Comunione’s first EP is perfect in its imperfection, because it captures the perfect, invisible essence of the visible, imperfect world. From the memories of the childhood country home in the Marche region, and the load of destructive and totalizing emotions that come with carrying ghosts around, to the assault on Milan, the city of lights, of oversized egos, of psychopathy and infinite sadness. Everyone who lives here has lost something, and goes through war to fill that void—sometimes through their creative process.Alessandro, Comunione’s sole member, doesn’t know what he’s done with these seven songs. It’s not even a coincidence that they are seven, but he doesn’t know that either. Because, like all true artists (for lack of a better word) he is a fool, capable, without knowing, of becoming an antenna that picks up signals from the underground and the future. So let's "enter the dream" and allow ourselves to be dazzled by the shamanic punk of Comunione.Originally released as a micropressing of just 20 copies on Sentiero Futuro Autoproduzioni, Iron Lung Records has made this essential piece of Anarchopunk inspired music available to a wider audience. We just had to. 200 pro-printed, black shelled cassettes housed in a 4 panel J-Card sleeve inside a clear/clear norelco box. Written, performed and recorded by Alessandro Gentili. Art by Francesco Goats.Our take: Iron Lung Records brings us the debut release from this one-person anarcho punk project from Italy. Anarcho punk as a genre doesn’t tell the entire story, though, because Comunione’s propulsive hardcore punk sounds to me like it’s draped in the aesthetic trappings of black metal. The recording is tinny and distant like the Norwegian black metal classics, like the music is playing out of a small speaker in the middle of a big, empty cathedral. The atmosphere is dense and interesting, but as with 90s black metal, the standout moments are when a little melody creeps in, such the subtle octave chords on “Enclave” or (most memorably) the creepy organ line that closes out the tape at the end of “Salvati.” While the recording style might remind you of black metal, there’s little of that genre’s theatricality, as Comunione’s performance here sounds as powerful and earnest as you would expect from a strong hardcore band. It all adds up to a unique release, and one that finds an appropriate home on the always cutting-edge Iron Lung Records.
