Massa Nera - Los Pensamientos De Una Cara Palida

Labels: Adorno RecordsAncient Injury Records/Dingleberry Records/Le Blast Records/Middle-Man Records/Zegema Beach Records

Formats: Vinyl/Tape/Digital

Release Date: 03 Oct 2017

Tracklist:

1. iWaltz! (La Guerra)

2. Badminton With A Neo-Nazi

3. One.Two.Zero,

4. A History In Rust

5. An Interview With Lester Young

6. Provisional Euphoria (J'ai Une Ame Solitaire)

7 Carrying A Coffin

Not so long ago I reviewed Massa Nera's most recent album Derramar | Querer | Borrar. Then I realised that I hadn't dug deeper into their back catalogue before. Thankfully, their 2017 LP Los Pensamientos De Una Cara Palida was the next release scheduled as part of my ZBR roster review series, so here we are. Before I move on though, I just want to note that I'm not a hundred percent sure if all of the labels mentioned above were involved in both the vinyl, and tape pressing of the album. If they weren't, please let me know and I'll amend accordingly.

I’ve been feeling a little aggravated this evening (due to some non-blog stuff), so I’m hoping this will cheer me up and maybe chill me out. Opener ‘iWaltz! (La Guerra)’ is certainly what the doctor ordered with it’s sensitive instrumentation and controlled heaviness. Massa Nera’s emo/post-hardcore on this album is much more old-school in approach. There must be a meaning behind the song title ‘Badminton With A Neo-Nazi’ and I’d love to know what it is, if anybody knows. It’s a more technical song this time, with different time-signatures and slightly more introspection in the music, which make the louder sections much more dramatic.

I’ve made a resolution that I’m going to listen to more music outside of my blog reviewing schedule this year, as it’s been really easy to settle into a routine of late, but with that being said; ‘One. Two. Zero.’ hits in exactly the right way and makes me feel less pressured about my consumption habits. This album was definitely the right choice for this evening. In fact 2017-era Massa Nera makes me want to break out the metalcore/hardcore albums that I favoured so much in the early 00’s, especially during the first half of ‘A History in Rust’. I’m not saying that their sound resembles metalcore/hardcore in the true sense, but it’s not all that far off here, especially in atmosphere (albeit towards the end, when you’re left with the jangly guitars and ambience).

‘An Interview With Lester Young’ is an interlude that may be an excerpt from an actual interview with the US jazz musician. Then again, it may not be and I could be way off the mark. Either way, it’s suitably dark and leads into ‘Provisional Euphoria (J’ai Une Ame Solitaire)’, which contains more percussive blasts than on previous songs in it’s verses. When Massa Nera aren’t blasting though, they’re filling the song with off-kilter, jazz-like instrumentation that’s pretty apt. The lengthiest song on the album is kept back till the end in the form of ’Carrying A Coffin’. It’s no big departure from the songs that came before it on Los Pensamientos De Una Cara Palida but it does create the best crescendo an album could hope for.

History has shown that’s it’s never too late to discover great records and bands. I really dig this record and have a much greater fondness for Massa Nera. Now, I’m going to order some UK metalcore LPs (yes, there’s a new label over here unearthing some modern bands that appreciate what came before).

You can stream and purchase the album digitally from Massa Nera below:-

Massa Nera - https://www.facebook.com/MASSANERANJ

Physical copies are sold out from all labels.

Ancient Injury Records - https://www.facebook.com/AncientInjuryRecords

Dingleberry Records - https://www.facebook.com/DingleberryRecords

Le Blast Records - https://www.facebook.com/leblastrecords

Middle-Man Records - https://www.facebook.com/middlemanrecords

Zegema Beach Records - https://www.facebook.com/zegemabeachrecords