Imbued with the robust channeling of a well-seasoned magickal practitioner amidst untold interactions with unspeakable entities the aura surrounding Genoa, Italy-based experimental doom metal/progressive rock collective TONY TEARS is pitch black gemmed and sparkling as they introduce us to their latest mascherata infernale. An hourlong glimpse into the society of the eternals presented as their eighth full-length album, and arguably their fifth canonical metal/rock LP attribution, ‘La Società degli Eterni‘ walks us through its macabre operetta as one with the bump-in-the-nightside order, creeping and hollering ’til the odd Sabbath ’til Fate groove fully grips the soul. An exceptional creature of imaginative, doomed horror-rock incensed heavy metal tension this album is itself a welcome full-chested overdose, an excess which only charms more deeply with every over-the-top step taken into their idiosyncratic cult’s demesne.

At the age of fifteen guitarist Antonio Polidori essentially demoed the atmospheric intent of Tony Tears circa 1988 under the name “Anthony Tears” via a set of recordings (‘Strane Sensazioni‘, 1988) which were largely improvised dual keyboard layers. While we know this’d existed in hindsight, it wasn’t officially released until 2016, most of the world first heard of the band sometime beyond 2000 when their first official recordings were in the works. Nearly ten years later ‘Voci dal Passato‘ (2009) their debut full-length album introduced an ancient Italian dark rock/prog-doomed reality, crafting songs that’d sounded like they were written via excerpts from ‘Violet Art of Improvisation‘. Over the years since the vision of Tony Tears in its many forms has most often been compared to two visionaries, the first is ex-Jacula ‘occult’ progressive rock troupe Antonius Rex and the second perhaps earlier days comparison is of course the maestro Paul Chain‘s Violet Theatre era. Of course I am a huge fan of all of these things, especially anything related to the sound of records like ‘In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum‘ and its sinister organ-grinding dramatism but there’ll be no pigeonholing this discography (‘The Atlantean Afterlife (…Living Beyond)‘, 2021 sounds perfectly like this, though) since only some of it qualifies as heavy metal or even heavy rock for that matter.

If you’re like me and you crave the estranged mutations of records like ‘Alkahest‘ when it comes to esoteric doom and horror rock you’ll likely enjoy the broken-necked psychedelia (a la Python) of their Minotauro Records releases in the late 2010’s with ‘Follow the Signs of the Times‘ (2015) being most immediately essential. This is the era to grab onto if you’re interested in the Black Widow Records type gear (Requiem, Epitaph, The Black) but keep in mind several of the band’s official releases are largely experimental keyboard driven work without a focus on rock structures, guitars, or even vocals in most cases. With this in mind we can consider ‘La Società degli Eterni‘ the fifth canonical album from the band where their idiosyncratic form is lead by eccentric vocalist David Krieg (the first album was voiced by Polidori himself) and the bulk of the music wears its riffs loud and proud.

Through ancient synthesizers and the rattling of silver we first access the spirits and then slide heavy-lidded into the shoulder crushing riff that opens “Lost Souls in the Pit of Corruption”, the album-seller and mind flayer for my own taste up front. It’d been a few months since I’d hit the back button on a track and replayed a single riff over and over and this was definitely it for my own taste. The song eventually drops into what we could consider a blend of late first wave black metal lunging, heavy progressive rock flourish, and pure heavy metal stride (see also: “Rage of Unsaid Words” opening) for the duration of its ~8.5 minute sling. Without question Polidori‘s guitar arrangements and years-built style are a huge part of this introduction but I’d also point out that their rhythm section (bassist Artorias and drummer Coroner) help make ‘La Società degli Eterni‘ the tightest yet freely slung Tony Tears have ever sounded. Likewise in terms of sheer keyboard juicing evil w/synth accoutrement we are promised all manner of ancient and horrified layers to gild their work via this elaborately stoked piece up front.

“Angemon” is basically a hymnal rendition of gothic metal to start before it forms into an early 90’s Mercyful Fate song at its wailing peak, a perfectly succinct but personality rich piece to follow the depth of the opener in an unpredictable sort of way. We’re more squarely in the non-traditional doom metal sector of their ouevre with “The World is the Game of the Dead”, one of the more straight forward crunched-out pieces on the album, and from there the focus of the full listen fractures in a few different directions ahs they work to diversify its reach while retaining the magickal tone achieved within those first ~4-5 pieces; “Serpents of the Great Change” may very well start with one of the bigger ‘Sabotage‘-level hitters on the album in terms of riffs but its prog-operatic nature is just around the corner as its exceptionally crafted ~seven and a half minute body comes into focus. In fact I’d suggest the most key pieces to truly sink into and sort out on this album are those that stretch their wings toward the 7-8 minute mark. This is also where you’ll find the Italo-Deutsche progressive/horror rock heart of Tony Tears as they meander through periods of aggression and contemplation, a further step beyond the usual “Italian dark/horror doom” sound.

Speaking of doom metal “Liturgy of the Smell” is probably your best bet for a slow-burning, weirding trod on the second half of the LP (beyond “The World is the Game of the Dead” over on the first) and for my own taste it is one of the best pieces on the album in terms of how heavily it leans into its mood while still finding an experimental flourish to keep things simmering with unease. The remainder of the album is decidedly more horror-cinematic per the sinister organ-whirling jam “La Strana Casa” and the bizarre fatalistic dramatism of the title track before “Old Souls”, a cover of a soundtrack specific Paul Williams song from 1974, closes it out.

While I do appreciate every piece found on ‘La Società degli Eterni‘ and the overall flow of the running order I could easily make a case for cutting maybe ~two of these songs to help bring a more readily repeatable spin to its considerable 58 minute length. Still, for those with strong enough fortitudes and a love of variety within such an indulgent act there’ll be a remarkable level of consistency to the weirding adventures lurking around every corner here. In some ways this album is an elevation of Tony Tears‘ ongoing legacy of experimentation though I would suggest for the longtime fan of their esoteric doom metal leaning spectrum it’ll more importantly serve as the best-yet, or, biggest yet vision from the group which rivals the ambitions of ‘The Atlantean Afterlife (…Living Beyond)‘ and the heaviness of ‘Follow the Signs of the Times‘ before it. If you’re just out hunting for the horror camp and magickal gloom of classic Italian doom-adjacent esotericism there’ll be a lot to like here, potentially too much album served, though the nuance and general depth of this album is practically built for those equally interested in progressive rock inspired works, too. A high recommendation.

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