What’s this I wondered when I pulled a CD with an unassuming (read, quite dull) cover out of the package that had just landed on the mat? Belladonna great, once I realised it was not a disc of strop from the adult entertainer or indeed anything to do with that guy that used to be in Anthrax I wondered just what I was in store for. Well the clue is in the title, this is a dark sort of rocky sound from a female fronted band from Italy. As none of them are actually called Belladonna, vocalist is actually Luana, I was slightly confused why they chose that particular band name. A search on Google is likely to get you somewhat distracted believe you me.
This self-released album does improve with repeated listens, at first I wasn’t particularly impressed with Luana’s voice or the songs themselves but they have began to sink in even if there is nothing fantastically dynamic about this. Starting off with ‘Alchemical Romance’ we get a song that’s more upbeat than what I would call noir. It rocks somewhat gently and the melody isn’t too bad at all and quite catchy after a while, there’s even a sprinkle and a tinkle of Joolz Holland etched piano about it. Vocals go down an octave or so it seems on ‘Love Me Till I Die’ but pick up on the chorus which hooks with a more poppy tone than anything else. I can imagine someone like Tairrie B belting this out and the instrumentation giving it a more metallic edge if My Ruin tackled this but here it’s not even really quite within our remit.
Songs such as ‘A Manhattan Tale’ are probably not going to appeal to those who like their rock fast and hard but it’s quite a pleasant number with a strong sense of infectious melody. It does kind of have me wondering just who this would be targeted at as at times this strikes as slightly rock orientated sophisticated dinner party music. It seems there are more songs here that are ballad orientated than anything but I guess that also goes in line with the noir thematic of the whole thing. One song in particular ‘What Lies Within’ really reminds of Gary Moore with the guitar work running through it and it’s quite captivating stuff.
Apparently after creating their MySpace page in 2005 Belladonna became the second most played Italian artists after Lacuna Coil. They also appeared in the UK at Olympia Erotic 07 but next to their infamous name-sake they are definitely soft in every respect. Not sure if I would play this again in a hurry but it’s a pleasant enough way to spend ¾ of an hour.
http://www.myspace.com/wwwbelladonnatv
