Magnificat

I feel no qualms with stating that Spite Extreme Wing is Italy's single greatest contribution to metal. The only problem with that statement is the naturally dismissive way most people will view it simply because Spite Extreme Wing continue to be so obscure even to this day. And why is that, exactly? I won't lie- their particularly brand of fast, melodic black metal is exceedingly accessible and listenable, and their production quality has always been stellar for the style of music they find themselves so infatuated with. I can only blame it on a lack of distribution and promotion on the part of their labels; in any just world, Spite Extreme Wing would have been catapulted onto Century Media or Nuclear Blast after a single spin of "Arcano Incanto." But maybe it's better this way; I shudder to think of what might have happened to this band after being tossed through the industrial grinder of the mainstream metal scene. Better they remain a hidden gem for those lucky enough to discover them.

Granted, Spite Extreme Wing is hardly the most obscure band to ever emerge from Italy- their final album was released on Avantgarde, after all. But the sheer brilliance of their style is the sort of thing that deserves essays written about it and a Blasphemy-like following of stunned onlookers. Hell, calling Spite Extreme Wing a black metal band almost feels too limiting in and of itself; while they employ most of the tropes of black metal (buzzing tremolo riffs, blast beats, screaming vocals) they don't have the "black metal feel" I associate with their more northern brethren. Other black metal bands are about coldness and winter; Spite Extreme Wing are about the heat of summer. It's an obvious and welcome tonal shift.

"Magnificat," the band's greatest work, isn't a full-length per se, but a hodgepodge of a few different recording sessions compiled onto one disc. In order: the "Arcano Incanto" demo, an unnamed recording session from 2001 (which forms the new material on this disc), the debut '99 demo, and a pair of neoclassical ambient tracks bookending the lot of them. The ALBUM "Magnificat" is clearly made up of those first two; the original demo is clearly included more as a set of bonus tracks than anything, not being in line with the style (or quality, frankly) of the first two thirds of the album. This is fine, though; with the "Arcano Incanto" and 2001 sessions, Spite Extreme Wing creates a perfectly serviceable and logical full-length which stands head and shoulders above any other output from the Italian metal scene.

Describing Spite Extreme Wing's music is challenging because you constantly have to stop the audience and reframe their point of reference. For instance: I could tell you that Spite Extreme Wing plays very fast, very melodic black metal with shrieking vocals, tons of blast beats, and carefully selected midpaced passages and acoustic/clean guitar interludes, and that would be perfectly correct. It would also give you absolutely no understanding of what the band actually sounds like. I could also tell you that there's many points of reference to Taake and early Emperor in the vocals and riffing, and these would also be true but just as equally misleading. This is because, while Spite Extreme Wing is a "black metal" band in the most fundamental sense of the term, they convey none of the feelings or atmosphere of Scandinavian black metal, or, indeed, any other black metal out there. They stand alone in their particular style of artistry, and the only way to properly describe them is from the ground up.

Perhaps I can frame it a little better in this regard: Spite Extreme Wing are a nationalist band. All over their music and artwork you can find the influence of Italian nationalism, and the band were even a major member of the Black Metal Invitta Armata, a circle of bands linked by a sort of crypto-fascist infatuation with Italian history and Roman lore in particular. Now imagine that these leanings are a top-down element which bleeds into every element of the music, and you might begin to grasp how the band sounds. Spite Extreme Wing's emotional point of reference isn't grimness, hatred, or terror; it's pride, vigor, aggression, and a peculiarly Italian sense of romanticism that simply doesn't sound like anything else in metal today. Spite Extreme Wing's music overflows with the sort of lively and passionate melody that's easily tied to Italian artists throughout history, be they composers, painters, or any other inventors of the beautiful and fantastic. It's a feeling and mood wholly singular to this band, and crucial in appreciating their sound.

The most immediate thing: Spite Extreme Wing are fast. Above and beyond simply playing at a high tempo, there's an inherent sense of breathless, incredible SPEED to the faster parts of their music. The opening moments of "Acqua Di Fonte Di Gloria" replicate the initial dive of a rollercoaster better than any music I've ever heard. And it's not ambient, easy speed, either; Spite Extreme Wing want you to feel the acceleration and intensity of every note. When the band blasts, you hear every single strike of a snare or a ride cymbal or a kick drum, partly owing to the wonderful, rich production job, and partly to the sheer aggression with which the drummer plays. The rest of the musicians follow suit: the guitars don't sound picked so much as frantically ripped, with plectrum in a perpetually blurring state of kinesis whenever the band sees fit to kick things up a bit- which they do quite often.

The second most immediate thing: Spite Extreme Wing are melodic. Every track on "Magnificat" is absolutely dripping with melody, ranging from the almost impossibly simple five-note tremolo riffs that form a surprisingly large amount of the music to more complex acoustic arrangements or riff interchanges. In conjunction with the sheer speed mentioned earlier, this makes for music which sounds breathtakingly impassioned; other bands might be faster or more melodic, but none of them FEEL as impossibly intense as what Spite Extreme Wing does. The riffing style that Spite Extreme Wing employs is difficult to describe; it's part Taake, part Emperor, part At the Gates, but ultimately very similar to none of them, as the band's melodic style is so singular and unique it defies comparison. The fastest moments are keening and alternately triumphant or sorrowful bursts of frenzied, shocking emotion, but the slower moments are more restrained and contemplative; slow, sliding chords and fascinating textural shapes add a welcome dimension of subtlety and variation to what at first glance might seem rather one-dimensional and straightforward music.

Another immediate thing: the technical performances on this record are astounding in the same way that the technical performances on a Godflesh record are stunning. Are they incredibly technical or pushing the boundaries of extremity in some what? No; but the technical performances themselves become a part of the music. The rather straightforward riffing is mixed up with more convoluted, deft left-hand work (such as on "Favola d'Ermafrodito (Parte II & III)") which adds another layer of tension and creativity to the proceedings. The very audible bass and its creaking, worn tone is played patiently but in sync with the guitars to provide a wonderfully rich counterpoint to the melodies above. Even the drumming is remarkable: fast and tight without being clinical, you'd be amazed, if you listen closely, just how many moments the drummer finds time to inject some wonderful, chiming cymbals or gently accented strikes which add whole new rhythmic dimensions to the music. The vocals... well, there's little to say about them. They scream, shriek, and occasionally grumble in an exceedingly powerful manner throughout the duration of the record, and nothing more could be asked of them.

What makes this endure so well, though? I think it's the magnificent structural elegance to the songs which lets you listen to them time and time again without a hint of boredom. The two suites that make up the 2001 recording session are the most obvious instances, with the two-part "Lotusbluthen" set a particularly impressive exercise in arrangement, but even the more straightforward tracks are astounding, using structure to create a feeling in the listener above and beyond the "mere" music within. The way streams of fiery, spearheading blasting intersect with measured, ornate, grandiose midpaced passages and again with patient, contemplative acoustic work tells a story of its own without needing to resort to cheesy narrative tactics. It's an album that simply works, made by people with such an inherent grasp of sound and art that I doubt this album would have been the same if made at any other point in time.

I can't speak Italian. However, I still feel like I understand every word of this.

Spite extreme wing is one of those unique bands that is good as any other black metal band out there that very few people know of. They don’t any of the nonsense for evil for evil’s sake. Although they do have a strong Italian pride flowing through their blood and it is clear this band is confident in their lyrics, who they are, what they sing about, and how they play. The music is well structured (black metal with structure oh no!) and caries itself very well, knowing how to build up using rhythm becoming more and more aggressive. A definite plus for black metal, since not many bands do this.
Defining this band as solely black metal isn’t correct, there are a lot of death metal sounding riffs, or that is there are many riffs on this album that border death/black. The confusion or similarity between the to can be attributed to the fact that the riffs have a very clean sound to them and they are not distorted or played dirty. It is a unique style of clean black metal which leads to its similarities to death metal. I would say though that the black metal side clear wins out. It does this by having distinct black metal vocals. Although a lot of people say black and death metal vocals are similar, this can be true for some bands. Spite Extreme Wings vocals break from the death metal mold by having a screeching high pitched sound to them, as opposed to a cleaner death metal growl. They sound loud, somewhat gargled, but mostly what makes them enjoyable is the tone in which they are delivered. They are straight forward and uncompromising. This band cares about what it is singing about, its as if they are making a rally speech for Italian fascism or something, in other words the vocals are very well carried out.
Other things make these songs interesting, there change from fast paced aggressive, but well structured music, to slow paced and lax dark sounding metal processions. The drums can accompany this accordingly, from very fast beats, to a slow melancholic pace. A few tracks featuring acoustic guitars and an intro that is very atmospheric. Its sets up an atmosphere of fear, that is it sounds like something important or destructive is going to happen after it, then what? The black metal explosion of music, it works well.
The only downside to the album can be that it doesn’t strike the right balance between what type of music it is. Both types presented (the fast paced aggressive black metal) are both very nice sounding, but the balance between the too doesn’t work. The album would be better if it had a stronger overall more aggressive feel, because to much of the slow paced style makes the album drag a bit to much. The proper balance would make this album, or compilation of sorts (some old stuff here, some new), great. For not doing this it is just plain really good.