LA MASCHERA DELLA MORTE ROSSA

I didn't plan on reviewing this on Halloween night, but how appropriate of me. This Italian band has expressed their love for the early BLACK SABBATH albums, GOBLIN, POPOL VUH, 70's movie soundtracks, RPI and more. If you heard their 2003 debut you would have to acknowledge that this all makes complete sense. I reviewed that one almost 14 years ago to the day and gave it 4.5 stars. My appreciation for that one has grown even more to the point I added it to my "best of" RPI list. An album based on fear that is dark and fascinating to me. And strangely uplifting as well.

Well, it would be ten years before we would get a followup to that one and this is it. And I was pretty disappointed with this one. I expect some changes after ten years but this one can't stand next to the debut in any way. Based on an E.A. Poe short story "The Mask Of Red Death" I do find the story really interesting. Mainly because of the Covid thing we all went through. The idea here is that this plague sweeps through the land and this rich man invites all his friends to party at his house while all around they die. Suddenly the plague enters the party in the form of a large gruesome presence. They all died.

There's a lot of narration on here telling the story of course. That's the focus like most concept albums. They did drop to a three piece here with the bass player leaving and not replaced. They have released two more albums since this one, bringing them up to four studio albums. They released one in 2016 and another in 2019 that I have not heard. Perhaps the biggest surprise with this recording is that it's under 25 minutes, making it an EP no? Six tracks and three consist of spoken words. We also get the sounds of the country side at times with the wind, mooing cows and wind chimes.

I am in the minority here with the three stars but that's what it's worth in my musical world. Please check out their incredible debut, where their youthful enthusiasm and passion for the music they love comes out in spades.