Review: Supernaughty ‘Apocalypso’
Livorno, Italy’s Supernaughty return with their third full-length, and the four-piece’s first for Ripple Music, the much-anticipated Apocalypso. Supernaughty (undoubtedly an obvious, yet clever nod to Black Sabbath’s legendary song Supernaut), Angelo Fagni (vocals), Filippo Del Bimbo (guitar), Luca Raffoni (bass), and Alesia Franceschi (drums), present a heavy, low-end rock and roll rumble that’s all at once familiar, with the band showing their stoner rock and early grunge influences in abundance, yet completely owning their sound.
Being as this was my first experience with Supernaughty, coupled with the pre-release internet buzz, I was intrigued and dove into Apocalypso with enthusiasm. Opening with Poseidon, the band make their intentions clear with an utterly filthy, fuzzed-out riff that’s capably backed by a gigantic rhythm sound. Vocally, Fagni splits the difference here between Fredrik Nordin from Dozer and John Garcia, who, if you’re reading this, should need no introduction.
Black Witch Mountain possesses an opening/main riff that is literally the Italian cousin of Down’s N.O.D., fuzz for days, multiple parts that weave together seamlessly, and some seriously soaring rock vocals and harmonies that are both well placed and delivered with conviction. Next up is Amsterdamned, another cool wordplay by the band, which begins life with one of the dirtiest, tonally nasty, chugging riffs I’ve heard all year. It’s the type of riff that makes your face contort into an approving, headbanger frown, while you simultaneously throw up the horns.
However, Supernaughty display plenty of nuance as Amsterdamned unfolds into an epic, Dozer-esque affair. It also features some well-placed Josh Homme-style moans, thus injecting some melody into that next-level riffage, providing a nice balance between the pulverizing and the melodic. Weird Science, while also boasting a massive, thunderous central riff, is also a wicked example of European stoner rock done right. Big, addictive riffs, a colossal rhythm section, plenty of twists and turns and a singer boasting the pipes to deliver the goods over the band’s mountainous racket.
Big, addictive riffs, a colossal rhythm section, plenty of twists and turns and a singer boasting the pipes to deliver the goods over the band’s mountainous racket…
Queen Of Babylon opens with an ambitious, heavy rock and roll build that once again is tonally awesome. The band take the listener on a grand heavy rock journey, before exploding on Fagni’s Tomas Lindberg call-back with an empathic ‘GO!’ as the band bring the house down with a raucous, stoner rock climax. We begin our descent into the back end of Apocalypso with the galloping, mid-tempo beat down that is In(O)culation, which also proffers vibes similar to Dozer’s reunion offering Drifting In The Endless Void, but with more swagger and less cosmic, comings-and-goings.
The penultimate King Again is a crawling riffer wherein Fagni lets it all hang out vocally, whilst the closer and title track, Apocalypso, ends the record in bombastic fashion. A towering exercise in heavy rock and roll dynamism, it features everything that Supernaughty displayed throughout the album, all rolled into a grand finish for this titanic display of European heavy rock.
At this point, it goes without saying that Italy is certainly at the vanguard in global stoner rock and doom metal, as the country is bristling with a robust, country-wide heavy rock and roll scene. Covering the gamut from psych and garage to bone-crushing doom, and that’s without even mentioning the fact that arguably the biggest stoner rock and doom record label in the world, Heavy Psych Sounds, is based out of Rome.
Go ahead and add Supernaughty to the long list of awesome Italian bands, pushing the boundaries in all the various branches of heavy rock as Apocalypso is far and away one of the better albums I’ve heard this year. Highly Recommended.
Label: Ripple Music
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
