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Presence — Them
(Black Widow BWR, 2024, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-10-16

Them Cover art

There were five members on the cover of the band’s first 1995 Black Widow album The Sleeper Awakes, but by their second album, Black Opera the following year, the band proper was reduced to the trio of keyboard player Enrico Iglio, guitarist Sergio Casamassima, and the amazing vocalist Sophya Baccini, with guests sitting in for the rhythm section; on their latest album Them all these years later, they still represent the core of the band, though now Iglio doubles on percussion / drum programming and Casamassima doubles on bass; in a live situation guests handle those roles still. Presence’s sound could be described as dark, heavy progressive rock somewhat informed by metal, and operatic vocals, all with some very interesting variations to that basic sound. The album’s eight tracks are split roughly between three generally shorter instrumentals (one of those with wordless vocals) and five vocal pieces, three of those being epic length. The twelve-minute opener “The Undead” being one of those, it sets the stage nicely for all that follows, beginning with curious sounds that could be footsteps in the snow before erupting into a full-on keyboard-and-guitar-driven heavy rock segment introducing Baccini; the piece goes through numerous sections and changes over its duration, occasionally returning to a main theme that ties it all together. “Aftermath” is a hard organ-driven piece with searing guitars and dark unusual voices filling the background at times, though Baccini enters at a softer spot a few minutes in and changes the character of the piece. The title track is a sprawling 23-plus-minute piece that evolves through a number of portals with brilliant compositional elements and powerful arrangements, with seemingly wholesale changes every few measures, with Baccini’s voice guiding the way forward;  the result is quite astonishing, the essence of classic progressive rock, though in a way that’s difficult to draw comparisons to. The eleven-minute epic “To Each Other” goes down a more conventional road of verses and choruses with a hard-driving gallop, shifting gears effortlessly along the way, through many changes as it proceeds. Like all of their previous albums I’ve heard, Them is another dark powerhouse full of surprises. 

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Sophya Baccini, Presence

More info
http://sound.blackwidow.it/artist.php?id=Them

 

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