Review: Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats Honor the Italian Underground with Nell’ Ora Blu
British psych metal masters Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats may need no introduction due to their huge impact on the genre, inspiring countless others and making them basically a household name, but this album is a bit different. It’s more akin to Zombi than it is King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.
Fifteen years into their career, the U.K. band have certainly proved that they know how to get outside the norm and expand, going from swirling, musical psych sounds to heavy metal from one record to another, but this really shows the band have range far beyond rock ‘n’ roll.
Their new record, Nell’ Ora Blu, isn’t so much a rock or metal album as it is a soundtrack to an underground Italian Giallo film inspired by movies in the ’70s. Some have called it the soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist, but that isn’t quite right, as apparently they have actually filmed some scenes of this story, and they’ve fleshed out an entire story, so maybe someday we’ll even get a movie.
The album features dialogue from Italian movie greats like Edwige Fenech and Franco Nero, so it has the original scenes tamp of approval. The story itself, like most Giallo flicks, revolves around murder, revenge, conflict, and mystery, with the focus being more on the imagery and the overall vibe, music, and cultivation of a sound than on the intricacies of plot.
This record is a bit different than most of what we review, so it’s difficult to say which tracks stand out as bangers or singles, since it’s not like that at all. And some of the songs are more interludes or connecting ideas than actual tracks. You definitely need to listen to the record to grasp what I’m talking about. But “Tortura al Telefona” is a definite favorite because of the mood it cultivates. You can almost see the scared woman answering a phone to hear the scratchy voice of a mysterious gloved or masked caller. The title track sounds like it could be the track for the film’s trailer, which makes sense. It’s use of synths and dramatic pauses is just epic.
This is really an album that needs to be listened all the way through to grasp the full power behind this epic soundtrack and how all the bits and pieces work together. “Solo la Morte ti Ammanetta” is like a glimpse into what the killer is thinking, with sharp, piercing synths and powerful moments between all the instruments. But really, almost every song can be seen both as a highlight and as something working with the greater whole.
In short, if you appreciate Giallo movies and experimental bands, you will likely love this record. If you’re a straightforward headbanger who only likes Uncle Acid when they give you jams or flirt with metal, you should skip this one. But while it’s not the norm for a rock record or our reviews, I’d still encourage you to give it at least one listen.
