Mandragora Scream - Volturna

All the vampire-wannabees, dark poets, theatrical types and mimes raise your hands, please. Wowww, that’s way too many of you guys. Okay, hands down. Let’s move on to the topic at hand, namely reviewing the latest album of Italy’s Mandragora Scream, Volturna. What the…? Keep away from me! Fucking mimes.

Alright, let’s get down to business. Volturna is filled with your typical theatrical, poetic dark wave gothic metal. That’s a whole mouthful, right? Yeah, well… it actually is. The entire album is a mixture of piano music, semi-metal guitars, a little bit of techno here and there, Morgan Lacroix' female vocals and screamed whispers. Yeah, it’s possible. Yeah, it creeps me out, too.
But the lot of y’all want to know what the album is like, right? Alright. Song compositions are really good. Mandragora Scream have made really good use of atmospheric organ, female vocals and the whispered screams in the right places. The music doesn’t really have a ‘metal’ feel about it. It’s quite clear that the band directs their musical endeavor towards the dark side of music, not necessarily being metal. The good thing is that even though the music leaves a lot of room to be very melodic and poppy, the band just chooses to keep the dark atmosphere instead of reverting to commercial techniques like a sing-a-long chorus. They’re not total saints, seeing there are a few of those choruses available, like in ‘The Revenant’s Eternal Love’.

Conclusion: if you’re into dark wave and gothic metal, Volturna is the perfect album for you. This kind of music appeals to those lost souls and black-clad kids who cite dark poetry to their dog in the basement of their parents. If you’re the kind of guy who stands near the stage at an Iron Maiden gig and screams ‘metaaaaaaaaaaahhlll’ from the top of your lungs like me, you’ll probably wipe your ass with this disc.