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"Battere, percuotere" questa è la traduzione italiana dell'aggettivo thrash, un termine che, accoppiato al sostantivo Metal, è più una dichiarazione d'intenti che altro. Sorto ad inizio anni '80 questo sottogenere del metallo pesante era quanto di più genuinamente arrabbiato era possibile trovare in giro: una miscela di hardcore punk ed heavy metal classico capace di far scapocciare un'intera generazione e ancora oggi è oggetto di venerazione e culto. Non starò qui a citarvi gli album più rappresentativi del Thrash Metal ottantiano perché li conoscono pure i sassi, l'unica cosa sulla quale mi preme soffermarmi un minuto l'idea di "rabbia genuina" che tal genere emanava e che nel corso degli anni si è persa: quelle ritmiche, quelle vocals talvolta acide e qualche volta malinconiche e quelle chitarre che sapevano sia far pogare che piangere erano un miscuglio che aveva un urgenza divulgativa prettamente umana e reale. Si urlava perché non c'era altro modo per combattere i propri demoni, o li si percuoteva o ci si faceva percuotere, e gli ascoltatori lo percepivano... Poi arrivarono gli anni '90 col suo carico di camice di flanella e blasfemie Death e Black Metal, eppure proprio all'inizio di quello strano decennio musicale una band diede alle stampe forse l'ultimo grande album Thrash Metal inteso nel suo senso più classico. Ma andiamo con ordine: quei quattro ragazzi provenienti da Arlington, Texas, erano già attivi da un bel pezzo quando diedero alle stampe "Cowboys From Hell", un lavoro capace di portare i Pantera, così si chiamavano, nell'olimpo della musica dura mondiale: un concentrato di riff tirati, vocals rabbiose ed un groove fino ad allora mai sentito in un disco del genere. Un furore genuino e vitale, che pulsa violento nelle corde vocali di un Phil Anselmo più duttile che mai: ora delicato ed emozionale, poi ad un tratto screamer "halfordiano" ed infine furioso come un cane in catene. Il nostro regge alla perfezione l'urto di una sezione ritmica ridotta all'osso ma comunque capace di travolgere tutto quello che gli capita a tiro: Vinnie Paul che crea magie con la doppia cassa, Rex Brown che sorregge il tutto col suo basso preciso e tonante e Dimebag Darrell che confeziona riff acidissimi su cui poggia soli di rara bellezza ed incisività. Era tutto vero e concreto, niente filtri vocali, trigger esasperati o altro, solo rabbia vera, di quella che ti scivola dentro le vene e ti avvelena il sangue, ben espressa da una "Domination" che col suo incipit può smuovere pure le montagne, una furia che alla fine conduce anche alla riflessione, ad un'amarezza che in "Cemetary Gates" diventa lo struggente cantato di un Anselmo talmente toccante da risultare commovente: un uomo che cerca risposte alle sue domande per trovare una strada che in quel momento sembra non volersi mostrare. Splendido poi il solo di Darrell, una sorta di urlo liberatorio in una canzone che ha tanto il mood di una preghiera. Siamo davanti alla gemma dell'album, un pezzo che mi sento di affiancare ad altro classico come "Welcome Home Sanitarium" dei Metallica, due brani che ancora oggi a distanza di anni mi fanno commuovere ad ogni ascolto. Questa era l'essenza del Thrash Metal primordiale: violenza e melodia, furia e riflessione, potevi correre come un forsennato insieme agli Slayer oppure potevi riflettere sulle note dei Four Horsemen, una lezione che i texani avevano assimilato alla perfezione portandoli a creare badilate come "Primal Concrete Sledge", con quella doppia cassa che ti mitraglia l'anima, oppure buttarti in quell'incubo estraneante ed "oppiaceo" che risponde al nome di "Sleep", corredata da un altro grande solo del mai troppo compianto Darrell. In tutto questo calderone non si può non citare la titletrack, una "Cowboys From Hell" che funge da overture per tutto quello che verrò dopo di lei: un mix di groove, accelerazioni ed un refrain ficcante ed efficace: un biglietto da visita come pochi altri se ne sono visti, in poche parole un capolavoro, come del resto tutto il disco, un piccolo gioiello da ascoltare ed ascoltare...
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Cowboys From Hell (04:06)
Ohhhh...c'mon!
Under the lights where we stand tall
Nobody touches us at all
Showdown, shootout, spread fear within, without
We're gonna take what's ours to have
Spread the word throughout the land
They say the bad guys wear black
We're tagged and can't turn back
You see us coming
And you all together run for cover
We're taking over this town
Here we come reach for your gun
And you better listen well my friend, you see
It's best known down below,
Aimed at you we're the cowboys from hell
Deed is done again, we've won
Ain't talking no tall tales friend
Cause high noon, your doom
Coming for you we're the cowboys from hell
Pillage the village, trash the scene
But better not take it out on me
Cause a ghost town is found
Where your city used to be
So out of the darkness and into the light
Sparks fly everywhere in sight
From my double barrel, 12 gauge,
Can't lock me in your cage
You see us coming
And you all together run for cover
We're taking over this town
Here we come reach for your gun
And you better listen well my friend, you see
It's best known down below,
Aimed at you we're the cowboys from hell
Deed is done again, we've won
Ain't talking no tall tales friend
Cause high noon, your doom
Coming for you we're the cowboys from hell
(guitar solo)
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Here we come reach for your gun
And you better listen well my friend, you see
It's best known down below,
Aimed at you we're the cowboys from hell
Deed is done again, we've won
Ain't talking no tall tales friend
Cause high noon, your doom
Coming for you we're the cowboys from hell
Awww, step aside for the cowboys from hell!
02 Primal Concrete Sledge (02:13)
Theres a double standard
For the way we live
If theres nothing to have
Then theres nothing to give
Ill break a sweat and
I dont regret
What you'd kill see
Vrings out the god in me
Come and be with me
Live my twisted dreams
Pro devoted pledge
Time for primal concrete sledge
The man of a thousand retirements
Will always be the one
To tell you when to quit
I won't take stock
In a withered man
I am reaching into you
Ill make you understand
Come and be with me
Live my twisted dreams
Pro devoted pledge
Time for primal concrete sledge
Come and be with me
(Come, be)
Live my twisted dreams
Pro devoted pledge
Time for primal concrete
Come and be with me
(Come, be)
Live my twisted dreams
Pro devoted pledge
Time for primal concrete sledge
03 Psycho Holiday (05:19)
Empty and sweating
Head lying in your hands
Shaking in the corner
Done too much alcohol
Gotta get away from it all
'Cause it feels my blood is freezing
My self insanity has taken its toll
Frustration has taken its control
Now I'm far from home
Spending time alone
It's time to set my demons free
Been put to the test
My mind laid to rest
I'm on a psycho holiday
Shot down on sight
You are the target of attention
One woman here another there
You can't please all the people all the time
Can't tell the strangers
From the friends you know
Frustration has taken its control
Now you're far from home
Spending time alone
It's time to set your demons free
Been put through the test
Your mind laid to rest
You're on a psycho holiday
I'm strapped in for life
Is this where I lived
Or where I died
You want my money
You take my space
My mind is telling me
To leave this place
My self insanity has taken its toll
Frustration has taken its control
Now I'm far from home
Spending time alone
It's time to set my demons free
Been put through the test
My mind laid to rest
Im on a psycho holiday
04 Heresy (04:46)
Here we are
In a world of corruption
Human nature is
Of violent Breed
Who cares if theres no tomorrow
When I die for my future's
Laid out for me
Can't you see?
Rise above the lies
Morals on a backwards globe
A sin to you
For me it's hope.
It's my life and provision
Black or white
Some pay to pray
You question why they
Act this way
It's their fucking decision
No more judgement day
Only tranquility
Peace signs, protest lines
Mean nothing to me
Honesty born in me
Heresy
I know what's right or wrong
And my belief is stronger
Than your advice
People, they go to war
Because religion gives them
Reason to fight
Sacrifice, die for pride
A group that caters
No one's fees
Or synthetic deities
Is where I belong
My stand is the human race
Without a label or a face
So they can lick my sack
No more judgement day
Only tranquility
Peace signs, protest lines
Mean nothing to me
Honesty born in me
Heresy
Angel
05 Cemetery Gates (07:02)
Reverend, reverend
Is this a conspiracy?
Crucified for no sins
No revenge beneath me
Lost within my plans for life
It all seems so unreal
I'm a man
Cut in half in this world
Left in my misery
The reverend he turned to me
Without a tear in his eyes
Nothing new for him to see
I didn't ask him why
I will remember
The love our souls had sworn to make
Now I watch the falling rain
All my mind can see now is your
Well I guess you took my youth
And gave it all away
Like the birth of a new found joy
This love would end in rage
And when she died, I couldn't cry
The pride within my soul
You left me incomplete
All alone as the memories now unfold
Believe the word
I will unlock my door
And pass the
Cemetery gates
Sometimes when I'm alone
I wonder aloud
If you're watching over me
Some place far abound
I must reverse my life
I can't live in the past
Then set my soul free
Belong to me at last
Through all those complex years
I thought I was alone
I didn't care to look around
And make this world my own
And when she died
I should've cried
And spared myself some pain...
You left me incomplete
All alone as the memories still remain
The way we were
The chance to save my soul
And my concern is now in vain
Believe the word
I will unlock my door
And pass the
Cemetery gates
-Solo-
The way we were
The chance to save my soul
And my concern is now in vain
Believe the word
I will unlock my door
And pass the
Cemetery...
Gates...
Gates...
Gates...
06 Domination (05:04)
Agony is the price
That you'll pay in the end
Domination consumes you
Then calls you a friend
It's a twisted fall
Binds are like steel
And manipulates the will to be
And it's hard to see
How soon we forget
When there's nothing else
Left to destroy
It's a useless ploy
Your eyes will see
The dawn of the day
And the writing
On the walls
Those words that stare
Into your soul
And to yourself
You will befall
It's domination
Pushed into living hell
Domination
A now blacked heart
Is reaching out in divinity
Body suspended by chains
Over razors and nails
It's a penalty
Each razor a vice
And each nail marks demise
Of you life
Grim construction grows
Has life played a trick
Sealed you in brick by brick
Till your end
Forcing you to bend
Your eyes will see
The dawn of the day
And the writing
On the walls
Those words that stare
Into your soul
And to yourself
You will befall
It's domination
Pushed into living hell
Domination
-Solos-
07 Shattered (03:22)
It's storming broken glass
Corpses left in piles
Ungracious bludgeonment
That breaks the earth for miles
Nothing can stop it
The day has come
From below it's catastrophic
Freezing
There's no healing
Families are dying
This world is shattered
All shattered
Life crushing turbulence
This wrath can't be denied
Wishing you could help your friends
Standing where they died
Echoes haunting, a hollow planet
Lacerations, dissected nation
Freezing
There's no healing
Everyone's dying
This world is shattered
All shattered
-Solos-
Freezing
There's no healing
Families are dying
This world is shattered
All shattered
All shattered
All shattered
-Solo-
08 Clash With Reality (05:16)
Sometimes I know
I feel untouchable
Drowning in life
Caught up in the accessible
Back down the ground
I hear the sound
There's no escape
The concrete cloud
Spilling on me
Drenching me with
Laymen's sins
I hear the sirens
From the back of me
I'm crashing face first
Into the glass eye
Clash with reality
It rears it's ugly head
Clash with reality
The indescribable
Clash with...
Let the dogs lie
Where we fucking sleep
Irrelevant theme
A situation and there's
Nothing but right
In kicks the door
Nobody moves
'Cause in walks the problem
Dictates your fate
Evicts, convicts
Who'll sign the writ of life?
This now becomes
Their morbid game
Who's piss poor excuse
Is this for a world?
It swells my hatred
Day by day
Clash with reality
It rears it's ugly head
Clash with reality
The indescribable
Clash with...
-Solo-
Clash with reality
It rears it's ugly head
Clash with reality
The indescribable
Clash with...
Reality
Clash with...
Reality
09 Medicine Man (05:15)
Many distant miles away
Past the shores of ever dark
There stays a magic man
Who bears an evil mark
He helps all concerned
Those who come again return
Injecting lies while fires burn
The devil's heart
With angel's words
Have you wondered
What heaven's like?
He can show you in one night
Overwhelming with euphoric lift
To lure you to steal your gift
Intoxication
Seeping down to the bone
And there's no question
Where you have to go
Understand just take his hand
He's the medicine man
Once proud and fearless men
With desire in their eyes
Lost strong and fruitful lives
To self-indulgent ties
Their souls were dipped in venom
And put into a box
Then placed upon a crowded shelf
Where countless souls now rot
Have you ever wondered what hell's like?
He can take you there
Just one taste and you'll be back
And by the high you'll swear
Intoxication
Seeping down to the bone
And there's no question
Where you have to go
Understand just take his hand
He's the medicine man
11 The Sleep (05:47)
Understanding what has
Happened before us
We are confined to a
Darkened hidden tomb
The conquering of our world
As we knew it
Rise above this pit
Of sorrow and pain
Among the few
We are the avant leaders
We've got to live
Through this trouble and decay
This question haunts my mind
Will we survive this night?
We're harboring the meek
Will we survive the sleep?
Unsure and scared
We are planning our reprise
Revolves around this world
We don't know anymore
The odds against us, yet
We're stronger and prevailing
Learn from mistakes
Counting souls for sale
This question haunts my mind
Will we survive this night?
We're harboring the meek
Will we survive the sleep?
(The sleep, the sleep, the sleep)
-Solo-
This question haunts my mind
Will we survive this night?
We're harboring the meek
Will we survive?
This question haunts my mind
Will we survive this night?
We're harboring the meek
Will we survive the sleep?
12 The Art of Shredding (04:18)
Unity is a rare thing
Blind eyes of society bring
The category of minority
Now what are we supposed to be?
Born free to be
Powerless to change the world
With our lives in
The hands of madmen
Now in times when
Society needs us
This is where
The sin begins
We're aware they're
Going to free us
Rage from our
Hearts within
Born of this world
Which is a living hell
But we'll be
Closer to heaven
So now
This is the art
To shred
Its only emotion
This is the art
To shred
Its only emotion
SHHRREEEEEEEDDD!
-Solo-
So now
This is the art
To shred
Its only emotion
This is the art
To shred
Its only emotion
Right
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Altre recensioni
Di BathoryAria
Uh-oh! Ci fanno notare che questa recensione compare anche (tutta o in parte) su truemetal.it e ci è stato chiesto di rimuoverla.
Di Battlegods
"Un pezzo che non si può descrivere a parole!"
"Riff pesanti come macigni!!"
Di Sin
"Dimebag Darrel mostra come cazzo deve essere suonata una chitarra, creando assoli complessi ma capaci di emozionare."
"La voce di Phil sputa fuori la rabbia e l'amarezza per un mondo sempre più vicino al punto di non-ritorno."
