Tal’set – La Via del Guerriero (2012)

ATMF is always surprising us with some mind-bending music as well as some ear raping releases, the label with Tal’set’s “La Via del Guerreiro” has managed to release something that is very rare these days: Truly Original Music. Before you go thinking that the end is near (due to such inconceivable fact), Tal’set’s musical style is a pretty interesting amalgamation of other styles into a weird hybrid that sounds like nothing else and everything else put together in perfect harmony.

The album starts with a very trippy intro titled “Il Vecchio Alla Stazione” that sets the mood for a deeply confusing and weird release indeed. “La Via del Guerreiro” features some weird proggy elements from the 70’s mixed with some heavy duty Death Metal elements adding to the confusion of where is this band going with this. Same happens with the medieval sounding opening of “Intento” only to go back into some barebones Death Metal with chunky riffs and some BM sounding drumming.

The epitome of weirdness (and excellence) comes with the Ulver-esque (from the “Themes” era) “Mescal”. This ethereal piece features a nice atmosphere and very shamanic feeling thanks to the flutes. Next-up the band goes Southern Rock style with “Punto D’unione” and suddenly transforms into Black Metal and comes back with more ethereal atmospheric elements, very weird but excellent we must say.

The band continues this weird dance of musical elements on tracks like “Gil Atlandidi Di Tula”, “Follia Controllata”, interesting acoustic/neo-folk pieces like “Fermare Il Mondo”, Pagan Metal at its best with “Fuoco Dal Profondo”, and the list goes on. Our favorite track is the super chaotic and intricately excellent “Al Di La Dell’aquila”, a very Avant-garde sounding track that will blow your mind. And then they close with the super uplifting “L’ultima Danza”.

If you are into weird and extremely diverse releases “La Via del Guerriero” is the album for you. There is still a sense of immaturity behind the band’s sound and approach to every genre they visit, we feel that Tal’set needs to clean up the sound a bit and sound more determined behind their ‘harsh’ elements in order to give a more concise and powerful experience. The originality factor behind the band’s music makes this a must-buy release for any true fan of Metal music.

Release: April 4th, 2012

Country: Italy