In Autumn – What’s Done Is Done

Written by: Helena Cedrwydd
Releasedate:   2024
Label: My Kingdom Music

“What do I actually know about Italy?”, I thought as I was about to listen to In Autumn ’s album What’s Done Is Done. I spent my childhood in that country, so obviously I had a lot of memories and impressions: stupendous nature, rich history – and I was also absolutely convinced that Italians have nothing to do with the creation of dark and gloomy music. For some reason, all the extreme metal from Italy always ended up reminding me of Lacuna Coil (which is a good band – but has nothing in common with darkness, in my opinion).

A brief summary, though, mentioned the band’s influences as Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Katatonia and Opeth, and that sounded tempting and promising enough for me to not to be too biassed. Being a big fan of the latters’ work, I decided to give In Autumn a chance.

Upbeat and positive. Something like these thoughts popped into my head when the opening track, “What’s Done Is Done”, started playing. Despite all the heaviness and death metal riffs, the music still sounded vivid and even optimistic.
The second track, “Focus”, left a similar impression.
This is definitely not British death doom, which evokes all the fierce ghosts from one’s soul, tearing it apart; nor Swedish, that makes the listener want to rid the planet of their most miserable presence as soon as possible.
The songs, though, are really beautiful, harmonious and of high quality.
It was only on the “Lucid Dream” track that the music lost its danceability and began to more closely resemble the Greek classic extreme metal scene, especially Rotting Christ’s Sleep Of The Angels album and Septicflesh’s Communion. Instead of notes of sugar, moments of something that seemed to be pure aggression and even rage began to appear more and more often.

Overall, the album leaves quite a pleasant impression. The singer has an awesome growl that reminded me a lot of Sakis Tolis from the previously mentioned Rotting Christ. A slight amount of sweetness is smoothed out perfectly by powerful guitar and drum parts. The melodic canvas has a certain oriental feel to it, which is typical for bands from the South in general.
I would especially like to highlight “Breathing In The Void”, in which the crystal transparency of the keys is intertwined with an atmospheric eerie echo. And “The Illusion Of Reality” and “Block” I can probably call among the best tracks of the record.

Of course, the band’s music lives up to its name. It is undoubtedly autumn – but this autumn is Italian – bright and colourful. One can scarcely indulge in real despondency and plunge into the abyss of darkness, being surrounded by the beauty of southern nature. The album is perfect for concert gigs, where the people can throw out all that extra energy and come out refreshed.
But for those who seek real decadency, I still recommend turning to more reliable sources of darkness – the Scandinavians and the British, while In Autumn is way too full of energy and uplifting.

Line up:

• Diego Polato – Bass
• Giuliano Zippo – Vocals
• Christian Barrocco – Guitars, Keys
• Marco Liotto – Drums

Tracklist

1. What’s Done Is Done
2. Focus
3. Lucid Dream
4. Inside My Soul
5. Despised by Life
6. Breathing in the Void
7. The Illusion of Reality
8. Block
9. Strange Thoughts
10. I See You

Links:

Official