Release Date: July 26th 2024. Record Label: Argonauta Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Signor Morte Improvvisa: Tracklisting
Breadwinner
Gravecraft
Solitario
Signor Morte Improvvisa
Members
Neal Stein - Guitars
Christopher Gould - Keyboards
Cameron DeWald - Bass
Chad Heille - Drums
Review
When I first heard El Supremo I remember turning to my fiance and making a point of it because damn, they were blowing my mind. These fellas sounded like they were straight outta the desert, probably from Southern California. But hell no, these guys were from North Dakota! I was surprised by this at first but as time went on it all really made sense. I think a lot of amazing rock music is created in desolate places where bands aren’t necessarily influenced by other bands like they might be in a bigger scene like LA or Seattle. Anyway, I really only knew of one other band I really liked from North Dakota (yeah I’m a little slow, didn't get the Egypt connection right away).
Have you ever been to North Dakota? Yeah I haven’t either. I figured it was just a cold wheat field or something, featureless and probably not really that exciting.
Then my fiance shared her father’s pictures of the prairie lands of North Dakota with me. The landscapes are stunning…HUGE! All the pictures featured this raw, uninterrupted beauty that stretches on forever…the sky is somehow bigger in rural North Dakota than it is in other places. It reminds me of other landscapes that feature beautiful desolation, such as southern Utah and pretty much anywhere in Wyoming or the obvious example, the Mojave in Southern California, a mecca for desert rock. Not because they look the same, but because those places are like outer space on earth…vast, unpopulated regions…mysterious and not completely explored. This is where El Supremo’s Signor Morte Improvvisa took me. It took me to that type of place, except filled with drama and maybe a little murder…
El Supremo is Neal Stein on guitar, Christopher Gould on keyboards, Cameron DeWald on bass and Chad Heille on drums. I could do an entire article on these guys' history but I’ll save that and talk about the amazing new record, Signor Morte Improvvisa.
On that note…I love El Supremos' last album, Acid Universe. It was huge and felt like I was exploring an entire galaxy. As I listened to this brilliant new album I felt myself drifting through what at first seemed like nebula strewn space scapes or perhaps traveling across a desert plain dressed in dopesmoker suits...but then the North Dakota vibe kicked fully in, but with an interesting spanish/wild west influence. This album feels a little more earthbound than Acid Universe.
The title, Signor Morte Improvvisa, translates to Mr Sudden Death (my Spanish/Italian is terrible, apologies). Ominous and retro feeling, perhaps this is El Supremo’s version of the spaghetti western…or a new genre, the spaghetti horror western. The album cover shows this is wild country, an epic journey to a far off destination...a road movie of sorts. Only there isn’t a road. This trip is on horses. Signor Morte Improvvisa is about blazing new trails, cutting a new path. And probably a fatal one.
Overall Signor Morte Improvvisa absolutely flows with well considered tempo changes intertwined with spacy ambience balanced by driving hard riffs. This is one of several amazing instrumental albums already released this year. I think it absolutely stands with Clouds Taste Satanic’s 79 A.E. and Monkey3’s Welcome to the Machine. This is a hard rocker, but with dramatic emotion that will take your breath away. This album will leave you feeling like you are on the edge of one of North Dakota's majestic landscapes, a feeling of looking into infinity.
Breadwinner starts it off, slow crushing riffs instantly turn up the heat. If a song had a color this would be red like the album cover. I had to turn up my AC when I put this scorcher on, this comes in hot and gets you pumped up for what is going to be a masterful sonic journey. Breadwinner is a beautifully recorded song. The guitar tones are gorgeous. Well mixed, every instrument sounds wonderful and becomes an integral part of this beautifully crafted song.
Gravecraft, the released video, sounds sombre and introspective...perhaps a contemplation of mortality. Dusky tempo changes here create dramatic tales, keeping the listener engaged in the story the instruments are telling. I love the retro sounding guitar tones. However, the organ really blasts this one into a different stratosphere. I love organ and keyboards and their inclusion in the heavy underground scene is definitely something I welcome. More of that please! This track just fuckin grooves...emotional textures, lovely mix of guitar, drums bass and organ. The hard rock edge is ever present, shaping the song without letting it meander and drift. This is a well crafted song and kept me glued to the speaker while it played.
Solitario changes the feel of the album slightly creating a doomier atmosphere. The slower, moody and contemplative intro leads into some delicious riffs. There is something so beautiful about the pace of this song. It is spacey psych rock at its best. This ambient spacy-ness, but still hard rock sound is what I love about bands like El Supremo. In the vein of Elephant Tree, Lamanis-era Spaceslug, and contemporaries like the new Freak Folk of Mangrovia; these bands paint vivid portraits of semi familiar land or spacescapes that transport the listener to another time and place. Melodic, ambient and yet still with a hard rock edge, Solitario is what I want to listen to when I'm on my couch smoking a joint or driving through Colorado’s beautiful mountains. Solitario is an inexpensive trip to exotic places that you want to go to in your mind.
The finale and title track, Signor Morte Improvvisa, is another beautiful song that benefits from creative tempo changes that build and release like dramatic hills and valleys throughout the song. The tempo changes rise like a mountain just before the song's midpoint (around the 3:30 minute mark) and act as a resolve to the tension that has been building through the previous cuts. A fantastic finish that leaves me craving MORE!
Signor Morte Improvvisa is another of so many ridiculously good records released this year. There has been an overwhelming amount of amazing quality recordings in 2024 (and in the previous few years). It is hard to keep up with the flood of new records but make time for this new one from El Supremo. It’s a beautiful album that deserves a place in your collection.
I would suggest watching some old Italian westerns like A Fistful of Dollars or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly if you need a spaghetti western example.
Also, I was fascinated by my fiance's fathers pictures and then I found the page for photographer Peter Herman on Facebook. I implore you to give his page a visit or see his website Peter Herman Landscape Photography. I believe the pictures of North Dakota landscapes might enhance your enjoyment of El Supremo’s new album, Signor Morte Improvvisa.
Words by S Patrick Brooks
Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.
Signor Morte Improvvisa will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Argonauta Records from Friday 26th July 2024.
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