Sokrovenno - De Rerum Natura

Release Date: August 31, 2009
Label: Bleak Art Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Brina
2.  Ineunte Hieme
3.  I
4.  Flammantia Moenia Mundi
5.  II
6.  Fragore
7.  III
8.  Sulla Mortalità Dell'Anima
9.  IV
10.  Vestigia Pressa Bisulcis
11.  In Ricordo

Total playing time:  51:50

July 8, 2010

Reviewer: Chris

The recent rash of nature-esue black metal has really been making the rounds of late, and Italy’s Sokrovenno has created a fifty-minute opus centered on just such a theme. De Rerum Natura, which translates into “About the Nature of Things, is a trip into the earth’s hidden charms. It’s the band’s first full-length after one demo back in ’07 and it’s a provoking piece of art.

I must say this current run of “black” metal dealing more with nature and the natural order of beautiful things is a welcome change. Seriously, how many dirges and epic albums does the Dark Lord require after so many years? While still managing to retain the central feel of the genre, this run at natural essences is a fine one-eighty. Sokrovenno implements some very nice musical pathways in the quest to create the perfect mood and atmosphere. Once again we’re finding a band that is marrying the familiar black sound with the relatively new philosophical slant, making the listener not only listen to music but actually hear the messages within.

Inspired by Lucretius, the heralded Roman/Epicurean author of I Century B.C., the band is finding a serenity within the coupling of two very similar, yet different mediums. The music here is carefully-carved stories within itself, offering much in the way of cerebral value and metal versatility. When a band can force the listener to open the mind’s eye a bit wider to see what isn’t always visible to the naked eye (or ear) you can always sense the hard work put into the release. De Rerum Natura is a stream of consciousness that you’ll find both enjoyable and certainly over-versed.

The musicians are perfectly in tandem on the album. It amazes me how much fun it is to listen to a CD like this that not only supplies good music with little if any pretension, but also causes you to think and really take in the tone and mood it offers. Some very flexible guitar work is here, nothing overly fast or rushed. The music is much like a lot of the atmospheric metal coming out of Europe these days, but with a more natural sound void of synths or keyboards. The aura created here is pure throughout.     

Fans of the newer “black” metal sound that relies more on the serene and naturist view of the world will enjoy Sokrovenno’s take on the casual accidents from the true visual of life. It can be very enlightening and fulfilling, especially in our vast community.  

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