Hesperia - Picenum (True Marchigian Black Metal Renaissance) - CD

This winter & historical Black Metal is true Marchigian Black Metal!
“Picenum (True Marchigian Black Metal Renaissance)“ is the natural continuation of “Fra Li Monti Sibillini”, expanding its concept to the entire Marche region (the title Picenum
indicates the ancient name for a large part of this region). The album is set mostly in the late Middle Ages but also at the beginning of the Renaissance (here highlighted in its darker
sides, experienced through the darkness of my region and the places where I was born).
After a brief intro about the region’s ancient origins, the album is divided into 3 parts:
• The first is dedicated to the history and the very dark legends of the region Marche: the Da Varano Lords who rebelled against the Church by joining the Cursed League in
1375; the history and legend of the Rocca di Pitino (Pitino Fortress) and its deconsecrated church and cemetery; the history and legend of the very dark Roccaccia (The Ugly
Fortress) and its warlord necromancer, a servant of the devil.
• The second is dedicated to the folklore and legends of my region: lu lupu mannà (the Marchigian werewolf), the Mazzamurello (a dark Marchigian sprite), the Sdrega (the
Marchigian witch), before returning once again to the Sibilline Mountains... In this part, Hesperus’ grandmother’s voice (R.I.P.) narrates these folklore legends a couple of
times (she knew quite a few). Here a bigger amount of Marchigian dialect than italian (more than Fra li Monti Sibillini)
• The third and longest part is, in fact, a continuation that closes the circle with the previous album, and the part is “Ritorno fra li monti Sibillini” (Return to the Sibilline
Mountains), with two tracks focusing on the goat-fairies and the Sibylla, and another two tracks that speak of the geographical novel of the Chevalier De la Sale, a real
historical figure who was tasked with exploring the Sibilline Mountains and understanding what was inside the Sibylla’s cave (thus, not a knight from an epic poem like in
the previous album); he truly met the inhabitants of Montemonaco (Mons Daemoniacus) who led him to the vestibule of the Sibylla’s cave (on the summit of Monte Sibilla)
and told him numerous stories of those who entered the cave, including that of a German knight who returned because he was not forgiven by the Church and remained
there... forever (the last track: the final 12’ suite).
Stylistically, the album has many similarities with the previous record (a Mediaval Black Metalin the vein of ‘90s) but adds some Renaissance parts and some ‘80s proto Black
Metal passages. As you will notice, there are folk/ambient interludes as in the previous album, but they are not on separate tracks; they are at the end of each track (incorporated
into the tracks even if they appear in the tracklist).