Intro
Person el cuore di una foresta nella near Germania
Soldato Cristiano
La danza del dolibri
Dersu Uzala
Noi mon dimentichiamo
Famiglia!
Angel always stands for us
Adorazione dell’Europa
Aachen
Rose
Rovine e Amanti is the handiwork of Italian musician Damiano Mercuri,
who presents this first full length album after a raft of CDRs and a short
CD-EP. With a raft of guest appearances, "Rituale Romanum" is
a Roman coin dug from the loam of Italy scribed with Imperial and stoic
grandeur, then burnished and proffered back to world as an alliance of
past and present.
Damiano’s adroitness is keenly expressed in his use of guitars and
mandolin, yet these soundboards do not limit the full breadth of Rose
Rovine e Amanti, which meshes ancient instrumentation with modern industrialism.
After the laconic ‘Intro’ there emerges the true
craftsmanship, gentle guitar arpeggiates while the rapid tremolo of mandolin
purls to the vocals of Damiano, whose tortured paeans encourage skyward
obeisance, his vocals furling into ululations before a buffeting barrage
of orchestral percussion broadens simple folk song in hermetic armour.
Vocals hailing Christianity might well immediately put off the listener,
yet this not some exhortation to an Abrahamic god nor mere histrionics,
rather it is a reverence – given Rose Rovine e Amanti’s blend
of the modern with the Roman Empire, whose official religion became Christian.
The music encourages noble bearing with its marshaled percussion set flush
to the curves and cusps of song, violins dance with guitar to the lulls
where Damiano’s vibrato and plaintive voice breaths, this is no
patchwork of beat and guitar, the songs surge and seek certain respite,
unfurl and accrete charisma.
The album comes presented in a simple clear jewel-case, with full colour
artwork throughout. Strong is the delineation of archaic etching and symbols
of armoured knights graced with the glory of right over the forces of
evil, a conquest of personal demons as much as a literal presentation.
Interior photos on disc and tray inlay of Norman knights frozen in stone
and peaceful rest, the true goal. Liner notes are sparse but detail the
guest musicians and phrases of Italian verse.