Album review: FALSE MEMORIES – The Last Night Of Fall

Frontiers [Release date 07.05.21]

Guitarist, Francesco Savino founded False Memories in 2015, but it was only when he recruited vocalist, Rossella Moscatelli in 2018 that the band’s career gained some momentum.

Subsequently, they were one of a mere handful of bands selected via a Frontiers’ scouting initiative, from many hundreds of entrants.
You can see why.

The label describes it as Gothic / Doom metal. They got the first half right. It’s no more Doom Metal than say, Cheap Trick. But the Gothic is perfectly formed and all the songs on the album gain real weight from a strong melancholy undertow.

There are shades of Nightwish and Within Temptation here, in the way that False Memories weave elements of Symphonic (and to some extent, Power Metal) into the fabric of their music. It’s a very attractive combination of sub genres, seductive even, more especially when you consider the strength of the songwriting.

Moscatelli’s expressive, beautifully controlled mezzo soprano, one moment whispering an intimate lyric, the next holding hands with a big dramatic chorus, is the band’s weapon of mass persuasion. She uses it to great effect on ‘Rain Of Souls’ and ‘White Crows’. Both songs take a while to establish a handhold, but when they do, they hang on with the grip of a drowning man.

Having shrugged off the ‘Doom Metal’ claim, we find that ‘Hysteria’, ‘Voices’ and ‘Unfaithful Dream’ all flirt, somewhat guiltily, with the genre, creating frissons of danger from dissonant notes – you can feel the agitation and the discomfort. Though playing some sinister “public service announcement” in the background is yesterday’s thinking.

The album’s most accessible tracks, ‘Black Shades’ and ‘The Illusionist’ each carry a weight of emotion. The lyrics – grappling with the human condition – burn with intensity. In fact most songs on the album, to a lesser or greater extent are energised, if that’s the right word, by the soul sucking twilight zone that we seemed to inhabit during the tightest lockdowns.

A sense of sameness creeps in occasionally . . . it’s hard putting an upbeat, positive spin on life challenging circumstances.

Still, maybe that’s what Gothic Metal is all about. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)