Paul Chain, Violet Theatre

Rediscovering an artist like Paul Chain is a very important moment for the musical culture of old fans and younger rockers who, for age reasons, could not live firsthand the artistic evolution of one of the most brilliant musicians of the entire Italian music scene. "In the Darkness", originally published back in 1986, is the second work of Paul Chain Violet Theatre, a band in which Catena surrounds himself with talented musicians, including some former bandmates at the time of Death SS. The first part of the album, or the first four tracks, see Chain in his most psychedelic and intimate. "Welcome Go My Hell" has a British taste in its psychedelic rock progression, the lyrics sung with dramatic theatrical emphasis by Paul infuse the listener with a strange, evil and perverse feeling. "Meat" has a heavier feel thanks to the solid guitar riffs and Thomas Hand Chaste's drumming, while the vocals lay down a carpet of cold and icy atmospheres worthy of the best doom metal. The long "War", over seven minutes long, accompanies us with ambient sounds, accompanied by a sinister and epic organ for the entire duration of the song. It's really hard to pin down the music of this "In The Darkness", we are faced with pure genius, in those years Paul Chain's inspiration was at the highest level.

For the second part of the album, Sanctis Ghoram, the late former singer of Death SS, comes to the microphone and the songs take on a more metal connotation. "Grey Life" is reminiscent of the aforementioned Death SS, Ghoram's demonic voice and Chain's doom-like riffs support a fairly fast and rocky track. With "Woman And Knife" the playing time slows down to leave room for heavier and sulphurous sounds, Sanctis on the microphone gives a very good performance. Mortuary Hearse" is a classic heavy metal track, very intense and full of groove, with Chain on guitar in great form. The album closes with the long title track, where the guitarist returns to take possession of the microphone and gives life to a jewel of epic doom, malicious and sick, which has the merit of instilling an ancestral fear during the listening. Congratulations to Minotauro Records for having reissued "In The Darkness", a record that celebrates its first thirty years, one of the most inspired works of the monstrous discography of the guitarist from Pesaro. For the many who don't own the original, this reissue is worth getting at all costs. One last specific note: the rating refers to the reissue itself, which contains no bonus tracks or unreleased material compared to the original version; if we were to judge only the music, you could add a good point and a half to the evaluation.  - Andrea Raffaldini