LA MORTE VIENE DALLO SPAZIO
Sci-fi soundtrack-inspired space rockers take a trip to the darkside.
THE BEST SPACE rock emits a powerful sense of perpetual forward motion. As that unmistakable whoosh of guitars and analogue synths erupts, willing listeners will feel like they’re travelling somewhere unimaginable – or, perhaps, deep into the howling, pitch-black void of an uncharted cosmos – at an incalculable pace. Seldom has that thrilling, hallucinatory vibe been nailed with such flair as by Milanese psychedelic warriors La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio. Named after a 1958 Italian disaster movie (translation: Death Comes From Outer Space) and originally conceived as an experimental, improvisational project, the Italians have mutated into something truly extraordinary on new second album
Trivial Visions. As vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Melissa Crema explains, their unique take on the space rock blueprint seems to have just happened.
“The very first idea came from Bazu [guitarist Stefano Basurto] and from Angelo [Avogadri], who is our flute player,” she says. “They were friends and they started jamming. It wasn’t a proper band at the beginning, but it was a kind of collective, involving different musicians, all belonging to other bands and projects. When we decided to become a proper band, we continued to jam during our live performances, because we received so many requests for playing abroad and we didn’t have enough time for rehearsals! So the final tracks on this album were born from improvisation, and each time we went on stage we changed the songs a little bit until they arrived at the form you hear now.”
Audibly in thrall to the works of Goblin, John Carpenter and, inevitably, Hawkwind, La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio are also at the heavy end of the space rock spectrum, with faint echoes of Finland’s Oranssi
Pazuzu in the churning riffs and thudding momentum of the songs Lost Horizon and Cursed Invader.
“We wanted to make something heavier than the bands we were already playing in,” Crema explains. “Bazu and I play in an acid rock, psych project, so we wanted to do something more metal-orientated; also because we love metal. So those elements are definitely in there, but really we wanted this album to be like a soundtrack. The songs are all connected, but the scenes change and the music changes too.”
In true space rock tradition, La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio have earned a reputation for delivering mind-expanding live shows, replete with eye-frazzling visuals and a sanitythreatening light show. But as Crema notes, conjuring altered states of consciousness with light and sound can come with its own unique hazards.
“We have a lot of visuals, a lot of smoke and a lot of strobe!” she grins. “Some people tell us that coming to our gigs is like being on drugs. I think that’s pretty cool! But we have to be careful. Once, we put the strobe in the wrong position and some of us had the strobe in our eyes the whole time. I thought I was dying! [Laughs] I didn’t know what to do, or where I was. It was pretty funny.”
With potential gigs and festivals slowly beginning to loom over the horizon, the band are focusing on recreating the monstrous rush of Trivial Visions in a live setting. But those craving more of that transportive whoosh won’t have to wait for long.
“We haven’t had a chance to rehearse for a whole year, but we will definitely continue to work on new music,” Crema states. “We have a few songs ready, so we’ll be recording them soon. We also have a collaboration with Black Widow Records, who like prog. They asked us to compose a song for a compilation, so we’re working on that. It’s a tribute album to HP Lovecraft, so it’s a concept compilation! That’s definitely very prog, right?”
“WE WANTED THIS ALBUM TO BE LIKE A SOUNDTRACK. THE SONGS ARE ALL CONNECTED, BUT THE SCENES CHANGE AND THE MUSIC CHANGES, TOO.”