Dark Fate

Italian group L'Albero del Veleno (The Poison Tree) released a well-received debut back in 2013 entitled `Le Radici del Male' (`The Roots of Evil'), a cinematic horror-influenced work of gloomy Goblin-styled pieces. It was a superb first effort from a talented bunch of young musicians, but now it almost seems like a mere practice run for what they've delivered here four years later! 2017's `Tale of a Dark Fate' is a fully instrumental rock opera told in two acts, conveying the stories of Hypnos and Thanatos, two siblings of ancient Greek mythology that reside in the underworld, and it holds all the moodiness and mystery of that legendary above-mentioned horror soundtrack group, but L'Albero del Veleno go much further…

A 2005 appearance on a German television program, followed by a tour - throughout which the original four members performed 1981's Architecture & Morality in its entirety - culminated in the first OMD album since 1996 (and this particular quartet’s first since 1986). History of Modern, for the most part, sounds like OMD. There are two alarming exceptions: “Sometimes” incorporates turntable scratching and guest vocalist Jennifer John, who interjects with lines from “Motherless Child,” while “Pulse” is oversexed and awkward neo-electro sleaze, full of bedroom whispers, moans, and yearning yelps. Most updates to the group’s sound are natural, though only a handful of the songs - the placid ballad “New Holy Ground” and the somehow cathartic and pensive “Green” especially - rate with the earlier material…