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Reviews

L'Impero delle Ombre — Oscurità
(Black Widow BWR281, 2025, CD / LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-12-08

Oscurità Cover art

L'Impero delle Ombre, or Empire of Shadows in English, is an Italian doom metal band that labels their music as cemetery rock. They formed in 1995 but did not release their first album until 2004. Their new album Oscuritá is their fourth studio album, as well as their fourth Black Widow release, and also a double LP. Oscuritá is 55 minutes of doom-laden prog metal spread across eight tracks. There is a definite dark gothic atmosphere with some references to Black Sabbath and perhaps Metallica, but there are some whimsical elements like the harpsichord on “Zulphus et Mercurius,” the rain on “Lacrime nella Pioggi,” and the screeching cat on “Il Gatto Nero.” Adding to the sinister atmosphere are the H.P. Lovecraft inspired “Dagon” and Edgar Alan Poe inspired “Il Gatto Nero.” As all the lyrics are in Italian, I don’t know if these two tracks feature translations from these two gothic authors or if they are only influenced by them. I found “Dagon” to be quite engaging, and the closing track, “Circolo Spiritico Navona 2000,” is a dark prog metal tour de force. Oscuritá is an interesting album and not near as horrific as the promo material implies. If you are a fan of 70s-inspired Italian gothic prog rock that mixes several interesting elements, Oscuritá may well be worth investigating.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): L'Impero delle Ombre

More info
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZNIiX5UQ_PGuFPsMupHgChbp9bMGRBne

 

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