IO COME IO

Sometimes I've wondered when and how a real distinction between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal could be made. I still don't know when, but I'm getting more and more convinced that the real distinction between these two genres lies in the fact that Heavy Metal tends to leave the bluesy influence behind its shoulders - preferring a darker and more nervous approach to rock music. If my point of view is right, "Io come Io" could be regarded as the first Italian Heavy Metal effort. Ok, the sound results a little smoothed by a typical 1970s production, psychedelic influences can be easily found (most of all in the semi-power ballad "Non io" and the jazzy coda to "Io come Io") and the style of the band here is not so far from what Osage Tribe did the year before this album was released. Nevertheless, "Io come Io" has got such a real tension and straight-in-your-face approach you'd hardly expect from any of its contemporary work. Each of the four songs making up this album contains plenty of complex and heavy riffing (both by the guitar and a marvellous distorted bass in a constant and extremely dynamic dialogue), some of which seem to be recorded ten/fifteen years later. Really, you could find passages reminding you more of Voivod than the Deep Purple: listen to the opening riff in "Io", or the one representing the passage between the heavy and the psychedelic section in "Fenomeno" - and even more, the intricated galloping passage preceding the coda to "Io come Io" (the song). The overall atmosphere is dark and somewhat oppressive (as in any good thrash metal album from the 1980s - of course without the ultraheavy guitar sound). In every song, signature and riff changes (which almost substitute guitar solos) arrive unexpected and puzzling, drumming is technic and metronomical, while all the album is pervaded by an epic and yet desperate feel which makes it even stronger. If you add Pino Ballarini's strong and emotional voice, the final result is an extremely compelling and impressive album, definitely far ahead its times.