Review: To Die On Ice ‘Panoramica Degli Abissi’
A profoundly disturbing veil of pain pervades the dark, cinematic, Lynch core experimental industrial sound, a sensation particularly potent and palpable within Una Specie Di Ferita (A Kind of Wound), the debut album from the Bologna-based collective To Die On Ice. This pervasive feeling is not merely unsettling but intensely penetrating, utterly devoid of natural affection, instead delving headfirst into the realm of unnatural love, vividly reminiscent of the raw, unadulterated portrayals found within pornographic cinema.
Indeed, the entire work serves as an exploration of sex sonority without conventional limits, inviting a transgressive journey where one can freely indulge their own visual imagination and deepest vices while listening to tracks explicitly titled Anal, Fisting, Bukkake, Squirt and Threesome. Designed to capture and amplify these taboo sexual acts through its sound landscape that not only acknowledges but actively celebrates the unsettling beauty of human transgression and the depths of its dark desires.
That was then. And so, four years after their last offering, the eclectic collective comprising Filippo Dionisi on guitar and vocals, Andrea Pedoneon saxophone, Alessandro Vitali on drums, and Marco Senin on bass, who has stepped in for Simone Ferri, reemerge with their eagerly anticipated sophomore album, Panoramica Degli Abissi (Pan Of The Abyss). This new work sees them embark on a deeply immersive visual and musical adventure, meticulously crafted as an alternative narrative to a namesake story penned by Dionisi himself.
The album unfurls a surreal post-New Year’s Eve setting where two protagonists, Paul and Bacall, serendipitously cross paths, finding solace in sharing their secret fears amidst the cold railings of an overpass; their encounter quickly escalates into a frantic race in a car that miraculously transforms into a glowing submarine, propelling them into an exhilarating unknown, drawing us into a truly surreal space oddity. From the very first note, you are suffocated by an obscure, palpable sound that relentlessly drown you bit by bit, pushing you into a cinematic, scary and chilling minimalism.
an experience that is as visually evocative as it is sonically captivating…
This oppressive atmosphere is starkly exemplified by the opener Edera (Ivy), a tenacious climbing plant that metaphorically dies where it takes hold, echoing Filippo‘s chilling cries of ‘The Ivy on the ruin of this hell’ with a raw intensity reminiscent of Noel from Ragana. The narrative then unfolds through the instrumental Un Sottomarino Terribile O Un’Astronave Inarrestabile (A Terrible Submarine Or An Unstoppable Spaceship), which breathes out as it describes a scene from a fire, before continuing its cinematic journey, still adamant and sacred, into tracks like Baccanale and L’Aggravante Dei Futili Motivi (The Aggravating Circumstance of Futile Reasons).
It’s akin to living a still life punctuated by moments of solemn, heartfelt breathing spaces, particularly conveyed by Vesperine‘s haunting voice in L’Insomnia (The Insomnia), where the chilling description of Bacall shooting in cold blood is delivered with the stark declaration, ‘May your blood run dry. May your bones crumble to dust. Because I gave you the night. And you, in return, insomnia.’
Every piece meticulously tells its story, step by step, as Nerofumo (Black Smoke) creates an unhealthy atmosphere where Paul cinematically grapples with not wanting to infect Bacall with his loneliness, revealing two lost souls whose shared adventure holds profound meaning only for themselves. While the specific images of Bacall and Paul may fleetingly cross your mind, it’s the deeper, dark, and surreal Lynchian cinematic imagery of Eraserhead, Twin Peaks, or Mulholland Drive that truly permeates your thoughts, affecting you musically with the same penetrating heavy sound as Swans.
This relentlessly mortally slow-core affair feels like being struck with an axe, yet through its profound darkness, there’s an inherent understanding that, in the end, everything inevitably returns. Across this imaginative journey, the collective masterfully blends sound and narrative to create an experience that is as visually evocative as it is sonically captivating.
Label: Subsound Records | Gymnocal Industries
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Domenico ‘Mimmo’ Caccamo
