Label: Sleaszy Rider Records
Band: Voltumna
Origin: Italy

I suppose it’s a first to really go underground with the band Voltumna, who are drawing their inspiration from the ancient Etruscans. The mysterious civilization was eclipsed by the Romans but left a peculiar and obscured footprint on Italy. This album is dedicated to the Dodecapoli, the 12 old cities of the Etruscans.

Wizardry, mythology and foggy history are what have been driving Voltumna for a couple of years now. With guest performances from Christian Borchi (Stormlord) and Anna Menicheschi on vocals and Thursen (Wolfingar) on ancient Italian instruments, the band aims to catch a shred of the past.

Voltumna plays a style, that reaks of old death metal, but holds on to its crisp vitality thanks to the smooth production. The sparse use of synths and other instruments helps with that on tracks like ‘Reading The Flames’, which spark the imagination of the ancient times. Haruspex on guitars, lets them weep and squeal at every opening, where Zilath Meklhum needs to take a breath with his biting and ghoulish vocals.

The mentioned odd instruments create a special vibe. For example, the song Fanum Voltumnae that moves into traditional sounds for a particular ambiance. These are mere intermissions though and while some peculiar movements are embedded in their music, all over a pretty solid and straight served piece of musical violence. Particular to the sound is the thunderous rhythm section, that hits it hard from start to finish. Bass player Fulgurator delivers excellently and Augur Veii hits the drums as if he intends to destroy them.