• Voto:
Ho letto in varie recensioni come questo disco sia considerato addirittura un capolavoro del punk, io non ci vedo niente di trascendentale ma analizziamo la situazione.
Partiamo col dire che artisticamente il gruppo è formato da Davey Havok voce, Jade Puget chitarra, Hunter Burgan basso e Adam Carson batteria.
Gli A.F.I. (A Fire Inside) sono una band anomala nel panorama punk-hardcore moderno in quanto poco prendono dal punk made in California di gruppi come NOFX, Rancid e No Use For A Name etc. Piuttosto fondono i ritmi furiosi tipici dell'hardcore unendoli ad atmosfere gotiche e dark il tutto condito dalla prestazione canora del cantante che alterna la voce pulita con lo screamo creando un sound tutto particolare. Il sound in parte può ricordare i Misfits, di cui non a caso hanno anche coverizzato un loro famoso pezzo "Halloween".
Il quartetto ha evoluto lo stile nel corso degli anni, partito con un sound molto veloce e diretto negli esordi, negli ultimi anni si è avvicinato di più ad atmosfere gotiche. Il seguente dischetto uscito nel 2003 segna anche il passaggio del combo dalla label indipendente Nitro (gestita dal signor Dexter Holland degli Offspring) alla major Universal. La produzione è affidata a Jerry Finn (Blink-182) e Butch Vig (celebre produttore del successo dei Nirvana "Nevermind").
Ascoltando "Sing The Sorrow" (settimo album in studio del gruppo, successore di "The Art of Drowning") si ascolta qualcosa di particolare che cambia di canzone in canzone. Il disco è composto da 12 brani tra cui un intro iniziale dall'atmosfera decadente alternata a urli. Qui punk, rock, hardcore, dark e gothic si mescolano creando qualcosa di diverso distinguendosi quanto basta da altri gruppi, anche se il risultato finale sarà tra alti e bassi. Andando nel dettaglio è un album vario, anche se presenta delle pecche di cui bisogna tenere conto.
A mio avviso tra le migliori troviamo la potenza hardcore di "Dancing through sunday"(ottimo l'assolo centrale) e l'hardcore melodico di "Paper airplane". Discrete pure "Leaving song pt1" canzone acustica di grande impatto e la ballad "Silver and cold". Il singolo "Girls not grey" è una tipica canzone punk rock classica arricchita dai cori che si distingue all'interno dell'album per l'atmosfera solare tipica del sound californiano e che contrasta con le atmosfere cupe e tetre del resto dell'album, ma che risulta comunque scialba e scontata.
Discorso simile pure per "Death of season", che sebbene sia potente è un impasto che non sa di niente con il cantante che urla fino all'eccesso e addirittura entrano in campo sul finire pure i violini. "The great disappointment" è una tra le varie canzoni di rock lento, forse un po' penalizzata dall'eccessiva durata ma che riesce a rilassare. "Leaving song pt2" continua il discorso della prima parte ma qui entrano in scena chitarre e batteria.
Un plauso invece alle bonus tracks che sono presenti e cioè l'hardcore new school di "Sinesthesia" davvero ottima, che sinceramente non capisco come mai non sia stata messa in scaletta tra le altre, invece di uscire come b-side in quanto è forse il miglior episodio del disco e il discreto rock dal sapore gotico di "This time imperfect". Le liriche in linea con la tradizione gotica sono oscure e inquietanti colme di significati nascosti che trasmettono un senso di miseria e sofferenza. Peccato che il cd si perda un po' con canzoni troppo lente che di punk poco hanno e piuttosto si avvicinano fin troppo al rock.
Nonostante qualche canzone, il voto rappresenta in generale un cd sicuramente non da buttare ma che sarebbe dovuto essere sviluppato e curato dal punto di vista della potenza e della dinamicità e che invece si presenta come un disco troppo confusionario in cui la band si perde tra tante influenze spesso mal celate. Certo le sfuriate non mancano, ma a mio parere il cantato in stile screamo risulta spesso fuori luogo, stesso dicasi per la per le parti centrali delle varie canzoni crogiolate fino all'eccesso e spesso ritmicamente fin troppo statiche. A mio parere tenendo presente i contenuti potrebbe soddisfare maggiormente gli amanti del gothic rock che non quelli del punk hc in genere.
In conclusione se cercate un gruppo diverso dai soliti canoni dentro il genere e apprezzate i Misfits potrebbero piacervi, se amate il classico sound hc di gruppi come Pennywise e Bad Religion lasciate perdere questo disco.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 Miseria Cantare: The Beginning (02:58)
Love your hate, your faith lost.
You are now one of us.
Love your hate, your faith lost.
You are now one of us.
Nothing, from nowhere, I'm no one at all.
Radiate. Recognize one silent call as we all form one dark flame.
Incinerate.
Nothing, from nowhere I'm no one at all.
Radiate. Recognize one silent call as we all form one dark flame.
As we all form one dark flame.
As we all...
Love your hate, your faith lost.
You are now one of us.
Love your hate, your faith lost.
You are now one of us.
02 The Leaving Song, Part II (03:31)
Don't waste your touch, you won't feel anything
Or were you sent to save me?
I've thought too much, you won't find anything...
Worthy of redeeming
Yo he estado aquí muchas veces antes y regreso
To... break down, and cease all feeling
Burn now, what once was breathing
Reach out, and you may take my heart away
Imperfect cry, and scream in ecstasy
So what befalls the flawless?
Look what I've built (Please don't do this),
It shines so beautifully (Why won't you look at me?)
Now watch as it destroys me
Y regreso aquí otra vez y comienzo
To... break down, and cease all feeling
Burn now, what once was breathing
Reach out, and you may take my heart away
Break down, and cease all feeling
Burn now, what once was breathing
Reach out, and you may take my heart away
I left it all behind, and never said goodbye
I left it all behind, and never said goodbye
I left it all behind, and never said goodbye
I left it all to die
I saw its birth, I watched it grow
I felt it change me
I took the life, I ate it slow
Now it consumes me
I... break down, and cease all feeling
Burn now, what once was breathing
Reach out, and you may take my heart away
Break down, and cease all feeling
Burn now, what once was breathing
Reach out, and you may take my heart away
... Heart away
03 Bleed Black (04:15)
Oh
I am exploring the inside, I find it desolate
I do implore these confines, now, as they penetrate, recreate me
I'm hovering throughout time, I crumble in these days
I crumble, I cannot, I cannot find reflection in these days
(If you listen) Listen, listen
(Listen close) Beat by beat
(You can hear when the heart stops) I saved the pieces
(When it broke) And ground them all to dust
I am destroyed by the inside, I disassociate
Hope to destroy the outside, it will alleviate, elevate me
Like water flowing into lungs, I'm flowing through these days
Like morphine cuts through through deadened veins, I'm numbing in these days
So...
(If you listen) Listen, listen
(Listen close) Beat by beat
(You can hear when the heart stops) I saved the pieces
(When it broke) And ground them all to dust
I know what died that night, it can never be brought back to life
Once again, I know
[x2]
I know I died that night and I'll never be brought back to life
Once again, I know
[x2]
(If you listen) Listen, listen
(Listen close) Beat by beat
(You can hear when the heart stops) I saved the pieces
(When it broke) And ground them all to dust
So...
(If you listen) Listen, listen
(Listen close) It dies beat by beat
(You can hear when the heart stops) I saved the pieces
(When it broke) And ground them all to dust
04 Silver and Cold (04:11)
I, I came here by day,
but I left here in darkness
and found you, found you on the way.
But now, it is silver and silent.
It is silver and cold.
You in somber resplendence,
I hold...
Your sins into me,
oh, my beautiful one.
Your sins into me.
As a rapturous voice escapes
I will tremble a prayer
and I'll beg for forgiveness.
Your sins into me,
Your sins into me
oh, my beautiful one.
Light, like the flutter of wings,
feel your hollow voice rushing
into me as you're longing to sing.
So I,I will paint you in silver.
I will wrap you in cold.
I will lift up your voice as I sink.
Your sins into me,
oh, my beautiful one, now
Your sins into me.
As a rapturous voice escapes
I will tremble a prayer
and I'll beg for forgiveness.
Your sins into me,
Your sins into me
Cold in life's throes.
I'll fall asleep for you.
Cold in life's throes.
I only ask you turn away.
Cold in life's throes.
I'll fall asleep for you.
Cold in life's throes
I only ask you turn
as you seep into me,
oh, my beautiful one, now...
Your sins into me,
oh, my beautiful one.
Your sins into me.
As a rapturous voice escapes
I will tremble a prayer
and I'll beg for forgiveness.
Your sins into me,
Your sins into me
Your sins into me,
oh, my beautiful one, now
Your sins into me.
As a rapturous voice escapes
I will tremble a prayer
and I'll beg for forgiveness.
Your sins into me,
Your sins into...
Your sins into me
your sins in to me,
Oh my beautiful one!
05 Dancing Through Sunday (02:26)
Will you join me in this dance, this dance of misery
Cradled in imposs... impossibility?
Swooning, I am swept away
Swept off my feet, with step by step by step
We take the lead as drop by drop, we start... to bleed
(Oh, we dance in misery)
And we dance on, and we dance on
(Oh, we dance in misery)
All lost in the arms of our misery, oh
(Oh, we dance in misery)
And we dance on, and we dance on
Swept off our feet by our misery, we're swept into the shadows
Will you lend yourself to beauty that will horrify?
Let me hide within your black, the still inside your eyes
Deafened, caught within a cry
So sensual, as step by step by step, I seperate
As breath to breath, as I... suffocate
(Oh, we dance in misery)
And we dance on, and we dance on
(Oh, we dance in misery)
All lost in the arms of our misery, oh
(Oh, we dance in misery)
And we dance on, and we dance on
Swept off our feet by our misery, we're swept into the shadows
So who will follow? Who is the lead?
I know I'll leave a stain, because I bleed
As we dance, we all dance
We all... have no chance in this horrid romance
(Oh, we dance in misery)
And we dance on, and we dance on
(Oh, we dance in misery)
All lost in the arms of our misery, oh
(Oh, we dance in misery)
And we dance on, and we dance on
Swept off our feet by our misery, we're swept into the shadows
Swept off our feet by our misery, we're swept into the shadows
06 Girl's Not Grey (03:10)
I'll lay me down tonight
Much further down
Swim in the calm tonight
This art does drown
(What follows) me as the whitest lace of light
(Will swallow whole) just begs to be imbrued?
(What follows) has lead me to this place
where I belong, with all erased
What follows
All insects sing tonight
Their cumber sound
I'd send God's grace tonight
Could it be found?
(What follows) me as the whitest lace of light
(Will swallow whole) just begs to be imbrued?
(What follows) has lead me to this place
where I belong, with all erased
I'll lay me down tonight
Much further down
Watch stars go out tonight
On sinking ground
I'll lay me down, I'll lay me down
(What follows) me as the whitest lace of light
(Will swallow whole) just begs to be imbrued?
(What follows) has lead me to this place
where I belong, with all erased
What follows will swallow whole
What follows will swallow whole
07 Death of Seasons (03:59)
Of late, it's harder just to go outside
To leave this deadspace with hatred, so alive
Writhing with sickness, thrown into banality, I decay
Killed by the weakness, but forced to return, turn it off
I watch the stars as they fall from the sky
I held a fallen star and it wept for me, dying
I feel the fallen stars encircle me now, as they cry
Out there so quickly grows malignant tribes
Posthuman extinction excels unrecognized
Feeling surrounded, so bored with mortality, I decay
All of this hatred is fucking real, turn it on... yeah
I watch the stars as they fall from the sky
I held a fallen star and it wept for me, dying
I feel the fallen stars encircle me now, as they cry
It won't be all right despite what they say
Just watch the stars tonight as they, as they disappear, disintegrate
And I disintegrate 'cause this hate is fucking real
And I hope to shade the world as stars go out and I disintegrate
(It won't be all right
Despite what they say
Just look to the sky
As stars go out...)
08 The Great Disappointment (05:26)
I can remember a place I used to go
Chrysanthemums of white, they seemed so beautiful
I can remember, I searched for the amaranth
I'd shut my eyes... to see
Oh, how I smiled then, so near the cherished ones
I knew they would appear... saw not a single one
Oh, how I smiled then, waiting so patiently
I'd make a wish... and bleed
While I waited I was wasting away
While I waited I was wasting away
I can remember... dreamt them so vividly
Soft creatures draped in white, light kisses gracing me
I can remember when I first realized
Dreams were the only place to see them
While I waited I was wasting away
While I waited I was wasting away
While I waited I was wasting away
Hope was wasting away
Faith was wasting away
I was wasting away
I never, never wanted this
I always wanted to believe
I never, never wanted this
How could I have become?
I never, never wanted this
But from the start I'd been deceived
I never, never wanted this
How could I have become?
I never, never wanted this
I always wanted to believe
I never, never wanted this
I never, never wanted this
But from the start I'd been deceived
I never, never wanted this
Inside a crumbling effigy
But you promised
So dies all innocence
But you promised me
While I waited I was wasting away
While I waited I was wasting away
While I waited I was wasting away
Hope was wasting away
Faith was wasting away
I was wasting away
09 Paper Airplanes (makeshift wings) (03:57)
Raise high monolithic statues so fragile as they fall
I am ever enthralled
Gaze, lie and smirk in time, your arrogance will suit you well
'Til fashion is dispelled
As waves of plastic fame go out of fashion
You're going out, going out forever unknown
These waves of plastic fame go out of fashion
(These waves of plastic fame are drying up and I smile)
You're going out, going out forever unknown
(Because you're dying to become forever unknown, unkown)
From above a rain of ashes descends
Anathema I will remain, forever will remain
From below, in my seclusion
Look up to the sky to see paper wings and watch them burn
Without habitation, you'll never find a soul inside
No life, but nothing's died
No lights, but quite the show (Just as long as no one ever knows
All motion is pantomime)
As waves of plastic fame go out of fashion
You're going out, going out forever unknown
These waves of plastic fame go out of fashion
(These waves of plastic fame are drying up and I smile)
You're going out, going out forever unknown
(Because you're dying to become forever unknown, unkown)
From above a rain of ashes descends
Anathema I will remain, forever will remain
From below, in my seclusion
Look up to the sky to see paper wings and watch them burn
Dancing in the rain of descending ash
Dancing on your grave, I'll see you all falling
Dancing in the rain of descending ash
Dancing in your dust, I'll see you all falling
I'd stop it, had you a heart
I'd stop it, had you a heart
From above a rain of ashes descends
Anathema I will remain, forever will remain
From below, in my seclusion
Look up to the sky to see paper wings and watch them burn
10 This Celluloid Dream (04:11)
Calling tears from deep inside, oh, you're so exquisite
And in the mirror, all midnight eyes
Oh, if I could remain, but it's just a visit
All midnight eyes read "vacancy"
Twisted, twisting
To the lovely dancing lights, I begged, "May I cut in?"
But they never stopped playing "their song"
Of a joyous song they sing, I've heard whispers
On a freezing note, I resonate
Just like romantic verses, just like a joyous end
Just like a memory, it twists me
Just like romantic verses, just like a joyous end
Twist... twisting me
You land as lightly as the new snow, cinematic
Onto the melting boy, and melt away
You light as gently, you're so cinematic
Bathed in your radiance, I melt
In the glitter, in the dark, sunk into velvet
Praying this will never end
In the shadow of a star, in static pallor
I realized I never began
Just like romantic verses, just like a joyous end
Just like a memory, it twists me
Just like romantic verses, just like a joyous end
Twist... twisting me
You land as lightly as the new snow, cinematic
Onto the melting boy, and melt away
You light as gently, you're so cinematic
Bathed in your radiance, I melt
All the colours upon leaving, all will turn to grey
All the colours upon leaving, all will turn to grey
(All grey) All the colours (All grey) upon leaving
(All grey) all will turn to grey
(All grey) All the colours (All grey) upon leaving
(All grey) all will turn to grey... grey... twisting me
You land as lightly as the new snow, cinematic
Onto the melting boy, and melt away
You light as gently, you're so cinematic
Bathed in your radiance
You land as lightly as the new snow, cinematic
You land as lightly as the new snow, and melt away
You land as lightly as the new snow, cinematic
Bathed in your radiance, I melt
13 Synesthesia (03:31)
Heartbreak, incarnate, I'm nothing if not your memories
Heartbreak, please let me be your joy and your pain
Someday, I will be...
I'll be those common words spoken uniquely
Because I may, will forever be floating as you feel.
Where all remaining failed
Please let me haunt as scent on your pillow
Letters of past are tear stained and wrinkled
Please let me haunt as scent on your pillow
Letters of past are tear stained and wrinkled
(Just say...) Say you will for me (for me)
Invite me to your memory
(Just sing...) Sing again for me (for me)
That long forgotten song
Heartbreak, incarnate, I'm nothing if not your memories
Heartbreak, please let me be your joy and your pain
Someday, I will be...
I'll be that waking warmth from a fading dream
Because I will, I may at best
Float as you feel
Please let me haunt as scent on your pillow
Letters of past look distant and wrinkled
Please let me haunt as scent on your pillow
Letters of past look distant and wrinkled
(Just say...) Say you will for me (for me)
Invite me to your memory
(Just sing...) Sing again for me (for me)
That long forgotten song
Let me be all the words
Let me be all the words
Let me be all the words
Let me be all the words
Let me feel the words echo in comfort
Let me be all the words that you'd unsay
Let me feel the words echo in comfort, comfort, comfort, comfort
Let me be all the words that you'd unsay, unsay, unsay, unsay
Let me be all the words echoing comfort
Let me be all the words that you'd unsay
Let me be all the words echoing comfort, comfort... comfort
Let me be all the words that you'd unsay, unsay, unsay, unsay
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di 2+2=5
In 'Sing the Sorrow' la foga tipica del post-hardcore... si amalgama perfettamente con spunti prettamente punk in una rilettura che fa di un'esasperata emotività e di una capacità espressiva del tutto sincera un punto di forza indiscutibile.
Questo è l'album che potrebbe risollevare le sorti di un genere, il punk-hardcore, troppo spesso affetto da una schiacciante intransigenza artistica e stilistica.
