This is the second album from Italian blackened metal/post-punk band Ponte del Diavolo.
Following hot on the heels of 2024’s Fire Blades from the Tomb comes the 40-minute De Venom Natura. Ponte del Diavolo’s new record is a good one, with much to enjoy if you’re a fan of quality metal with an uncommonly tasty flavour.
Once again carrying two bassists and loaded with extra musicians – on acoustic guitar, bass clarinet, synths, theremin, trombone, and vocals – Ponte del Diavolo offer up a textured soundscape for the listener to explore.
On the band’s first album, the Ponte del Diavolo style could be roughly described as a mix of Darkthrone, Electric Wizard, and Messa. An atypical combination to be sure, but the band made their influences work well for them. On De Venom Natura, the band have brought their post-punk influences further to the fore, updating their sound accordingly. Of their doom metal components, I’d roughly say that a third remain, a third have been jettisoned, and a third have been repurposed and merged with blackened or post-punk elements. In other words, this is less of a doom metal release than its predecessor. The band apparently favour the term blackened post-punk, which works. I’m going to go with blackened metal/post-punk, which is clunkier, but indicates that De Venom Natura covers a lot off ground during its running time.
So, I’d now suggest that a rough description of Ponte del Diavolo would be to start with a band like Messa, increase the post-punk, and throw in some black metal influences here and there. Then, in some places, (but not in others), add a sprinkling of Brume, King Witch, and Julie Christmas, and you have a very broad starting point for approaching De Venom Natura.
Regardless of how you’d describe this, it’s a solid set of tunes that the band have created. Ranging from dark fury to moody sensitivity, the music is well-crafted and confidently delivered. At their extremes the songs move from fast aggression to heavy doom, but between these poles there is a lot to explore and take in. The material is sometimes vital, sometimes despondent, sometimes invigorating, sometimes lethal, sometimes unhinged, sometimes rigorously controlled. Whatever the band are doing though at any given time, their music remains engaging.
De Venom Natura is evocative, rich in emotion, and layered with atmosphere, but is not without hooks or catchy moments. Ponte del Diavolo have struck an interesting balance between accessibility and depth, allowing them to operate in both waters roughly equally. Within this, the music displays a decent amount of diversity; the songs are all identifiable as their own entities quite quickly, as is their place in the album’s flow.
Overall, De Venom Natura feels vibrant and tailored for the live environment. That’s not to say that it lacks depth or substance, (thankfully), but rather that there’s been a shift in dynamics and structures to better cater for an actual physical audience. Whether I’m imagining this or not, the end result is an album that has much to offer.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 