The music of Gianluca Becuzzi comes straight from hell – and I mean that in the most complimentary way. In Between is a 2020 solo effort that features Becuzzi on electric guitar, bass, percussion, vocals, samples, and manipulated sounds. The overall feel lands somewhat in between that of drone metal, ritual ambient, industrial, and experimental soundscape.
A long set, at around 90 minutes, the album gives Becuzzi plenty of room to explore this space along its multiple axes. This is especially apparent on The Witch, a track that takes up over one-third of the album’s run time. On it, he employs layers of feedback, samples, and heavily-distorted chords in a deliberately paced exploration of dangerous locales and dark emotions. At times, this evolves to and from electroacoustic processing ala GRM and haunting atmospheres with ghostly choruses. But the novelty here is how he combines those aspects with the massive walls of guitar.
Shorter tracks, such as Across the Mirror and Diary of the Abyss, are driven more by voice. Becuzzi chants wordlessly and in a trancelike fashion to the aforementioned chording and martial percussion patterns. Focusing just on the guitars, there is more than a little of Sunn O))) going on here, though Becuzzi’s mix is easily distinguishable.
As I work my way backward through Becuzzi’s catalog, each preceding release so far has been a gem. Two thumbs way up.
Avant Music News 