REVIEW: Stormo - Tagli/Talee

Italy has taken the alt-music world by storm in recent years. Whether it is Måneskin’s 2021 Eurovision win with ‘ZITTI E BUONI’ which later became a worldwide hit, or Marlene Kuntz’s incredibly well-received 2022 album, Karma Clima, the Italians seem to be producing liquid gold. And Stormo is no exception. The quartet exemplifies what alt music should be, with Tagli/Talee entailing a brash mix of the acidity of noise rock and the puncture that post-hardcore possesses, with these genres amalgamating into a homunculus of an album. 

‘Tagli’ becomes the cornerstone of the whole album. It’s a deeply melancholic rumble of the guitar. The drip of passion it exhibits entices you, leaving you hungry and hollow for more. 

It is the shallow end of the pool, allowing the listener to tread in safe waters before that agonising spirit of Stormo plunges you into the deep. The growl of the instrumental morphs into the fervour expected from a Stormo album as ‘Sabbia’ begins to play. ‘Sabbia’ satiates this hunger. Pounding drum work is layered with riffs in this song, exemplifying how adept the band is with their work. Every auditory manipulation is evidently purposeful, with these overlapping vocals becoming a cacophony, surrounding the listener from all angles. 

A real standout moment can be found with ‘Kallitype’. In many ways, this album is a collage. Written exclusively on the road during their 2023 European tour, Tagli/Talee is a collage of cities, venues, and people they have visited and seen all morphing into one work of art. ‘Kallitype’ reflects this composition, intertwining elements from so many genres into this one unification of a song. Stormo avoids all the common pitfalls seen in the genres they cross, the vocals do not appear to be forced in any way, and, in fact, sounds like a much-needed release. The moment vocalist Luca Rocco opens his mouth, rage inherent from the very soul of his being torrents out as the floodgate opens. 

The influence of horror is tangible throughout ‘Come Fauce Che Divora’. Adrenaline cuts into you thanks to the fractured elements of the track. The grating noise bites into you, with the tension seeping through every hit of the drums (courtesy of drummer Stefano Rutolini) matching the pace of blood pumping through your ears. In many ways, it wouldn’t be out of place in a horror film chase scene, with an overlapping of sound akin to the scraping of shoes on tarmac and a rustle of feet through the underbrush. It’s tangibly visceral due to the deliberate use of texture achieved through the symbiotic work of Stormo and Holy Similaun. ‘Bordi’ is another standout, as passion punctures through everything, building and building until this great escape of emotions.

The only thing this writer dislikes about the album is how painfully short it is. No track breaks past the two-and-a-half-minute mark. It left us seeking more, wanting more, needing more.  And there is one snag that we found upsettingly unable to overcome when assimilating with this album; that is, the writer doesn’t speak Italian. The most Italian thing to be found is probably the Pizza Express that was drunkenly ordered the other night - unlike that Pizza Express, Tagli/Talee is some Italian that is bound to not disappoint. 

However, even without any comprehensive knowledge - or frankly any knowledge at all of how to speak Italian - this album still spoke to me in ways I never thought a piece of music could. And that’s the thing about music, it transcends all language. Every strum of the guitar reaches out a loving hand to you, every strike of the drum whispers faintly in your ear and every guttural uttering of the vocals cups your cheeks in an ever-so-familiar way. Stormo has this formidable talent of defying all linguistic bands, becoming their very own Tower of Babel. This is music that knows you, understands you, is you. The transcendent rage the album explores is one that everyone has reckoned with in their life. Just let it wash over you. 

Score: 9/10

Tagli/Talee was released March 21st via Prosthetic Records. 

Words: Dylan Milton

Photos: Stormo