The Hesperia-project is run by multi-instrumentalist Hesperus, once member of Sulphuria. He started this solo-outfit somewhere during the nineties, in order to pay tribute to the ancient, and mystical / mythological / mythical glory of a rich ‘pre-Italian’ past. At the beginning of this century, Hesperus and his Hesperia-project started working on a four-part conceptual masterwork, based on Virgilio’s Eneide aka Aeneidos. The first result was 2003’s Aeneidos Metalli Apotheosis Pars I (released via Il Male Productions), the second one was called In Honorem Herois (Aeneidos Pars II) (Blazing Productions), and this album, Spiritvs Italicvs – Aeneidos… Pars III, is the third part. The fourth one, by the way, will be called Metallvm Italicvm – Aeneidos… Pars IV, and will see the light somewhere next year. Oh yes, there was another album as well, namely 2004’s Il Ritorno Di Una Civilta Arcaica, which is comparable but not part of this quadriptych. It can be considered a re-constructed edition of 1997’s rehearsal demo The Return Of An Archaic Civilization.
Anyway, this third part of Aeneidos goes on in the vein of all former material. It is a strange interpretation of obscure musical escapades once again. Spiritvs Italicvs … brings a combination of esoteric dark Ambient, classical Doom-Black Metal and raw old styled Underground Black Metal, including an enormous variation whole the time. The latter, that variety, can also be translated in a lack of coherence, unfortunately. Besides, and on top of it, the whole is injected by elements from Folk and Neo-Folk, Industrial, Gothic, traditional (Heavy / Speed) Metal and inspirational sources from literature, cinema, Folklore, history and mythology. Indeed, it makes this whole experience a difficult, hard-to-digest one, with the possibility of total obstipation at the one hand, or blood-soaked diarrhoea at the other. In both cases it does not smell that attractively at all.
But some people might like this concept. Despite a certain disability to create structurally acceptable compositions, the creative ideas and intention to explore dimensions that aren’t that usual, may please the open-minded (probably slightly dark-spirited and misanthropically sick) freaks amongst us. The cosmic and transcendental execution of this material is certainly based on the best intentions, and I’d like to imagine this whole performance as being a huge conceptual and majestic aural entity, even though one needs some fantasy to do so. I need to confess, once again, that I am part of this trend…
The sound, and then I am referring to the mix especially, is extremely bad, unsatisfying, turning-off. The intercommunication in between the different instruments is beneath acceptance, the production just smells like stinky feet that just stepped into a freshly-produced rotten-meat-laden excrement. That’s enormously sad, for a better sound would have lift up the quality of this album much higher.
Consider it a mixture of Italian projects like Evol, Spite Extreme Wing, Urna, (early) Aborym, Void Of Silence and Lord Agheros (once again with some fantasy, of course), but it will certainly give you an idea of the weird, eerie approach done by Hesperia.