After a decade-long hiatus, Italian deathrock outfit Bohémien has made a striking return with a suspenseful new video for their 2023 single, Fai e Disfai. Intricately weaving together references to Victor Hugo and Albrecht Durer’s Melencolia I, crafting a ballad that serves as an ode to desolation. It’s almost as if the song invites this sombre mood to freely permeate every facet of our psyche.
In Fai e Disfai, Bohémien channels the dark heart of deathrock with a distinctly Italian flair. The track pulses with a deep, haunting bass and sharp, dissonant guitars that cut through the gloom. The vocals, sung in Italian, add an emotional intensity, turning the lyrics into a raw, poetic outcry. The production blends cold, mechanical rhythms with warm, vintage textures and eerie dissonance, creating a rich, atmospheric sound. With ghostly echoes and a vibe that’s both introspective and alluring, Fai e Disfai is a masterful nod to the genre’s roots, wrapped in the drama and passion of Italian lyricism. We hear shades of Sex Gang Children, UK Decay/Furyo, Death Cult, Virgin Prunes, Corpus Delicti, and Cinema Strange in this spooky little number.
Fai e Disfai marks the beginning of an upcoming physical EP, set to be released by Polish label Bat-Cave Productions in the near future. The music video, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Alex Visani, a renowned figure in Italy’s horror cinema, unfolds within the eerie confines of a deserted cinema. In this setting, two girls embark on an urban exploration adventure, stumbling upon a mysterious totem in the shape of a bat, assembled from film rolls. Their encounter with the band blurs the lines between reality, imagination, and the spectral, leaving viewers pondering the true nature of these interactions.
Watch the video for “Fai e Disfai” below:
In the hallowed halls of Rome’s underground scene, Bohémien erupted onto the stage in 1985, wielding their Sangue e Arena debut like a fiery manifesto. The band’s early days were a whirlwind of electric live shows that swept across Italy, their performances a spectacle of raw theatrical energy. Their sound—a vibrant cocktail of positive punk infused with the dark, moody vibes of the Batcave scene, all delivered with a distinctly Italian flair—quickly caught the ears and eyes of fans and critics alike. Their standout act at the inaugural Arezzo Wave in ’87 marked them as serious contenders on the musical battleground.
But then, silence. For 15 long years, the stages went dark, the fans waited, and the music paused. In 2002, the core trio—frontman Alex Buccini, axe-wielder Luciano Liberatore, and beatmaster Walter Vincenti—rose from the silence, flanked by fresh faces, reigniting the Bohémien flame with Danze Pagane. This comeback album, dropped under the In The Night Time banner in 2003, wasn’t just a return; it was a resurrection. Their follow-up, the enigmatic La Parata del Circo EP, further cemented their status on the global stage, earning nods from deathrock and gothic aficionados far and wide.
Bohémien’s saga took them from the gritty streets of New York’s Drop Dead festival to the haunting melodies of Bats Over Milan, and even to the pulsing heart of Leipzig’s Gothic Pogo Party. Yet, amidst their ascent, tragedy struck with the loss of Vincenti in ’06, a blow that would reshape the band’s rhythm section with Valentina Larussa and Gian Paolo Cesarini stepping in to carry the torch.
Throughout their odyssey, Bohémien shared stages with legends like Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen, and Peter Murphy, weaving their story into the fabric of alternative music history. Their saga, a blend of triumphs, tragedies, pauses, and playbacks, mirrors the very essence of punk and goth – a relentless pursuit of expression, against all odds.
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