Despite being led by a violin, Profezia doesn’t come across as very adventurous. The continuous, and admittedly good, use of violin throughout the album is pointless without a strong foundation, which Oracolo Suicida lacks. The songs follow a general pattern of eerie and sorrowful violin over simple, slow, second-wave riffs that wouldn’t sound out of place on any generic black metal album. Profezia seems to have included violin whenever possible at the expense of songwriting and good riffs. The only time the violin works with the rest of the album is a couple cool sections on “Il Gioco Del Parassita,” where the frantic violins accompany the guitars, giving the song a sense of feverish urgency. “Sacra Tempesta” is the album’s only other strong point. The track isn’t fantastic, but it’s a decent combination of guitars and violin, and the lack of percussion makes it even more interesting. Sadly, these are the high points in an otherwise dull and plodding album. The rest is filled with uninspired riffing, and the bloat-filled forty minutes can’t pass quickly enough.

The musicians who worked on Oracolo Suicida are almost certainly competent. The instrumental work isn’t very inspired, but that’s just the second issue here. No, it’s the songwriting that really holds the album back. The songs never really seem to go anywhere, and are perfectly content to flag along at a substandard level. It’s fine to write simple chord progressions, it really is, but you need to convey an atmosphere, a feeling, something to keep the listener interested. When you combine the simplistic instrumental work with the total lack of direction you end up with something like this album, which, by the end of it, leaves you feeling confused and dissatisfied.

I’m all for trying new things and experimenting, but there needs to be a solid foundation to base your work off of. This is really what Oracolo Suicida lacks. If you’re going to make a black metal album with violins, at least make sure the black metal aspects are done well. The violin parts are done well enough, but with such a dearth of good riffs and songwriting, the album falls flat on its face. Maybe Profezia should just give up on black metal and make violin concertos instead?