Intaglio - II (Aqua Blue with White) (12'' LP) Gatefold

Review
The Killchain
07.11.2021

It has been 16 years since the last Intaglio record, and since that time these Russian funeral doom lords have been working on something very special. The press kit describes it as a doom opera, with a huge amount of live orchestral instruments recorded and a range of vocal styles to complete the image. ‘II’ is out now through Solitude Productions.

The opening movement ‘Midnight Sonata’ comes in three parts; ‘I: The Night Sky’ is an interminable crawl of dirging death/doom riffs, inhuman growls and mournful pieces of violin and clean vocals too. ‘II: Melting Like Ice…’ swells with gloomy cello and manages to inject a little light into the proceedings, while part three ‘III: Always Return’ takes us back down to drown in an abyss of brutal funerality and then lead out with a melodic, almost post rock soar. ‘II’ is already shattering expectations three tracks in. ‘Subject to Time’ drifts between delicate My Dying Bride-esque violin/cello giving you the weeping doom atmospherics and soothing melancholic orchestral moments. ‘Depths of Space’ is a majestic piece of sorrow, while closer ‘Everything in its Place’ delves deep into that iconic Yorkshire doom sound to give us an emotionally draining finish.

A work of stunning genre collaboration, as neoclassical meets funeral doom in a record that owes as much to both. None of these tracks could sound right without each element playing its part, and the result is a powerful and poignant work that remains as grindingly heavy as possible while using such a grandiose backgroud. Intaglio are something special, and ‘II’ marks a new direction of funeral doom that no one seems to have taken before.

Author: Sandre the Giant

Review
All Around Metal
3/5
09.01.2022

Esiste una frangia del Doom Metal che si (pre)occupa di rappresentare la sofferenza dell'essere umano fin
nelle sue più recondite manifestazioni e gli Intaglio appartengono indubbiamente a questa categoria di doomsters; ma - nel caso di questa lo seconda release - la sofferenza si spinge a tal punto che si incarna nell'ascolto stesso del disco. E sì, perché mai come in questo caso si può parlare di "seconda fatica": questo CD si fa davvero fatica ad ascoltarlo fino in fondo, per quanto è cupo e disperato. Ma, soprattutto, risulta oltremodo stucchevole a causa dell'utilizzo (secondo me inappropriato) del cantato in growl. Mi sta bene l'uso degli archi, che - fin dalla musica classica - esprimono al meglio i sentimenti di malinconia e tristezza; idem per l'utilizzo ad hoc dei sintetizzatori, ma il growl (sia pure intervallato con voce narrante e voce "pulita") riesco a vederlo più adatto a pezzi più veloci, tipo Death e/o Grindcore mentre, inserito in un contesto più mortifero e cadenzato, lo trovo alquanto difficile da digerire. Ma tant'è, de gustibus. Venendo alla disamina di questa seconda creatura oscura partorita dai nostri, senza ombra di dubbio il pezzo che si staglia su tutti è il lunghissimo (otto minuti) "Subject to Time", il quale, non a caso, è stato edito anche come singolo: l'innesto sapiente del flauto traverso mi è piaciuto, forse perché ho un debole per questo (a mio avviso troppo sottovalutato) strumento. Il funereo combo russo (attivo dal 2004) dimostra di saper comunque maneggiare sapientemente la materia, con una certa padronanza del genere, favorita certamente dalla genetica, visto che grandissima è la tradizione musicale della loro terra di origine, che tanto lustro ha dato alla causa della musica classica. Ho recensito personalmente il loro primo full-length e posso affermare che, questa loro ultima realizzazione, riprende il discorso esattamente dal punto in cui lo aveva lasciato, senza aggiungere molto ma anche senza sottrarre nulla sotto l'aspetto compositivo, sciorinando sempre delle buone idee e degli spunti discreti, sempre e comunque all'insegna della attitudine metal più macabra, proponendoci quella che potrebbe essere la colonna sonora dei nostri ultimi giorni di vita, da ascoltare sul nostro letto di morte.

Author: MASSIMO GIANGREGORIO

Review
HardMusicBase
8/10
06.12.2021

Ruské těleso INTAGLIO se nedá nazývat doom metalovým pouze z pohledu, že nehrají rychle. A že těch kapel, co nehrají rychle, se jako doom metal označuje možná až moc a to bez příčiny. Ovšem INTAGLIO se dají označit za jednu z nejpomaleji hrajících kapel žánru. Jednotlivé takty jsou v takových rozpoloženích, jako by z nich trčela díra ohyzdné, neoduševnělé prázdnoty. Kolikrát i dítě, které neumí do pěti počítat, by stihlo desetkrát napočítat do desíti, než se ozve další tón. A rozhodně nemají INTAGLIO nijak zvláštní touhy kadence motivů zrychlovat. Tady bych spíše řekl, že jdou opačnou cestou. Dokonce i noha funebrákova by se snad bála takhle pomalu udělat krok, aby náhodou nezapomněla směr. Jenomže ona pomalost ještě neznamená skvostnost probouzení snů prázdnoty a všeobecně neutuchající hrůzu z pádu do nikam. Zde je propadliště věčnosti otevřeno dokořán. Jenomže když do tohoto propadliště spadnete, tak se na vás přestanou vztahovat gravitační zákony. Nikam nepadáte. Zůstáváte uvězněni v atmosférách svébytné prázdnoty, kde vákuum myšlenek není stěžejní pro rozluštění symboliky existence světla a tmy. A přitom tou tmou je ultra pomalá death metalová chladnost a světlem jakási vzplývavost vznešeného splínu, lehce dotýkající se gotického rocku. V takovémhle neurčitu by hledali opěrné body spásy pouze nedisciplinovaní blázni. Tohle není smutek o tom, kterak váš pes již nechce aportovat, či vaše láska, že ochladla, aniž by vůbec vzplanula. Ano, tohle je chladné a studené, tíživé, ale zároveň povznášející. Zde si nikdo nestěžuje, že hlína vašeho hrobu je plná hrubého štěrku. To by se možná hodilo k prvotním nahrávkám My Dying Bride, ke kterým mají svým způsobem INTAGLIO blízko a to ne jenom využitím smyčcového nástroje. Řekněme, že mi tahle ruská kapela připomíná jistý romantizmus z dema našich Love History, který dýchá tajemnem občasně využité flétny. Jedinečností tohoto souboru je, že naprosto odmítá využití kláves, které by možná svými plochami vyplnily prázdné mezery mezi jednotlivými tóny tradičních nástrojů. Jenomže právě jako by to o těch mezerách bylo. Nemusíme stárnout jenom proto, abychom měli mezery ve svý paměti, ale jde o to, že míváme prostě mezery ve svých znalostech. I odborně zdatní v jistých tématech narazí na mezeru, v níž se zrcadlí něco ze světa mezi světy. Možná ty mezery hloupě vyplňujeme nějakými demagogiemi sounáležitosti vlastních myšlenek, namísto toho, abychom se poddali tomu, čemu máme a vymyslíme atomovou bombu, namísto toho, abychom pochopili příčinu zrození atomu pro dobro věci. Potom asi všichni přehlédnou světlo tohoto alba a budou jej brát jako depresivní záležitost, od které je moudré se držet dál. Přesto doporučuji tuto nahrávku všem vnímavým lidem.

Author: Rock´N´Roll Hell

Review
MDR
7/10
25.11.2021

A whopping 16 years after their debut, the Russian Funeral Doomer Intaglio return — and take the big hit. It should be a doom opera that you should only listen to in one piece (well, I do that in general anyway). And so that the eye is also addressed, the services of Mariusz Lewandowski have been secured for the cover, who has been booked at the latest since his masterpiece for Bell Witch ("The Mirror Reaper"), especially by bands of doomy and black color. Rightly so, because the man is brilliant. Which is also evident here again. Can the music do with it?

First of all, it should be said that only live instruments were used for the recording. No digital bells and whistles, but everything analog. And you can hear that on the album. It just sounds beautiful! And it also has moments of real beauty, especially the cello has done it to me.

What the album unfortunately does not have is a real dramaturgical climax. Tension is built up for five pieces, but unfortunately it does not really discharge in the sixth piece. Instead, in "Depths of Space" a child's voice monologues, which exceeds my admittedly narrow tolerance limit in terms of kitsch. With "Everything in its Place" the album splashes out pleasingly, but a real clix is missing at the front.

Author: THE BEAST

Review
Phork

After many years of silence, Intaglio comes back with a sophisticated, epic record, II, exploring further into the genre of death-doom with dark orchestra. Combining classical composition and instrumentation with heavy distortion, extreme electrification, growling vocals, and poetic lyricism, II consists a wide range of color palettes that expands the emotions and landscape of death metal.
The way Intaglio smashes contrasting soundscapes into one track is both exciting and shocking. The band has a characteristic approach to dissonance which they introduce a small variation into the resonant, massive scope of chords that form a beautifully choreographed cluster and completely shake up the ground.

They capture the moody gloominess and deep, beautiful glistening in one track. Whispers into emotive, melodic guitar passage. They manage to shift between heavy metal and clean-sounding pop in one track back and forth without hesitation. Surreal and ethereal landscapes with profound feelings are brought to your ears. II is astonishing and deeply evocative.

Author: Phork