Gregorio Bardini and Gerstein — Arise Of a Bleeding Rose

The prolific music label The Eastern Front have released many albums since they started in 04. Browsing through their catalogue, it easy to see that Tanya (who is also responsible for the nice art work on this album) and Igor, the label owners, are no strangers to any form of Neo/Militant folk in music and culture. Time after time The Eastern Front shows high standards through their albums and artists that join their ranks and Gregorio Bardini and Gerstein's album, "Arise of a bleeding rose" is no different.

The two professional and prolific artists, Gerstein (a.k.a. Maurizio Pustianaz) and Gregorio Bardini, show different angles and musical approaches while they twist and bend the term 'Militant folk' with other musical genres like industrial, EBM elements and even Electro. We get a fine example of this mixed genre sound with the first song, "Von Guten Machten", which begins with the fusion of a new-age like flute playing and programmed drums. It then takes shape into a melodic and touching song with a dominant piano playing.

The second song – "In Gedanken", is more intense with thundering war drums and electronic sounds that bring to mind sinister and early EBM by the likes of Wumpscut. At this point the album begins to take shape as a successful cross between "traditional" militant music and dark clubs music, and on the third song it’s already hard to put the finger on the exact place where Bardini and Pustianaz are standing musically. This track, called "Il Guardiano della Mutilazione" brings to mind certain Laibach songs along with other projects like Velvet Acid Christ, all mixed with this album's militant environment.

Some elements, like the flute playing reappear on many of the album's tracks, while other elements are introduced by the musicians only on specific parts of the album. An example for this would be the voice samples. "Il Gioco Delle Parti", which opens with such a sample, it’s much more uplifting and sets another turning point in the album sonic direction.. The music on this track is airy and shows contrast between the somewhat distressed, sampled voices, and the victorious music.

"Arise of a Bleeding Rose" will most certainly appeal to fans of militant music as well as to those who enjoy dark and rhythmic music of all forms. A rich album both musically and conceptually, this one should not be missed!