more, on the backs of only two EPs is a pretty impressive feat. Yet that’s what Italian quintet Fall Of Minerva have achieved, which has also led to them signing to Basick Records, a label that consistently sniffs out some amazing, emerging talent. This, in turn, has led to them finally gearing up to release their debut album ‘Portraits’.
Opener ‘Beyond the Pines’ is a huge and thrilling start to this album, before descending into ferocious riffs and raging drum work, which pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the album. The instrumental ‘Sguardi nel Buio’, roughly translating to ‘A Glance In the Dark’ is an incredibly atmospheric filler; strings come together to create a tense feeling in the gut, bringing about a sense of impending doom. It’s an incredibly stunning interlude.
‘Caronte’ sees fiery vocals set up a huge, death march-like track, before descending into dark riffs, supported by heavy and slow drumming.‘Trӓume’ is fast, furious, and aggressive; crushing speed and gritty riffs together, they create a track that’s fuelled by adrenaline. It’s here that Simone’s vocals really shine through – his rough growls, combined with his imposing clean vocals, are intense and are made even more so as he bellows out his anguish in Italian. Using his mother tongue, he lends a resentful feel to this track. ‘Grave Of the Fireflies’ and ‘Ask the River’ are rapid, creating electric tracks that are atmospheric, melodic, and aggressive, all at once.
Fall Of Minerva have created a beautiful yet titan album in ‘Portraits’. This fierce album is quite unique; combining such heavy elements with a melodic atmosphere creates a soaring album, one that’ll see them contend with other melodic post-hardcore acts.
JESS TAGLIANI