Review: “Scotoma” by Magnitudo

Despite having created a well received wall of sound in Sludge fuelled Post-Metal, influenced by the likes of Neurosis, Lento and Cult of Luna with their 2018 album “Men Against Fire“, rumblings of discontent and artistic differences threatened to tear Italian operatives Magnitudo apart. Taking ownership of the project as 2019 drew to a close, vocalist and guitarist Dario allowed it to remain in hibernation during the Great Plague years before gathering some ideas as the dawn of 2022 approached. Welcoming Marka (Mind the Gap, Officine Swartz) on drums and Danilo Battocchio (Last Minute to Jaffna, Tutti I Colori Del Buio, sound engineer for Tons, Imperial Triumphant, who also recorded, mixed and mastered their “Men Against Fire“) on bass, they composed, arranged, and recorded the tracks for a new EP.  Once completed with the prospect of live shows around the release on the horizon, Battocchio exited stage left to be replaced by Zana (Kazamate, Pugnale, Dark Tennis, and session drummer for the Danish band Telos)
as the permanent bassist…

…death becomes clearer through bloodshot eyes and it becomes very obvious when listening to “Scotoma” that Dario was the driving force behind Magnitudo from the bands inception in 2015. That’s because despite two thirds of the line up being replaced, their is a real stylistic coherence between their older works and this new burnt offering. That’s not to say it’s the same because there can be no question that it is darker, heavier and more organic with once slow and monolithic writing gathering pace and having more energy to it. It feels like the machine has a human heartbeat with the pounding rhythms and crushing bass giving more here than the band gave before. That’s not discredit their prior works or previous musicians but simply a comparison of works. After all, this new work was written and recorded four years further down the line with new musicians after Global Pandemic with everyone in a new headspace. It’s going to be different.

A deceptively melodic opening piece of guitar work ushers in the dawn of a new age for Magnitudo in “Monument” which quickly switches up to churning and sinister riffs as Dario unleashes plague throated unclean vocals which expose Extreme Metal roots. Creating a harsh and apocalyptic soundscape, the band impose their authority on the piece with an elongated Post-Metal mid section of instrumental that echoes the offerings of bands like Hundred Year Old Man. That dark meloncholia bleeding into the final moments meaning that all the extremes within the bands sound have been covered in one single track and masterfully conjoined. Cleverly “The Healing” shifts from a dark and powerful slower trudge up into something that borders on the chaotic with a violently turbulent thunderstorm of percussion an angular riffs cutting through the myre. As heavy as it is there is also a place for a melodic lead passage before a powerful final third that washes everything away with a tidal wave of meloncholia.

Taking a leaf from the book of Armed For Apocalypse in their approach, “The Algorithm” features Michele “Mike” Basso from Viscera/// who provides backing vocals which add a haunting touch to the first half and then a vicious bite to the second. Normally such an appearance might slip under the radar but here it’s a nuance that makes the World of difference to a track that has a claustrophobic and distressing atmosphere with more Post-Metal about it that than the earlier pair of cuts. Bringing the house down “Rebirth” has a somber and sobering meloncholia about it with a spiraling piece of lead lifting the ache. Dario toys with odd moments of Post-Hardcore tinged riff between chunks of the bands usual sonic abrasions which gives something dark and distorted a surprising and unexpected vibrancy. Overall, a record that will captivate and leave you crying out for more, “Scotoma” is every inch the beginning of a new age for Magnitudo [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Monument
2. The Healing
3. The Algorithm (ft. Michele “Mike” Basso from Viscera///)
4. Rebirth

“Scotoma” by Magnitudo is out 22nd September 2023 and is available for pre-order over at bandcamp.