And yet again, another new Italian Gothic metal band has come across my radar, this time My Black Light, who hail from Biella, which is in the northwest province of Piemonte. This quintet released their debut album, Human Maze, in 2011 after inking a deal with Massacre Records. They’re a pretty bad-ass looking bunch, judging by their promo photos. You might not want to meet them in a dark alley at night, but you might want to journey with them as they guide you through the darkness of their human maze.

Because this is a very dark album. The artwork is bleak, replete with ominous images of mazes, prisons, moody weather, and creepy countdown clocks. Even the band’s name suggests desolation, and the lyrics are black as sin. They convey a whole collection of emotions that relate to the inner darkness of the human mind, darker passions, a feeling of being trapped and frustrated, a sense of punishment, confusion, frustration, and inability to see the way forward. The title of the album is apt; the emotions conveyed are chilling because they are constantly searching for a way through the maze, a concept that is reinforced constantly.

I like dark stuff, so I liked the atmosphere created not only with the lyrics but with the pretty bombastic, riff-heavy sound accented by some different synth sounds that were well placed for dramatic effect. Adding to the drama are the vocals of Monica Primo, who I have to say is a pretty excellent singer. She can sound aggressive and sensitive, and has the range and power to pull off a very convincing performance on this album. There are also a few back-up growls done by Rudy Codo Bertetto, who wrote all the lyrics and is the composer. He does some clean singing in "A Lie for Eternity", too, which was one of the highlights on the album, even though he sings with a heavy accent (I detected very little accent from Monica).

Standout songs for me, apart from "A Lie for Eternity", were "Inner World" (for which there is a video), which is a really catchy song, and the opener "Being Human", which after a brief keyboard intro with some of those nifty synth sounds I was mentioning, bursts onto the scene with a heavy hit of bombast. This song introduces us to Monica’s considerable singing chops, and the band’s penchant for strong hooks and dramatic flare.

A song I didn’t get was the oddly titled "Detriny," which, if you thought this were a typo, you wouldn’t be alone. I thought it was a typo, too, but when I read the lyrics and the word in context, it appears that Detriny is the name of a person...I think. It’s hard to tell. I’m still a little confused about it, to be honest.

There is one song in Italian, called "Ti Sento", which, according to Google (if Google can be trusted!), translates to "I Feel You." There is also a cover of "Unbreak My Heart", which was made famous by Toni Braxton back in the 1990s. As far as covers go, this is pretty good. The original is a ballad, but My Black Light turns it into a peppy faster-paced song, which is quite a refreshing change.

There is a lot of strong songwriting on this album, and for a debut, I found it quite mature. I’ve mentioned the keys a few times, and the guitars are definitely well-performed by Emanuele Rossi, who does some nice solos.

I really think this is a promising release, and I’m glad they’ve signed to a major label. I hope we hear more from them in the future.

8 / 10